COMMENTARY
The emotion had drained from the 2023 Red Sox season well before its final series, in which the visitors lost the only game with any stakes, then got outstanding starts from Nick Pivetta, Kutter Crawford, and Tanner Houck months after that was what they desperately needed.
To watch was mildly pleasant. Like finding a quarter in the winter jacket you pulled from storage. No traffic, but you’re going to a root canal. Even in the final days of a second straight 78-84 season, one where even Alex Cora had to finally admit the critics were right, Red Sox baseball is better than no Red Sox baseball.