All the drama. All the highs. All the lows. All the emotions………the 2025 season comes down to these next six days, folks. We will know the fate of the Boston Red Sox’s Wild Card bid by the end of the weekend.
In an attempt to try and bring some levity into what ought to be a stressful week, why don’t we bring in some holiday cheer? Maybe the spirit of the holiday season can rub off on us at the end of the baseball season.
What better way to do that than with a good ol’ Advent calendar?
Here’s how we’ll do it: I’ll put in a section to represent each individual outcome for the final six Red Sox games (their first win, their first loss, their second win, etc.). When that outcome does come around, scroll down to its corresponding section and “open up the calendar”—AKA, read the section.
Or just read the entire thing now and waste the surprise as the calendar continues to progress. I dunno, do what you want.
You ready? Here we go.
Red Sox’s First Win
Hey, we got one out of the way! I really hope that you’re not reading this for the first time during the home series this weekend against the Detroit Tigers—one of the teams we could be fighting tooth and nail against for one of the coveted spots in the playoff, considering they are now facing a challenge for the American League Central crown all of a sudden.
Speaking of those Motor City Kitties: we’re rooting for them, right? They’re playing the Cleveland Guardians—the hottest team in baseball as they’ve been making a mad dash to try and sneak into the dance—in a three-game set to begin the week of destiny. We have the tiebreaker over Cleveland, as our own Matthew Gross pointed out the other day, but the Tigers could take the tiebreaker over us if they win even one game at Fenway this weekend. Simply put: the more the Tigers win, the better.
Anyways, good win.
Red Sox’s Second Win
Hopefully this comes in the form of a series victory against the Toronto Blue Jays!
Y’know, obviously the Red Sox’s success is the most paramount concern. I don’t want to be helping the New York Yankees out, though, and any victories north of the border could unfortunately do that. The Yanks are just a pair of games behind the Jays, though Toronto has the tiebreaker.
But again: the pressing matter is that the Sox won…and hopefully they didn’t wait to get this win until it was too late.
Red Sox’s Third Win
Time to go back to .500, babe!
I’d hate to tempt the baseball gods by saying this, but I think 3-3 should be enough to clinch a playoff spot. With Cleveland and Detroit looking to beat each other up, it’s gonna be tough for the club that takes the worst licks there to jump us. We’re tied record-wise with the Tigers heading into play on Tuesday, so if they lose this series to the Guards—and if they’re gonna lose, let’s hope they get swept—then they have some serious work to do on the road at our house. But again: the tiebreaker could bite us.
Another factor here to consider: the Houston Astros, who just got spanked in their house against the Seattle Mariners en route to falling behind in the AL West race. Boston holds the tiebreaker over them as well, essentially giving the Sox a 1.5 game advantage as the week begins. As Gordo from Play Tessie points out, a 3-3 Sox record means that Houston (or Cleveland, for that matter) would have to go 5-1 or 6-0 to end the year in order to leapfrog us.
Don’t pop the bubbly just yet (unless you can now, who knows!), but I’d be feeling good if you’ve gotten to this point.
Red Sox’s Fourth Win
Alright seriously: what are the odds of both Cleveland and Houston running the table? The odds of a coin flip being heads 12 consecutive times is 0.0244—or one out of 4,096. Given how the ‘Stros played this weekend, I’d say those are generous odds.
This means we either had a sweep towards the end of the year or we’ve won both sets of games—both are great outcomes! Given how messy the offense has been, given how nervous we’ve been due to their overall play as of late: credit to the guys for rising up to the occasion and giving us something to get excited about.
Red Sox’s Fifth Win
Alright, no if ands or doubts now: the Red Sox are going to the playoffs on the back of (at least) 90 wins.
My question is: did this happen in Game 161 or Game 162? If it’s the former: give everyone the day off. Let me go out there and pitch all nine innings, who cares? We’re probably going on the road for the Wild Card series anyways, and we want our guys ready to go. They’ll be hungover, anyways. Letting some season ticket holders play a legit game in the majors—and letting them take home a major league game check—would be one hell of a way to get them to renew for the 2026 season. Talk about season ticket perks.
Let them rest…….unless………………….there’s still a chance to hop the Yankees.
Man, could you imagine? What were the odds of us hosting the Wild Card series at this time a week ago, whenever you’re reading this? Probably a bit better than those 12 coin flips, sure, but even then! Let’s fuckin’ go!
Red Sox’s Sixth Win
What time do you think the parade’s gonna start in a few weeks? I hope it’s on a weekend. If so, I’d imagine it would be fairly early as to not have too many young drunkards on the T—not that there wouldn’t be a ton of young drunkards anyways for that event, but you gotta mitigate wherever you can.
Fuck it: I choose to believe that this means that we won the division and that we got a bye. Let me believe. See you in the ALDS, and eventually at the rolling rally!
Red Sox’s First Loss
Oh.
Red Sox’s Second Loss
Oh no.
Red Sox’s Third Loss
Oh please God don’t, no.
Red Sox’s Fourth Loss
OH NO.
Red Sox’s Fifth Loss
Red Sox’s Sixth Loss
So do we think that the Patriots can turn it around? I think Maye’s been solid enough so far, even with a few boneheaded plays here and there, but the turnovers are a problem. I’d like to see Henderson utilized a bit more, though his pass protection hasn’t been ideal. That’s disappointing—that was a strength of his coming out of Ohio State. I’m gonna need Gonzo back in the secondary, too. I don’t think a 9-8 year is totally off the table but man, they should be 2-1.
