Anyone who blames this series on the Manny trade is a fool

Already the idiots are coming out...
People saying "See! You needed Manny!"

Now I've been one of Manny's biggest supporters and unlike most Red Sox fans, I'd have him back in a heart beat...

BUT the Red Sox didn't lose because Jason Bay was in the line up.
They lost because Josh Beckett got HAMMERED in game 2.
And Jon Lester got HAMMERED in game 3.
And Tim Wakefield got HAMMERED in game 4.

This should never have turned into a "Can they come back from a 3-1 hole?" series.

It's always about pitching.

In the come back of 2004, with all the emotion going the Red Sox way, the main reason they won wasn't because of ghosts being exorcised or the Yankees choking.

It was because Kevin Brown and Javier Lopez were the only two choices for game 7.
And they made sure it was 8-1 before you could say "Harry Frazee."

The starting pitching was horrific in games 2, 3, 4 and 5.
It took a comeback of historic proportions to go 1-4 in the middle games of the series.

THAT'S why they lost.

Not because of Manny.
Get that through your heads!