The Boston Red Sox do a Rasputin impersonation

Why did the Red Sox remind me of the mad monk, Grigori Rasputin last night?

I should explain.

When the Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich and his henchmen felt that Rasputin had become too powerful in the Russian court, they decided it was time to kill him.

So on December 16, 1916, Rasputin was lured into Prince Felix Yusupov's palace and was poisoned, shot at least four times, beaten with chains and thrown into the ice filled Neva River.

His body was found 3 days later. A coroner looked at his body and determined the cause of death was drowning! He survived all of that and would have lived if he got out of the river!

They killed Rasputin, but it took a lot more than they expected.

Kind of like the Red Sox last night.

I saw the Red Sox let the Rays tie the game in the 8th while checking my cellphone. Then the MLB ticker on my phone listed the score as 3-2 Tampa in the 8th.

I shut it off in disgust, had dinner with my family and took a walk with them. The Sox were dead.

During our walk, I checked my MLB ticker again. It was 2-2 in the 10th. I did a double take.

They didn't come back. A run was taken away. MLB.com listed the score incorrectly. They were still alive.

A little further on the walk I saw the Rays had loaded the bases with nobody out. Ugh... I turned off the ticker again.

I went to bed without checking the scores. 

This morning I looked at the scoreboard. The Red Sox had indeed lost... but they survived the bases loaded nobody out jam in the 10th!

The agony lasted until the 13th! It took all of those attempts to finally kill them!

And Rasputin drowned in the Nuva River!

A good omen? The defending World Champions in 1916? The Red Sox!

Sadly I need to update the tally.

DODGED A BULLET GAMES - 14

April 17 - 10-8 win against Orioles. (Overcame 7-0 deficit.)

April 24 - 5-4 win against Yankees. (Bay homers off of Rivera in 9th to tie it.)

April 25 - 16-11 win against Yankees. (Overcame 6-0 deficit.)

April 29 - 6-5 win at Cleveland. (Overcame 5-0 deficit.)

May 12 - 4-3 win at Anaheim. (Down 3-1 in the 8th.)

June 11 - 4-3 win against Yankees. (Down 3-1 in the 8th. Rallied against Sabathia.)

June 12 - 5-2 win at Philadelphia. (Overcame Ryan Howard's 9th inning shot to win in 13)

June 21 - 6-5 win against Atlanta. (The wind turns Nick Green's fly ball into a walk off shot)

June 27 - 1-0 win at Atlanta. (Masterson and Papelbon wiggle out of late jams.)

July 1 - 6-5 win at Baltimore. (Sox score 4 in the 9th and Lugo wins in in the 11th)

July 8 - 5-4 win against Oakland. (Wind keeps Hairston's 9th inning go ahead homer in the ballpark)

July 10 - 1-0 win against Kansas City. (Pedroia drives in the only run with 2 outs in the 8th.)

July 30 - 8-5 win against Oakland. (Ortiz tests postive then hits a 2 out 3 run go ahead homer.)

July 31 - 6-5 win at Baltimore. (Youk's 2 run homer saves Smoltz from another bad start.)

TEETH GRINDER GAMES - 17

April 14 - 6-5 loss at Oakland. (Sox blow early 3-0 lead. Lose in 12)

April 28 - 9-8 loss at Cleveland. (Sox blow early 5-1 lead. Lopez drops 3rd out.)

May 14 - 5-4 loss at Anaheim. (Ortiz goes 0-7 stranding 12 runners.)

May 15 - 5-4 loss at Seattle. (Red Sox blow their second 4-0 lead in three days.)

May 17 - 3-2 loss at Seattle. (Red Sox strand two in the 9th. Lose in the bottom of the 9th.)

May 23 - 3-2 loss to the Mets. (Papelbon lets up a 2 out 2 run homer in the 9th to Omir Santos)

June 18 - 2-1 loss to the Marlins. (Rain washes out a tight game after 5+ innings.)

June 28 - 2-1 loss to the Braves. (Tying run on base in the 9th. Solid Penny outing wasted)

June 30 - 11-10 loss at Baltimore. (The Red Sox blow a late 10-1 to the lowly Orioles.)

July 3 - 7-6 loss to Seattle. (Red Sox comeback in the 8th only to lose in the 11th.)

July 4 - 3-2 loss to Seattle. (Saito walks three in the 9th as the Mariners rally to win)

July 9 - 8-6 loss to the Royals. (Bullpen blows early 4-0 lead.)

July 21 - 4-2 loss at Texas. (Beckett loses a complete game and the Yankees take over first.)

July 22 - 3-1 loss at Texas. (Sox are swept for the first time all season.)

July 28 - 9-8 loss to Oakland. (Sox blow 3 run lead in 9th. A's rally with 2 outs in 9th and 11th.)

July 29 - 8-6 loss to Oakland. (Down 5-0 in the first, Sox comeback falls short)

August 4 - 4-2 loss in Tampa Bay. (Longoria hits 13th inning walk off with first base open.)

Back down to -3.

I don't want to be down 1 1/2 going into the Bronx!

By the way, many great actors have played Rasputin but the best was Tom Baker in the inexplicably underrated Nicholas and Alexandra.

Tom Baker by the way was Dr. Who in the 70s and 80s and the only Dr. Who I remember.