Through 162--What Say You?

A lot of the focus at this time of year is, for good reason, on the upcoming playoffs. But now is also a great time to take a look back at the season. After all of the ups and downs, the Red Sox came in at 95-67, the third best record in the American League. They got some very exciting performances, including Jacoby Ellsbury’s shattering of the team’s SB record, another sub-2.00 ERA out of Jonathan Papelbon (ho hum), and great partial seasons from trade acquisitions Victor Martinez and Alex Gonzalez. On the negative side of the ledger, Daisuke Matsuzaka was terrible briefly and then gone for most of the season, Jed Lowrie couldn’t stay healthy, David Ortiz’s season was--in sum--lousy, and Manny Delcarmen finally lived down the expectations of the fans. Overall, despite my frustration with the approach at times, I thought this was a pretty good season. What was your take?