Epic collapses claim Red Sox, Braves

The newspaper headline said it all - "The Choke's On Us."The Boston Red Sox completed the greatest September collapse to miss the playoffs in Major League Baseball history with a 4-3 loss on Wednesday at Baltimore that combined with a Tampa Bay victory kept Boston from the playoffs. "This one is going to linger, folks, right up until the Red Sox win something meaningful again," the Boston Globe's Chad Finn wrote. "Last night was the denouement of a month's worth of horrendous performances from those who make up this $161 million roster, of all of the innings wasted by a lack of urgency, inspiration, and a shortage of timely pitching and hitting." Pained Red Sox supporters, who had been joyful at the Red Sox curse-ending World Series title in 2004 and the one that followed in 2007, called into local radio shows and vented their frustration at players, managers and the gods themselves at failing to reach the American League playoffs. "Truly unbelievable. This feels like revenge for 2004 and 2007," wrote Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy. "It is as if the baseball gods are punishing Red Sox Nation for hubris and arrogance and good times that seemed so good, so good, so good." The Red Sox went 7-20 in September, their worst record in the month since posting the same mark in 1952. "We'll go down in history as one of the worst collapses in history, so it definitely doesn't feel good to be part of that," Red Sox outfielder Carl Crawford said. "We had high expectations, and to fall short the way we did is definitely disappointing for us." Even the players were shaking their heads, unable to explain their epic failure. "It's just shocking," Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester said. "It's just one of those things. It wasn't meant to be. It wasn't our year." But as woeful as it was, the Red Sox collapse was not the only one to hit on Wednesday. The Atlanta Braves, who enjoyed an 8 1/2-game edge in their playoff fight, lost 4-3 at home to Philadelphia on Wednesday and missed the playoffs by a game thanks to St. Louis, which won in Houston to snag the final post-season spot. "It's definitely disappointing," Braves second baseman Dan Uggla said. "Whatever happened, we played our (rears) off all month. It just wasn't in the cards for us, I guess. It's a feeling of missed opportunity, disappointment. "The fact that we're going home now won't sit well with any of us." A six-month season was wasted in a single night. "We had it right there and we let it slip away for one reason or another," Braves third baseman Chipper Jones said. "That's a tough pill to swallow."