Getting paid for a day of work, when you didn't do any work? Now that's worth celebrating. Amid all the other reasons for enthusiasm over the past three months, the members of the Boston Red Sox's bench have found their own way to cheer themselves on even then they don't get into the game.
On Monday, eagle-eyed reporter Rob Bradford noticed Nick Sogard, Andruw Monasterio, Connor Wong, Nate Eaton and Jahmai Jones hopping around in a weird huddle outside the dugout after Boston's 5-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels. The choreography was rough, to say the least, but the dance has a sincere origin: They were celebrating a game in which things went so smoothly, they weren't needed. "The guys who don't start the game, we all kind of joked around ... if we don't get used and we win ... that means we killed it," Jones told Bradford.
"And (that) just became kind of like a little mini celebration as a joke." The Red Sox no longer appear to be the wagon they played like in July, but they're still as formidable a contender as any in the wide-open American League. They entered Tuesday on a five-game win streak and aren't out of striking distance for the No. 1 AL Wild Card spot, which would give them home-field advantage for all three games of the opening-round series against the New York Yankees. Players want to play, so it's rare to see any happy that they're not playing.
But the Red Sox have come together tightly enough to understand there's a bigger potential prize than individual playing time. Although it would certainly be a surprise to some if the Red Sox reached the World Series, the fact that the chance exists is something worth celebrating. More MLB: Angels Hit Embarrassing New Low in Wasted Mike Trout Era
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