The Cud | October 2, 2026
The Boston Red Sox got swept by the Yankees in the Wild Card Series.
It hurt.
But I’m not going to let two games erase what happened over the previous five months.
When Chad Tracy was called up from Triple-A Worcester to replace Alex Cora, he inherited a team sitting at 10–17. The Red Sox were going nowhere.
Then something happened.
Tracy brought energy. Young players came up from the minors. Kids who weren’t supposed to be carrying a Major League team suddenly were. And somehow, this collection of veterans, rookies and Triple-A call-ups turned a miserable season into one hell of a ride.
They made baseball exciting again.
Then came October.
And Chad Tracy looked like what he is: a first-year Major League manager experiencing postseason baseball for the first time.
Against the Yankees, his quick hook with his starting pitchers hurt.
In Game 1 , Tracy went to the hook early.
Sonny Gray was pulled with two outs in the fifth after only 70 pitches. Gray wanted the baseball. He believed he should have been trusted to keep pitching.
In Game 2, Payton Tolle was pulled with two outs in the fifth after 83 pitches. Boston was down only 1–0. Erik Miller came in, and the Yankees immediately made Tracy pay for the decision.
Again, Tracy turned to the bullpen.
Again, it didn’t work.
Those decisions deserve criticism.
But they also deserve perspective.
Across the field was Aaron Boone, a manager with years of Major League experience and a Yankees organization that has never been afraid to spend money to compete. Right now, the Yankees simply have the better team.
That’s baseball.
What interests me now isn’t what Chad Tracy did wrong in his first postseason.
It’s what he learned from it.
Chad Tracy took over a team that looked dead and helped get it to October. He did it with a roster that, at times, seemed like half of Worcester had been given directions to Fenway Park.
And it was exciting as hell to watch.
Now Tracy has something he didn’t have when he walked into that Major League clubhouse:
Experience.
A Major League season.
A pennant race.
October baseball.
And the sting of getting swept by the New York Yankees.
I’ll take that into next year.
Because sometimes the most valuable thing a young manager can carry into the following season isn’t a trophy.
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