The Season: The defending World Series champions were solid all season long, and spent much of the first half of the season in first place. They slumped a bit in July and fell behind the Rays; at the end of the month they put an end to the Manny Ramirez Era, dealing Manny to the Dodgers while acquiring Jason Bay from the Pirates. Bay did fine, batting .293 with nine homers, 37 RBI in 49 games.

Despite an 18-9 record in August and 16-10 record in September, the Sox couldn't catch the Rays, and ended up winning the Wild Card. For the second year in a row they beat up on the Angels in the ALDS; however, in the LCS they were the ones that took a beating. The upstart Rays won a Game 2 thriller in extra innings, then crushed the Sox in games 3 and 4, and took a 7-0 lead in Game 5.

The Red Sox, however, have become famous for their postseason comebacks, and they tried it one more time. They rallied in Game 5, scoring eight runs over the final three innings. They followed up with a 4-2 victory in Game 6. But this time, they fell a little short, losing 3-1 in Game 7.

High Point: The Game 5 comeback against Tampa Bay.

Positive Trends: The reigning Rookie of the Year, 24-year-old Dustin Pedroia, began his sophomore season quietly. But he was a monster over the final four months, batting .353 from June onwards, and finished with stunning MVP-type numbers (.326 average, 54 doubles, 17 homers, 118 runs scored, 83 RBI, 20 steals in 21 attempts)

Another 24-year-old, Jon Lester, had his first full season in the rotation, and was one of the best pitchers in the league (16-6, 210 innings, 3.21 ERA)

23-year-old rookie Justin Masterson had nine solid starts early in the season, then finished strong in the bullpen. He had a very good postseason, mostly pitching in the 8th inning.

24-year-old rookie Jed Lowrie was decent enough, both with the bat and the glove, that he will likely be the starting shortstop in 2009.

Pleasant Surprises: Kevin Youkilis has raised his batting average every year of his career. He took his game to another level in 2008, batting .312 with 29 homers, 115 RBI.

After a disappointing first season in Boston, J.D. Drew returned to form with solid numbers. He was an MVP candidate the first half of the season (.302 average, 17 homers, 55 RBI). He also hit two monster homers in the postseason.

After a solid first season in Boston, Daisuke Matsuzaka went 18-3, and was third in the AL with a 2.90 ERA. He was also wild as hell, and rarely pitched beyond the 6th inning, and remains something of an enigma.

Disappointments: David Ortiz was hampered for much of the season with a partially torn tendon in his left wrist. He spent most of June and July on the DL; he was OK when he came back, but was struggling at the end, and with the exception of one swing had a miserable postseason. He batted .264 with 23 homers, 89 RBI.

Jacoby Ellsbury struggled for much of the summer, and hit well below expectations; he also went hitless in the ALCS against Tampa. He ended up batting .280, and led the AL with 50 stolen bases.

Josh Beckett began the year on the DL with back spasms, then struggled later in the season with an elbow strain and an oblique strain. He went 12-10 with a 4.03 ERA, and clearly wasn't himself in the postseason.

Superprospect Clay Buchholz had a miserable season, going 2-9 with a 6.75 ERA and making a trip to the DL with a broken fingernail.

The Predictable: After his tremendous first half of the season, J.D. Drew had his second half ruined by a herniated disc in his back.

Jason Varitek turned 36, and caught his 1200th game in the majors; like many catchers at the same point in their careers, his bat died (.220, 13 homers). He was also a miserable 4-for-34 in the postseason - but had one huge home run, and that wouldn't be a bad way to end one's career.

Tim Wakefield, now 41, threw 180 innings, won ten games (10-11) and had an above-average ERA (4.13).

Jon Papelbon saved 41 games with a 2.34 ERA, 77 K's and only 8 walks in 69 innings.

Mike Timlin appeared to finally hit the wall at age 42 (5.66 ERA in 49 innings).

Manny was being Manny.

Epitaph: This isn't really a "post-mortem", of course, because they're not really dead; they're more like The Golem, slumbering for the moment but sure to be resurrected. With their lethal combination of 24-year-old stars and experienced veterans, it's hard to imagine that the Red Sox will not be contenders in 2009.

They're a wonderfully balanced team; they have power and walks, of course, but also the top base-stealer in the league and a couple of batting title contenders. They have lefties and righties, young guys and old guys; they have a classic right-handed power pitcher in Beckett, a classic three-pitch lefty in Lester, a classic "What they fuck was that?" pitcher in Dice-K, the league's only functioning knuckleballer, a classic power closer and so on.

They need a new starting catcher and a 5th starter, and maybe a few other tweaks, but otherwise are in great shape (and now that I've written that, they'll probably spend $200 million on God Knows what).