The 2018 Red Sox were ‘All In’

The most symbolic anecdote from what emerged as the greatest Red Sox team ever took place after, of all things, a loss.

That’s surprising considering how rare it was for this 2018 juggernaut to lose — just 54 times in the regular season and only three in October on the way to its remarkable fourth World Series championship in just 15 years.

But it would have been cool to be a fly on the wall of manager Alex Cora’s office at Dodger Stadium following that agonizing, 3-2, 18-inning loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 3 of the World Series.

It was a game that took seven hours and 20 minutes to play — the longest in World Series history by innings and time. Ian Kinsler had the winning out in his hand in the 13th inning and instead threw the ball away. It seemed like a loss from a different Red Sox lifetime, say, for example, 1986. Typically, it is the type of game that buoys the team that wins it and crushes the one that loses it.