If polls on the Internet are as important as we all think and know they are (answer: very), then the Red Sox fans have officially thrown the towel in on the 2010 season.
With 276 votes cast in a poll at Over the Monster, SB Nation's Red Sox blog, 86 percent are saying that no, the Red Sox will not make the playoffs this season.
Eighty-six, ey? I don't like that number.
The poll was created after the Red Sox lost game three to the Rays on Sunday night, so maybe the aftershock still hadn't worn from fans' minds, but the poll can still not be discounted. After all the injuries and the close loses and the overall just lackluster season, fans are done and think the Sox are, too.
Mathematically, of course, the Red Sox aren't finish. They still have a chance. It's a slim chance, but it's a chance nonetheless. (If we want to be exact, 5.7 percent.) But it's going to take a lot for the Red Sox to climb out of this hole to make October. And to make matters worse, it really isn't in Boston's hands either: the Yankees or Rays have to do their part too and completely fall out of the race in the last month.
The towel is sitting on the turnbuckle, but it isn't sitting on the mat just yet.