It ain’t over ‘til it’s over. (But it’s over.)

This past season, I didn’t watch as much baseball as I usually do. For one thing, there has been just too much going on politically to distract me. For another, the Red Sox -  my lifelong boys of summer – have been spectacularly unfun and lackluster. Oh, I’ve certainly seen worse teams. After all, I’ve been a fan for over 60 years, and there were some doozies back in the day. But there was something especially disheartening about this edition. No, I didn’t expect this year to be a replica of last year, when they had a brilliant ultra-winning season and ended up World Series Champs. But they did have the highest payroll in baseball, and for that you expect something a little better than .500-ish ball. Especially when their ticket costs are ultra-gouging.

It ain’t over ‘til it’s over, but me of little faith realized by Patriots Day, when I saw my first game at Fenway, that this year was heading for a crud fest.

I was right.

I saw about a half-dozen in-person games this year, and mostly they lost.

They did manage to redeem themselves a bit on Sunday, when I was at Fenway with my sister Trish and niece Molly for the final game of the season.

It looked at many points as if the Sox were heading for an L, which would have been especially disappointing, given that pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez was looking for his 20th W of the season. Rodriguez has been the one bright spot in the starting rotation, churning out a reliable set of outings. Which is more than you can say for the kazillion dollar pitchers that are bulking up the payroll.

Alas, Matt Barnes blew Rodriguez’s narrow lead in the 8th, and Eduardo didn’t get that W. Better luck next year. (And, yes, I did boo Barnes, as did most of the fed up Fenway Faithful.)

It must be noted that the Red Sox opponents this past weekend were the hapless Baltimore Orioles, possessors of the second-worst record in baseball this year. Only the Detroit Tigers were worse. Despite Baltimore’s dismal record, they had managed to drub the Sox on both Friday and Saturday. So the least the Red Sox could do was eke out a meaningless win in the final meaningless game of a meaningless series.

When Trish bought these tickets last February, we were much looking forward to the new season. What might that last game have held? A clinch game in a tight race for division champion? A shot at a Wild Card slot? Or a “we knew it all along” fat-cat game in which we would just lean back and enjoy watching our boys before they started the post-season?

Ah, but no.

Nonetheless, the game was not without its pleasures. No baseball game ever is, even the ones where it’s 40 degrees out. There is ALWAYS something.

In this game, there was a spectacular catch by an Orioles outfielder whose name I’ve forgotten already. (I looked it up: Stevie Wilkerson.) And just as I was ready, willing, and able to boo Matt Barnes, I was ready, willing and able to cheer Wilkerson for his stunning catch. Even though it robbed Jackie Bradley, Jr., of a home run.

And then there was the walk-off (slide-off?) Red Sox win in the 9th, when Mookie Betts scored from first, with a head-first slide, on a single from Rafael Devers. Yes, the ball was muffed by the Orioles, but Mookie is also a speed-demon and an all-heart ballplayer.

From the cheers of the crowd – pretty much a sell-out, with most fans hanging in until the end on what was a pitch-perfect late September day – and the dugout clearing reception for Mookie, you’d have thought the Red Sox had actually clinched something.

The moment is all the more bittersweet, given that the Red Sox are already making noises about letting Mookie go.

IMHO, this would be a BIG mistake. To me, he’s the heart and soul of the team and one of a handful of players that I’d hang on to. But no one’s making me GM and the Red Sox have a sky-high payroll, bloated by the foolish contracts they gave to some do-nothing pitchers. And if they deal Mookie this year, they’ll get something in return. I hope they realize that the something in return will be offset by fan displeasure that such a brilliant and likable ballplayer, who’s been with the Sox throughout his still-young career, is seen as expendable. (Aren’t they all…)

I wasn’t going to buy anything afterwards. I already have enough caps, enough tee-shirts, an aging but still serviceable fleece. In fact I have so many tee-shirts that I was willing to part with the World Series related shirt (“Damage Done”) mid-season. I gave it away in disgust at the way the team was playing, but it did make a guest at St. Francis House quite happy.

While I wasn’t in any particular buying mode, I was so cheered up by Mookie’s ending play that I paid an inordinate amount for a fleece that I don’t need. (China blue. Very pretty.) I hope some of that money goes to keeping Mookie on the Old Towne Team.

Maybe I’ll wear it while watching the playoffs. Which I will do, even though I feel more strongly about the root against teams (Yankees, Dodgers) than I do about the root for teams (Twins, Brewers) that are still playing ball in October.

But watch I will, with at least half an eye, even though the distractions on the save-the-nation front are even more powerful now than they were earlier in the season.

As for the Red Sox, they haven’t yet posted the date when (over-priced) pitchers and catchers report for Spring Training, but it’s somewhere in early February. So, another 130, 140 days until things get moving. (Fewer than that until the truck gets moving to Florida on Truck Day.)

Wait until next year.