There has to be something symbolic about the Boston Red Sox’s threatened collapse in the playoff race and the arrest of Manny Ramirez for allegedly hitting his wife at their Florida home. I just don’t know what it is.

Even though Ramirez hasn’t played for the Red Sox since July 31, 2008, he remains, in my mind at least, associated with them more than any other team.

They were not his first team; Cleveland was. But he played with the Red Sox for as many seasons, eight, as he played for the Indians. He hit more home runs and drove in more runs for the Red Sox. And most significantly he helped the Red Sox win two World Series, performing as the most valuable player in the first, the one that ended the team’s 86-year drought.

So there was Manny being Manny and being arrested Monday, certainly one of the low points of his life, and that evening the Tampa Bay Rays beat Baltimore and sliced the Red Sox wild-card lead over them to three games.

Only three days earlier that lead had been six and a half games, but the relentless Rays swept a three-game weekend series between them.

That’s when people began thinking the unthinkable: Could the Red Sox, who had fallen behind the New York Yankees in the division race, now slip ever farther and not make the playoffs at all? Commissioner Bud Selig, after all, has not yet declared “there shalt be a second wild-card team in each league.”

The Yankees, remember, did not make the playoffs in 2008 because the Rays took their place, and the Rays usurped the Red Sox spot last year.

Given the proximity of that dreaded experience, Boston fans could not be totally ignorant to the prospect of having it happen again. But hold on a minute, didn’t the guys who run the Red Sox take a vow that they wouldn’t let that happen again?

Some people take oaths in blood; the Red Sox hierarchy took its oath in blood money, plenty of it. Usually, the Red Sox owners spend to keep up with the Yankees, but last winter they spent to insure a post-season spot.

They spent millions and millions, many millions, to sign Adrian Gonzalez ($154 million), Carl Crawford ($142 million) and others for lesser sums, pledging each dollar to a post-season appearance.

When the Red Sox were finished spending, they had a $161.4 million payroll, third highest in the majors. To be fair to the Red Sox spending ways, that payroll was actually lower – by $1.3 million – than last year, when it was second highest.

In each instance, though, the Red Sox payroll was $40 million or so below the Yankees, whom the Red Sox, no matter what they spend, will never catch in the payroll standings. Their owners will never be that financially outrageous.

What they want to do, though, is finish ahead of the Yankees in the American League East. In the last two weeks, though, they have to make sure they don’t finish behind the Rays.

How would their fans react if they were to fail to get to the post-season? I asked an old friend of mine who has lived in the Boston area most of his adult life.

“Ah, what a grim prospect if the Sox September Swoon continues downhill,” he replied in an e-mail.

“I would predict that if they don’t make the playoffs, half of Red Sox fans would head for the nearest bar to drown their sorrow / dismay. The other half would probably decide not to make that trip next year to Fort Myers for spring training.”

I would guess the reaction of some fans could be more severe. I am not suggesting they would leap from one of the many bridges that cross the Charles River, but they would feel like taking the plunge.

What has brought the Red Sox to the juncture where another Rays’ sweep of their series would leave them tied for the wild card? Entering their four-game series in Boston beginning Wednesday night, Boston led Tampa Bay by four games. A Rays sweep, unlikely though it may be, would leave the teams with the same 86-66 records with only 10 games left, none against each other.

As the season calendar turned to September, the Red Sox were in first place, a game and a half ahead of the Yankees, a seemingly insurmountable nine games in front of the Rays. But a 4-2 loss to the Yankees at Fenway Park Sept. 1 started the Red Sox on their way to a stretch in which they lost 10 of 13 games, their small lead over the Yankees and their large lead over the Rays.

A little history, courtesy of Elias Sports Bureau:

After games of Aug. 7, the Rays lagged in the wild-card race by 10 games, which was their largest wild-card deficit of the season. Three teams have won the wild card after falling 10 or more games behind: the 2001 Oakland Athletics (from 10 games back), the 2003 Florida Marlins (11 1/2 games), the 2005 Houston Astros (11 1/2 games).

Those Marlins went on to win the National League pennant and beat the Yankees in the World Series. Those Marlins also had a $48 million payroll, ranking 26th among the 30 major league teams. The Yankees’ $128 million, of course, was No. 1.

This year’s Rays would be the equivalent of those Marlins. After shedding some of their best and certainly highest-paid players (Crawford, for one) last winter, the Rays set out this year to do battle with the Yankees and the Red Sox with a $42 million payroll, second lowest in the majors only to Kansas City’s $36 million.

That the Rays are still in position, with two weeks left in the season, to get to the post-season is a testament to their front-office operation headed by Andrew Friedman and Gerry Hunsicker and to their manager, Joe Maddon.

That the Red Sox are struggling to get to the post-season and could still miss it is a testament to the reality that copying or trying to keep up with the Yankees isn’t necessarily the answer.

Should the Red Sox go home after the season for the second straight year, the Red Sox may be wise to look at the Rays as a role model instead of the Yankees.

Remember, though, that the Rays might have benefited from a lucky break. They signed Ramirez – that’s right, Manny – as a free agent last Feb. 1.

However, he played in only 5 games (1-for-17) before he was found to have tested positive for a banned substance and incurred an automatic 100-game suspension for a second violation. He opted to retire rather than serve the suspension.