I have always given ESPN anchor Stuart Scott a wide berth when it comes to things he "boo-yahs" about, but tonight his "vultures circling rant" about the Red Sox has me livid. I have never been one to attack his (Stuart's) lazy eye, his ridiculous rants or his "I am funny because I think I am funny" antics while sitting behind the desk at SportsCenter. But this past week, Scott announced the Buckeyes would lose to both Michigan and Texas-got my attention, I almost wrote a letter, and then tonight his "stick a fork in it" montage of let's show the Boston Massacre from 28-years ago and Part Deux this past weekend. Sure, the Evil Empire completed a 5-game sweep of the Red Sox in Fenway today beating the Sox 2-1 to increase their lead in the AL-East to 6 ½ games. But for the record, the last time New York had a 5-game sweep against Boston (@ Fenway) was in 1943. On the bright side, Manny Ramirez led the Sox in the series, 8 for 11 w/ 9-walks, 2-homers and 7 RBIs. Ramirez left today’s game in the 5th with a cramp in his right hammie, but he will return for the games against the Angels. Also, another bonus is that the Red Sox do have both Javier Lopez in the league, so we've got that going for us which is nice.
Mr. Scott, if you really wanted to be funny tonight you should have focused on comments made by Billionaire Boy Jerry Jones (GM, Owner and whatever other title he can give himself to satisfy his meglamania, of the Dallas Cowboys) as he was interviewed (by perhaps the worst three guys to call a game) tonight during the pre-season game against the New Orleans Saints. Jones not only can not pronounce the center-star Terrell Owens, but he pompously called Brett Favre, Joe Favre. My four-year old nephew knows that it is Brett Favre and not Joe Favre-JEEBUS! Jones is the Big D-Bag! And I don't mean Dallas as the Big D!
Great Expectations
Since becoming World Champions, the Red Sox are now expected (by the Red Sox Nation) to WIN! Once you come to terms with there never being a curse and realize that building a team around three things will win games: pitching, pitching and more pitching with a little bit of offense. What the Red Sox need are results, leadership and smart play, but the blame should not fall on the shoulders of just those in the dug-out. My contemporary, Theo Epstein (Boston's GM) and the rest of the front office should be taking most of the "blame" here. If Epstein is going to be consistent with his Billy Beane style of team building, then he should have picked up at least one lefty pitcher before the trade-deadline. Hey Theo, when a majority of the batters on your archrival Yankees are left-handed, it would be behoove of the front office to at least have one left-handed relief pitcher.
Results and Pitching
When your lead-off man, Coco Crisp goes 1 for 19, the Sabernomics of the situation call for someone else to step up to the plate for the first at bat. There is a definite problem when I can see that Jason Giambi and Bobby Abreu (both great fast ball hitters) can not hit the splitter thrown in on their hands while watching from my bed last night here in South Carolina, someone on the Red Sox pay-roll should be taking notice as well and giving the signal to the pitching staff that these guys can’t hit the inside-splitter. Pap had a hell of a game last night: he handled the pressure of a late inning bases-loaded situation, especially considering that he faced the most dangerous hitters in the Yankee line-up.
Leadership
Gabe Kapler, you are in the big leagues now son, get off your ass and make a move towards the ball. Had you committed to Jeter’s hit the game would have been over and you would be this week’s hero. With Jason riding the pine due to injuries, someone needs to step up and surgically remove some of these guy's heads from their posteriors. Also, Craig Hansen needs to use his time back in Pawtucket (PawSox) to work on his placement. Come on Hansie; don’t get upset that you’ve been demoted back to minors with an ERA of 11.32 & 13 earned runs in 10 1/3 innings you can’t just blame your performance last night for your downward spiral.
There's a lot more baseball to be played
The Red Sox have a lot of baseball left to play and they are not DOA. As Curt Schilling said, "Now is the time to see if they are pretenders or contenders." The Red Sox led the AL-East until the beginning of this month. They can regain their momentum and return to win the Wild-Card again this year. It may not be the Pennant, but they are still in it to win it. The Bushido will be in Boston to cash in a belated birthday present from the folks Labor Day weekend and if I have to break out the Justins to show the guys how to "Cowboy Up"-I will!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment