Been A Long Ten Days!
Well, as the header says, it's been ten days since the last commentary. In that time, the Hose have dropped four games below breakeven, only reclaiming one of those games tonight against the no longer surprising O's. We're now 3 under with 43 to play. Vee keeps saying he thinks the team will get hot and be in the playoffs, but what else can he say? I hope he's right, but have no good feeling about it. It seems that under his stewardship the individual players, with the exception of our two leading starters, are doing reasonably well--maybe even playoffs well. The Sox are among the leaders in runs scored, have a number of regular players above .300, and had, until Papi's achilles went south, the possibility of at least a pair of 100 ribbie players. The pen,, post-April, has looked better than average most of the time, and Aceves has, as a throwin for the closer, had a season that pretty much matches that of his predecessor from last year (Papelbon if you've already erased your memory bank), albeit with a substantially higher ERA.
Yet every time it looks as if the Sox are about to do something--anything, someone blows a play that turns a game (last night's throwing error by our starter on what would have been an inning-ending DP and instead was the start of a five run O's inning, for example), or someone gets injured and is on the DL. I thought the injury list from 2010 was bad, and it DID cost the team the post-season. But the number of guys on the DL this year so far is the highest in several decades of Hose History and by far the worst in MLB this year. Papi does well, injures his achilles. Dice starts on the DL, finally gets well, has a bad outing and is immediately back on the DL. The Dustman has been on it, and when he goes to the DL you know it's bad because this is a guy you almost have to shoot and then put in a strait jacket to get off the field. He's the top competitor you can find anywhere! No question! Crawford starts on the DL, finally comes back and is a leading candidate to either go back on it or have surgery after the season. Bailey is supposed to be the new closer back in April and tears a thumb ligament and just a couple of days ago got back into uniform. Ellsbury, one of the top players in the MVP race last year blows out his shoulder the first week of the season and only gets back in late July. All very frustrating. Could the Sox yet contend for October? Yes, at least mathematically, but with every passing day, I feel more and more like I'm following the Sox of 1965 or '66. Of course, they finally got moving in '67 with the "Impossible Dream" season that ended in a seven game Series against the Cards.
Day before yesterday a group of the players apparently went to Larry and the Owner to complain and, according to management, a lot of things were discussed, everyone supports Vee (hard to believe from where I'm sitting), and they're hopeful things will turn around to save the season.
It's true that Lester finally pitched like the guy we expected him to be, K'ing a dozen in his last outing and getting the win, and Bucky looked good after a shaky start tonight, keying the Sox win over the O's. But time's getting short. It's mid-August--time to move or forget about it.
Speaking of tonight, the Hose had 13 hits, of which five were two-baggers. Gonzo continued his recent surge, adding on a pair of ribbies, which, at 82, keeps him among the league leaders. Imagine if he'd been healthy all year! Ciriaco got another hit and stole his seventh base, while Crawford continues to look more and more like he's worth at least some of that money he extracted from Theo's wallet last year. Two for five tonight with a double, a swipe and a couple of runs scored. Dusty was two for five and Ross got three of his five at bats, each including a double. I don't know. Can they do it? It's possible, but they can't continue the way this season has gone so far. They need to win five or six in a row, then if they lose one, do another half dozen--a few times in a row. Starting tomorrow against the Stripes. Can't think of a better team to get going against if they're going to at all.