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Sunday, September 09, 2012
To avoid fainting, repeat: “It’s only a game…It’s only a game…”
The Red Sox struggles continued, with their starting pitching letting them down again. This time it was Daisuke Matsuzaka’s 1 1/3 inning outing doing the damage, with the hurler allowing five runs while throwing just 42 pitches. The end result was a 9-2 win for the Blue Jays Saturday night in a game that included two rain delays.
With the loss the Red Sox drop to 63-77 and have lost 10 of their last 11 games, and 15 of their last 19. The Red Sox starters have a 5.90 ERA since Aug. 1, and 9.98 ERA in their last 10 games. They have also pitched four or fewer innings five times in that 10-game stretch.
The Sox could never dig out from the hole dug by Matsuzaka, which included the righty allowing all five of his runs in the second inning. He was replaced by Alfredo Aceves, who pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings before having to shut it down because of the first rain delay.
Repoz
Posted: September 09, 2012 at 09:18 AM | 27 comment(s)
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1. Answer Guy Posted: September 09, 2012 at 10:07 AM (#4230846)The fantasy scenario is the Yankees, Orioles, and Rays entering the last weekend of the season tied atop the division. The Red Sox sweep they Yankees while the Rays-Os series goes 2-1. Then the Yankees lose a 1 game playoff to Oakland for the final spot in the Wild Card game. (Finally Oakland almost runs the table before losing to Pittsburgh in the World Series.)
If it leads to both the Yankees missing the playoffs and the Red Sox finishing behind the Jays, fantastic.
(alternate fantasy scenario : the final weekend series against the Yankees ends up with a clusterf*ck playoff situation (Rays, O's, Yankees, A's all tied with the same record))
This team both simultaneously proves that chemistry and momentum do and don't exist at the same time. They are Shrodinger's Baseball Team.
Ortiz
WMB
Lackey
Atchison
Not insignificant, but that added to 'a pile of money' owned by incompetents doesn't fill me with optimism.
I use the '67 pennant as something of a line of demarcation, the end of their last extended period of being perennial doormats. They've had a bad year or even two every so often since then, but Sox fans haven't had to endure a long stretch in the wilderness in the last 45 years. All the legends about Fenway Park being a revered temple of baseball, Red Sox fans being among the best fans in sports, Boston tickets being difficult to obtain, etc. only really date back to 1967.(And of course there were even times post-67 where tickets were readily available and affordable.)
Absolutely. If you are going to go down, might as well go down in flames. Because #### Valentine.
Amazingly, if they lose 90 games, it will be the first time in 46 years they have done so.
Minnesota and Cleveland are going to be tough to catch. They suck bad.
That's baseball.
My fantasy scenario would be with the division title on the line in the last game of the season in Yankee Stadium, Lester throws wild to first on a pickoff attempt of Jeter. Jeter tries to stretch it to third, and Li'l Petunia fires the ball right into the outstretched glove of Jeffrey Maier, who gleefully waves the ball into the TV camera for Orioles fans to see, while Jeter trots home with the division-winning run. Lester and Petunia then have a lovers' quarrel in the clubhouse while Valentine furiously copies down notes for his future bestselling tell-all memoir, which poisons the air so much that the Red Sox discover that only Don Zimmer will agree to manage them in 2013.
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The Red Sox have not finished last place in the American League since 1932. That's an AL record (the Cardinals hold the NL record, which is also current--they haven't taken last in their league since 1918).
Don't feel too much like a martyr. If it hadn't been for this one little 12-inning game in 1924, the Red Sox would hold the all time record with nine straight last place finishes.
If it's proven leadership that the Red Sox are after, they can also toss a ton of money to Bobby Cox. Or Tony LaRussa? Tommy LaSorda? Maybe Joe Torre? Player/Manager Dustin Pedroia? Who knows? While all of the above may be more likely than a 2nd season for Bobby V., brining back Valentine would be the most entertaining option.
I vote for bringing in Ozzie Guillen to clean up the Augean stables.
Crawford doesn't hurt his elbow and
He has enough of an average season to keep the Sox in long enough
To keep him, Beckett and AGon on the Sox
Which means Vin Scully decides to retire.
Which means the Sox don't have three straight seasons under .500
Henry doesn't sell the Sox
and in 10 years the new ownership doesn't start clamoring for a new stadium to keep up with the rest of the league.
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