Hi there. I could have spent the last several days lamenting the state of the Boston Red Sox. I could have dissected that incredibly frustrating Yankees series. I could have ranted about the pathetic 3 game sweep at the hands of the Blue Jays. I could have questioned coaching decisions and general game management. I could have broken down the poor performance of the bullpen of late. I could have chosen to ignore all this and talk about the rest of the sporting world. I could have talked about the Patriots, VideoGate (a dead horse) or the continuing woes of Rodney Harrison (*sigh*), or even this weekend's game against the Bills (an easy W by the way). I could have discussed the impending start of Celtics training camp and how bright this season looks (make room for a new banner), or even my thoughts on the training camp trip to Europe. I could have talked about how great UMass football looks (dominated Towson, big game tomorrow against Maine), or about the upcoming basketball season and how we have games scheduled at the Cage and against AIC (hellooooooo 1957!!!!). Hell, I even could have mentioned that the Boston Bruins played a pre-season game last night (which, predicatably, they lost), not that anyone cares. Yes, there are all these things that I could have talked about this week, but I didn't. Because sometimes in life it is best to just Go Dark. Like during an air raid. Or when your favorite baseball team is on the verge of a collapse to rival one that happened in a year I refuse to mention.
Look, the Red Sox are going to make the playoffs, barring something more tragic than any Shakespeare play. And last time I checked, everybody starts the playoffs with the same record. They may very well still win the division. We ARE still in first place, despite what it has felt like here in New England over the last week. And for those of you who have short-term memory loss, the 2004 Red Sox were the AL Wild Card entry, and we all know how that turned out. Still I can't help but face the next 10 days with some sense that we have to make a little run, something more symbolic than statistically significant. I'd love to see Manny being Manny, a few good measure homers from Big Papi, and some dominating performances from Becks, Dice-K and Big Schill. I'd love to see J.D. Drew benched in favor of Jacoby Ellsbury. Conventional wisdom tells me that this won't happen, and while I loathe the conventional, I admit I understand it. Papi needs to rest that knee, Manny needs to be 100% for the play-offs and the bullpen needs some R & R. When (yes, I said when) the Red Sox clinch a playoff spot this weekend, expect to see a lot of minor leaguers on the field for the Oakland and Minnesota series. Prepare yourself for the distinct possibility that the Evil Empire will take the AL East crown for the 8 billionth season in a row. While I would love to grab that banner, to break the choke-hold, eleven days from now it won't matter. Honestly, there is only ONE thing that matters now. There is only one way that this Red Sox season can be measured as a success. My friends in Philly will surely disagree, but there is no success for the Sox in 2007 without one fitting occassion. We do not build teams to hold "the most days in first place". We built this team for one purpose...
The 2007 World Series.
Keep The Faith, Red Sox Nation.
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