I was at the grocery store semi-early this morning, around nine o'clock. I was wearing my Nike, Red Sox dri-fit shorts and a Majestic Red Sox shirt (both had very minimal logos and representation on them). I wasn't thinking too much about my appearance because Sundays are truly my day of rest... meaning, I usually throw on shorts and a t-shirt and piddle-paddle around the house all day.
Anyway, I was in the produce section when a guy approached me. He looked at me and simply said "The Red Sox are killing me this year." He was with another guy who was wearing a Patriots jersey (I'm 99% sure there are less Pats fans in Iowa than Red Sox fans). I shook my head sadly at these two guys and agreed. We said a few choice things about the Red Sox and the game yesterday (notably losing Cook to the DL) and went on our ways.
When the Red Sox lost to the Yankees two weeks ago, 15-9, blowing a 9-run lead, Bobby Valentine said the team had hit rock bottom. They then went on to win 6 games in a row on the road. However, the troubles seem to be haunting the Red Sox again. In the 6-game homestand, they lost 5 to the A's and O's. In fact, they have now lost 5 in a row... and this was supposed to be the easy part of the schedule.
As my brother put it today, the Red Sox need to be shaken up. Something needs to happen to get the team cracking. Of course, his proposal wouldn't fly. He suggested that the Red Sox get beer after the games when they win. If they win three in a row, they get fried chicken.
Something needs to happen though. It's gotten to the point where it's almost painful to watch the games anymore. Today's game started out painful (Buchholz... again), had some great moments (Middlebrooks game-tying grand slam, some great defensive plays by Pedroia in extras), but it never looked like the team was having fun or enjoying themselves. They seem to get exciting about good things happening, but they need more.
I don't know if they're still in the adjustment periods with Valentine (who is on my list, let me tell you- he should've kept Miller and Aceves in longer today), they're carrying over from last year's problems, if there's a problem in the clubhouse, or what. Something needs to happen. I know I keep repeating that, but the Red Sox need to get going. We're more than a month into the season. They need to get going and play like the team everyone knows they can play.
I understand that there's many of the starters on the DL (Crawford, Ellsbury, Youkilis, Bailey), but the Red Sox had a much worse time in 2010 with injuries (Ellsbury, Pedroia, Youkilis, Varitek, Drew). The 2010 team still played much better than the 2012 team. They had a sort of intensity and excitement to them. Even though they came in 3rd in the division, they still made it competitive and won 89 games. They were second only to the Yankees in runs scored, RBIs, and home runs.
Again, something needs to happen.
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