Crashing

It seems that the season is crashing around the Red Sox, much like September of last year. The team keeps saying they have a push in them, a streak is coming. I’m starting to think it’s all talk.

The Sox are currently 4 games below .500 and have a 3.1% chance of making the playoffs. They can’t seem to string together a winning streak more than 3, and even when they do that, they lose the next 3 or 4 games. This is a sub-500 team.

Part of me thinks the Sox could still make a push for it; and at the very least, make it interesting for the end of the season. After all, we all know how important game 162 can be. However, the Sox haven’t shown a real spark all season.

At the beginning of the season, I never though I would say I was more confident when Buchholz, Morales, or Doubront pitched than when Lester and Beckett pitched. Lester and Beckett were two of my favorite players for years (by contrast, Buchholz was always towards the bottom of my list). It’s frustrating to watch the “top two” pitchers in our rotation continue to flounder (minus Lester’s masterful performance on Sunday).

This team needs to get united and get a spark going. I think that’s what Gonzalez and Valentine tried doing last night when they were ejected. Gonzalez and Valentine were two of the key figures in all the “player’s only meeting” controversy this past week (if you haven’t read the YahooSports story, read at your own risk). My guess is Gonzalez and Valentine wanted to get ejected together; to show the haters that they are a united front despite what the media has been saying.

I still love my Sox. I still follow the games daily. I still have confidence in this team. But, there comes a time when reality sinks in. I would be happy if the Sox made push to finish at least 5 games over 500 and came in 3rd place in the AL East this season. Even this would be an accomplishment.