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Red Sox Report (8/28/2003) There is a point in every baseball season where, as Red Sox fans, we are forced to come to the realization that “it is not our year.” The team’s misfortune, whether it be of their own doing of not, simply becomes too much to overcome. Sometimes the reality sets in before the All Star break. Usually it happens in late August or September. It can even happen in the tenth inning of Game Six of the World Series. For me, the reality set in last Tuesday after the Red Sox bullpen blew a late inning, two-run lead to the A’s for the second night in a row in the most important series of the year. On Monday, the Sox were cruising behind Derek Lowe’s best start of the year. But Lowe developed a blister that forced him to leave the game after six innings and only 78 pitches. Sauerbeck and Williamson were pressed into action early and couldn’t hold the lead. The A’s won the game 3-2 despite getting only three hits the whole night. On Tuesday, the Sox banged out 17 hits (and had 24 total baserunners), but lost 8-6 when Byung-Hyun Kim couldn’t hold a two-run eighth inning lead. Kim had been brilliant in the closer’s role since joining the Sox, but his magic disappeared when the Sox needed it most. The Sox gave up three hits on Monday - and lost. They had 17 hits on Tuesday – and lost. Only the Sox are capable of “accomplishing” something like that. Meanwhile, the Yankees (or as I like to call them the Luckees) continue to win by accident. On Saturday, the Yankees won because of a baserunning blunder by the Orioles in the ninth inning as Jack Cust stumbled a few feet away from an uncovered home plate (the would-be tying run). On Tuesday, the Royals bailed out a suddenly ultra-hittable Mariano Rivera in the ninth inning when Carlos Beltran wasn’t paying attention to the runner in front of him and was caught scrambling back to second base. The Yankees gave up 17 hits and won on the same night that the Red Sox had 17 hits and lost. Hollywood couldn’t dream up this stuff. I don’t have the supporting data, but I would be very surprised if the Sox have won two games because of ninth inning opponent baserunning mistakes in the last 85 years. It happened to the Yankees twice in four days. Though exciting and memorable, this season has also been extremely frustrating for Red Sox fans. The two games against Oakland were just the tip of the iceberg. There was the game against Florida where the Sox bullpen blew a seven-run lead in the eighth inning; the game against Philadelphia where the Sox bullpen managed to blow saves three times in the same game in an extra-inning loss; the game against New York where Soriano’s fingertip kept a Sox hit from reaching the outfield and bringing in the go-ahead run in the ninth. I could go on and on. In spite of all this anquish, the Sox are actually in good shape to make the playoffs. They are tied with Seattle in the Wild Card race (one game behind Oakland) and the Yankees are just four games ahead of the Sox with six games remaining between the two teams. For this reason, I will put aside my sense of impending doom and look at the American League race analytically. The Schedule: The Yankees have a slightly easier remaining schedule than the Red Sox mainly because of their three remaining games with the hopeless Tigers. New York also has four games left with Toronto, who the Sox will not play again. Meanwhile, the Red Sox have one game with the Phillies, three with Cleveland and will play one additional game against the White Sox (Boston plays them five more times, New York only four). The Mariners and A’s have schedules similar in difficulty to the Red Sox. Like the Sox and Yankees, they play each other six times. They each play Anaheim and Texas a total of 13 times and Baltimore and Tampa another ten times. The toughest part of Boston’s schedule is the next nine games as they play the Yankees six times, the White Sox twice and the Phillies once. At the same time, the M’s and A’s play Batimore and Tampa Bay. The next week and a half will be an opportunity for the West Coast teams to move ahead in the race. If they cannot, the advantage shifts back to the Red Sox. The Yankees: You won’t hear it on television or read about it on the radio, but the Yankees are simply not that good. They have the best top four pitchers in the American League, but two of those guys are 40 years old and one of them is fighting a bad back. Fifth starter Jeff Weaver has been bashed around all season and has now been replaced by Jose Contreras. The Yankee bullpen has been nearly as bad as Boston’s for most of the season. New York’s one giant advantage had been the closer spot but Mariano Rivera has been blowing saves on a regular basis and when he’s isn’t blowing saves, it’s because opponents are bailing him out with baserunning faux pas. New York’s lineup pales in comparison to Boston’s. The Sox team average is 24 points higher (.292 vs .268) and the Sox have scored 90 more runs than the so-called Bronx Bombers. The Sox even have a better fielding team than the Yanks (84 errors vs 91). Unfortunately, New York has the biggest advantage of all: a four game lead. The Sox will probably need to win at least 4 of 6 head-to-head with New York to have a chance to erase that margin. Winning the American League East is crucial even if the team that finishes second manages to grab the Wild Card because in that case the AL East winner would get the pleasure of home field against the winner of the American League Central (aka Comedy Central) while the Wild Card team would play the AL West winner (Seattle or Oakland) without home field advantage. The Athletics: It is hard to imagine that a team with such a scant payroll can keep winning 95 games per year. The Oakland organization has been so much better than New York’s the past five years that it’s scary. Unfortunately for A’s fans (all 15 of them), the payroll discrepancies have been too much to overcome. It appeared that this year might be different before Mark “Agent” Mulder went down with a stress fracture that could end his season. This is great news for the Sox, but you can’t help but feel bad for the A’s who have lost in the first round of the playoffs three years in a row. The Mariners: On paper, the Mariners appear to be the best all around team in the American League. Their hitting isn’t on par with the Red Sox, but it is as good as New York’s and significantly better than Oakland’s. Ichiro, Boone and Martinez are all hitters that no one wants to face with the game on the line and Olerud and Cameron can hurt you as well. Seattle’s starting rotation is not quite on the level with New York or Oakland, but if Freddy Garcia continues to pitch to his potential they aren’t far behind. With a healthy Kazuhiro Sasaki, the Seattle bullpen is easily the best among the four contenders, even with the ludicrous Nelson for Benitez trade. Seattle’s defense is also head and shoulders above the other contenders. It amazes me that with all their talent the Mariners have lost more than half of their games in the second half and have let the lead in the American League West slip away. Clearly, the Red Sox made a statement by winning 5 of 7 in their recent battles with the M’s. Observations from Seattle: I had the pleasure of visiting Seattle for the first time two weekends ago when the Red Sox were in town. Seattle is a great city and Safeco Field is the best new stadium I’ve been to. I was sitting 12 rows behind home plate for Pedro’s start on Saturday. It wasn’t vintage Pedro, but it was a great performance nonetheless. I was thoroughly impressed with the Seattle crowd as well. There wasn’t an empty seat in the house and the crowd was truly into the game. They seem to be very supportive of the team despite the organization’s marginal interest in winning (they cannot be excused for letting Randy Johnson, Ken Griffey Jr and Alex Rodriguez leave). I arrived at the game in time to see Red Sox batting practice and was amazed by the number of people in the ballpark a full 90 minutes before game time. I’d venture to say that there were more people in the stands at Safeco an hour before game time than there normally are at Dodger Stadium in the second inning. It is hard to believe that Seattle nearly lost its team to another city less than a decade ago. I have added Seattle to my review of ballparks that I have visited. Please click HERE to see my updated list. Speaking of ballparks, what is the deal with guys who take off their shirts at the ballgame? Note to knuckleheads: the ballpark is not the beach. Watching a baseball game is not shirts against skins basketball, nor is it a rap video. You are not Marky Mark and your friends are clearly not the Funky Bunch. Safeco Field is not your living room. I realize that there are chairs and televisions, but you idiots must realize that you are not in your house. At one point I may have made an exception for guys that paint their chests with large letters that combine to form a word (for example, five shirtless guys spelling out N-O-M-A-R) but even that was old and tired twenty years ago. Please do us all a favor and put your shirts back on. Third Quarter Grades: This is how I would grade the Sox regulars since the All Star break:
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