Saturday, August 19, 2006

Bad News Beans

We used to hear about WWJDD. Maybe the question we should be asking is 'what would Bill Belicheck do?' As the weekend goes along, it's looking a lot more like the Boston Massacre of 1978, where the Yankees scored something like 40 runs in a four game series. Unfortunately, the Bombers have already scored 39 in just three games.

It's tempting to put the blame on those who cannot fix the problem, that is GM Theo Epstein and skipper Terry Francona. Does anybody think that they're not putting the best they have out there. The Sox don't even have the Wakefield on three days rest option, with workarounds for the rest of the staff.

Maybe we're just suffering 'growing pains', as the youngsters (Papelbon excepted) haven't been able to deliver, and the veterans (Seanez, Tavarez, and Timlin) ain't what they used to be. The Jermaine Van Buren experiment has pretty much worn me down, and heck, I don't have to actually throw him.

Options, aside from wholesale changes which isn't an option. Do nothing, and rely on the 'bad stretch' theory. "You're never as good as you look when you win and never as bad as when you lose." Right now, the Sox don't just look bad, they're playing poorly. Dispatch a veteran. I think that was a Belicheckian move. Team meeting. In the old days, we used to call this 'soul searching'. You have the choice to lay down and die like dogs or try to climb out of the hole. Francona surely deserves more than he's getting. Youth movement. Dustin Pedroia can play now, but the Sox would be looking to get fifty cents on the dollar for whomever. Although I'm following the minors, I'm not sensing an abundance of major league ready talent. Kason Gabbard deserved more than one start, but he's not exactly lighting it up in Pawtucket.

Everyone knows that they're smarter than the Sox management (right), but the karma is bad, the games are bad, and the results are bad. There's nothing worse is the 'verse than having to rely on hope, but 'momentum is only as deep as tomorrow's starting pitcher'. Maybe Curt has something left and the team can get a night's sleep and come out fighting instead of dying.

No comments: