Tuesday, October 14, 2008

This weekend: Made me cry a little inside

I'm not going to sit here and pretend that I watched the three crappy New England teams' games calmly. I didn't. I swore, I threw things, I cursed Jason Varitek endlessly. All I wanted between the two Sox games and one Pats games was something that the Phillies brought home for me... a win. Yes, I've been cheering on the Phillies, and they've been doing pretty damn good, if I do say so. In my bitter anger, I decided I never want Manny to see a World Series again (but I'm not really mad at him, exactly, I'm just mad at the way our current team is playing)

Matt Cassel is who he is. He is not Tom Brady, and we can't expect him to be. However, we should expect our defense to be defensive instead of offensive. Since that doesn't look like it's going to happen any time soon, I will have to live with it.

Do I blame Beckett and Lester for these losses? Yes and no, respectively. Beckett, if he's so damn hurt that he needs (might need) off-season surgery, should not be trying to throw a ball right now. I know he thinks it's for the good of the team, but it's not. He's not helping. Every time we managed a lead, Josh couldn't hold it. That tells me that his little oblique injury is more serious than he can admit. He doesn't look comfortable on the mound, and I definitely don't feel comfortable knowing that if in the next two games we go 1-1, Josh is our last line of defense against elimination. If this were last year, I wouldn't sweat it, but it's obvious this Beckett is a little too banged up to contribute.

As for Lester... well, I don't know what to say about that. He didn't pitch THAT badly. A passed ball by Jason allowed that first run to score, and two HR's after that were all he gave up. One of them just happened to be a 3-run shot. It could happen to anyone. You know what's killing the Red Sox?

Guess. Go ahead, I'll give you a minute.

You're absolutely correct. It's the offense. How different this team could be if Theo didn't trade away the best right handed hitter in baseball because he was cranky... I hate saying this, because I feel like I'm taking away from what JBay has brought, and I don't want to do that, but all we've been missing is that one big hit. I think we know who could have managed that.

Varitek is absolutely killing us at the plate. And yes, I was angry with him, but Lord forgive me for every awful thing I said and thought about him last night. My mind was made weak by losses and 20 or so guys LOB. I succumbed to cursing the one I love most, and for that, I seek forgiveness. I will try my hardest to never do that again. The guilt consumes my soul today. Even still, I'd like to see Tek maybe not strike out as much with RISP. I'm begging my mind to remember how much I hate Kevin Cash, and that's the only thing keeping me from asking for Varitek to take a seat. Not that he would, but I'd ask anyway, if I didn't hate Kevin Cash. I hate to say it, but my mind has a feeling this October is the last we'll be seeing of Jason in a Sox uni, and that breaks my heart.

That being said, I think this is the only time in the history of anything that I've been clamoring to get Coco into a game. Not for nothing, but Jacoby is really hurting us (despite his sac fly last night), and Coco has hit decently in the post season so far. Maybe Jacoby should get a night off. Coco could be a capable lead-off hitter...

Jacoby - 0 for the series
Ortiz - 0 for the series
Drew - under .200 for the series
Kotsay - 2 hits (give or take) for the series
Varitek - 0 for the series
Cora/Lowrie - 0 for the series.

My God, could our entire team stop slumping at the exact same time? This team has never reached a point where all of our guys, or at least 90% of them, are clicking at the same time, but they've made slumping at the same time an art. They're due for a big breakout game. I might not be able to watch it, because my blood pressure would surely kill me off if I watch anyone stare at another strike 3.

Not to mention the ridiculous bias shown by the announcers. "Pedroia has hit into 17 double plays this season, so he's a good canditate for a double play ball right here.... DOUBLE PLAY BALL!" That one killed me. That one made me throw my computer mouse against the TV, not so much for the dp, but for the excitement over th dp. Please, Chip Caray, be a little more bias. Honestly. It's not f*&^ing annoying at all.

Or how about this gem. "I like that the umpire has a wide strike zone. It makes the game more competitive." - after David Ortiz's ridiculous K-looking in the first. That ball was five or more inches off the plate, and it was a strike? The announcers loved it. But they didn't like it as much when our boys rang up a Ray. I'm pretty sure the umpires didn't like it either, because they wouldn't give Johnny the strike calls. Ugh.

I know, I know, people who aren't Sox fans would probably be reading this and saying to themselves "Typical Sox fan, their team loses and they blame the umpires, the announcers, and everyone else they can think of." And to them I say - you'd say the same thing if the umpires and announcers favored my team, so shut up and let me vent.

Game 4 tonight - Keeping every finger crossed that the knuckler is knuckling hardcore. If not, I may cry, or break something. But I'll be watching.

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