Me: Slacker

Honestly, I just don't feel like there's much positive to write about the .500 Sox lately. It looked like we were about to start rolling for the first time this season, and then we dropped 2 out of 3 to the Tigers in painful fashion. We wasted good pitching by Lester. We wasted about 17 walks in the course of two games. We couldn't capitalize on any opportunities, and in the end, we fell two games further behind ALE-leading Tampa. It's been an ugly, ugly ride so far. But being a fan isn't always easy, so you just chalk it up to an off-year and keep watching. If you're me, you're not going to quit on them. I literally count the days between the end of the season and the new season, so I'm just going to ride it out and enjoy all the moments of good baseball between now and October.

Pity for me, looks like I won't be home to see Dice-K vs. Hughes tonight. I'll be at the Garden to see Pearl Jam. Why not, right? As much as I love my baseball, I have to have something of a life outside of it. But it's cool, I'll be at Fenway on Wednesday to root for Dahmer in his quest to beat the Twins.

The only thing I do want to point out about the weekend series? David Ortiz. Friday night, 2 for 4 with 2 home runs and four RBI's. Saturday, 3 for 6, 2 RBI. Sunday sucked all arounds, but The Large One is now batting .224 for the season. Scoff if you want, but I remember plenty of people who didn't think he'd ever crack that Mendoza line. He's not the same hitter he used to be, but he's not washed up yet. 'Tiz is having a good May. Thanks to baseball-reference.com, I can give you the following numbers:

Ortiz in April: 63 PA, 8H, 5 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, .143 BA, .238 OBP, and .286 SLG in 16 games
Ortiz in May: 46 PA, 14 H, 1 2B, 5 HR, 13 RBI, .333 BA, .370 OBP, .714 SLG in 11 games

What does this tell me? It tells me that the balls 'Tiz is making contact with, he's driving farther than he was in April. His power is back, so his mechanics must be getting close to 'normal'. He's walking less... strikeouts are more or less still on par... but getting on base more. He's swinging at better pitches, making better contact, hitting with RISP. You will never EVER hear me complain about that. Yes, my statistical analysis is mind-boggling. Don't look at me like that. Numbers terrify me.

So like I said, I'll be at the Pearl Jam show tonight, getting Sox updates via text message. Hopefully, the Dice-K robot that started last time out comes back again. That would be fantastic.