So apparently leaving Houston wasn't the cure for what's ailing the Red Sox. All that's happened since they headed to Tampa is back-to-back silent offensive showings (at least through eight innings tonight). In fact, the biggest hit in the series is the one Manny delivered to a club official. Baseball is a funny game. You're going to have stumbles like this during the season, but as a fan they become downright maddening. It's hard to keep perspective that these are just four games out of 162 when JD Drew takes three straight pitches for strikes with a key runner on base in the eighth inning. Swing, JD, swing!
I have to say, I'm officially on the Rays bandwagon. In fact, I admitted to my wife last night that if they weren't in the Red Sox division I'd probably be rooting for them to win it all. They have a bunch of fun young guys, a few veteran corpses who have somehow found the fountain of youth (Eric Hinske, anybody?) and a manager who seems to have found a way to get everyone to buy into his system and who also has awesome glasses.
The resurrection of Hinske and Cliffy Floyd is interesting. Neither is going to win a batting title, but they've provided plenty of pop in the middle of the Rays lineup. I don't think anyone expected much from them this year ... maybe the youth all around them injected some new juice into their weary legs.
By the way, how many former Red Sox castoffs are the Rays going to revive? Carlos Pena had his 35 seconds with the Red Sox, and the next year he hits 93 home runs in Tampa. Eric Hinske spends an entire season straddling the Mendoza Line in Boston and clubs 13 homers before the all-star break in a Rays uniform. Floyd doesn't count, even though he spent the final two months in Boston once. I bet he probably doesn't even remember doing that himself. But don't forget Wade Boggs. He became the only player ever to hit a homer for his 3,000th hit, and he did it as a Ray. He was also the trivia answer on NESN for that very reason tonight.
By the way, does anyone find it amusing that the Rays have a pitcher named Grant Balfour. Ball four? That's like naming a slugger Brant Strikethree. Have you met our new gold glove shortstop, Stan eesix?
Anyway, the Sox are in a major slump, the young Rays are constructing something of a lead in the division, Manny is wrestling with team employees and whiffing at everything thrown at him, Okajima is NOT Okey-dokey, and my head is starting to hurt. Also, as I write this, the bullpen just coughed up another run and the Rays took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the eighth. I'm going to go put my head in the toilet now.
One more in Tampa and a weekend trip to the Bronx is going to turn out to be one of two things: Just what the doctor ordered, or insult to injury. If the Sox are going to redisover their mojo, now would be a fine time to do so.There are stretches during the season that stand out when the dust finally settles. If the Sox drop the finale in Tampa and lay an egg in the N-Y-C, this is going to be one of those stretches.
I for one, don't see it happening. If a weekend series in the Bronx doesn't wake you up, nothing will. Personally, I can't wait to grab a six pack or three, put on my A-Fraud shirt and scream at the television for three days. Anyone want to join me?
Keywords: Boston Red Sox, Carlos Pena, Cliff Floyd, Eric Hinske, Grant Balfour, JD Drew, Manny Ramirez, Tampa Bay Rays, Wade Boggs
