Not Much to Feel Good About
For the past couple of days I've been thinking about a post I wanted to write. On the heels of Fenway Park's 100th anniversary festivities I was going to write a feel-good, nostalgic post about my first visit to Fenway and how I became a Red Sox fan. Well… then Saturday's game against the Yankees happened and the "feel-good" motive was nowhere to be found.
In case you missed it, the Sox jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the bottom of the 5th, only to have the bullpen completely implode in the 7th and 8th, giving up 14 runs (!), and leading the Sox to a spectacular 15-9 loss.
I almost missed out on watching this mess. Somewhere along the way, with a comfortable lead, and the clock way past midnight in my time zone, I thought about turning off the TV and calling it a night. Man, I wish I did… But the FOX announcers were talking about a perfect game in progress in Seattle, and I thought I'd just stick around to see how that one finishes up. By the time FOX had cut to the Seattle and back, the Yankees were in striking distance and I was fully awake to see it.
And I knew it was going to end badly. You just had to know it. It was one of these games. One of these bleeping Yankee games. Even though it's not September or October and nothing is really on the line, this one will stay burned in our memory, just like the July game in 04' with Jeter jumping in the stands to make plays, while Nomar was on the bench with an injury of unknown extent. It's one of these games in which our pre-2004 consciousness makes us feel like:
'that's why they are the Yankees and we are the Red Sox, and in the end they always,
always have their way'.
But this isn't pre-2004, things are different. Or maybe they aren't…?
As I was watching this game and thinking of that one, it came to me clear as day – the Red Sox have brought a new curse upon themselves. How did we not realize it before? What did we think would happen? This is the Curse of Terry Francona. It's the one you have to deal with, when you let go of the only manger who brought you a ring (not to mention two) in 86 years.
I don't know how long it'll take to break this one, but it ain't happening anytime soon.
The 2012 Red Sox are stuck in an impossible triangle of futility. The three sides of offense, starting pitching and relief pitching can never seem to align. Whenever two are great the third is horrible. A lot of it is Bobby Valentine's fault, a lot isn't. The injuries aren't his fault. He can't pitch for Clay Buchholtz, or get Mike Aviles to not kick balls around the infield. What he can do, is be quiet, stop analyzing his team like he's still behind the mic, and not tip his cap when fans are booing him. Seriously, it's not funny, cute or cool.
Bobby Valentine is officially on the hot seat in my mind, all of two weeks in to the season.
This game proved that this isn't your typical April panic over the Sox. Something is seriously wrong with this team and feel-good stories will have to wait for another time and day.
Just stick a cigar in his mouth, imagine a wink and add some weight. This is the face of the new curse.
Photo: Keith Allison (Terry Francona) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
