Summer in Massachusetts is synonymous with many things, but two of them are glaring: the stifling humidity and the Boston Red Sox.
This is the golden age of New England sports. The Patriots are the two-time defending champions and the epitome of everything coaches at all levels preach about being a team. And the Red Sox are in first place in the American League East after winning the World Series last year for the first time in four score and … eighty-six years ago.
The summer at Fenway has been full of the usual quirky moments. There have been the dramatic, game-winning home runs that we have come to expect from number 34, and the heat of a pennant race with (who else?) the Yankees in the dog days of summer.
Mick and Keith visited Fenway for two shows on August 21 and 23. Their new album “A Bigger Bang” came out on Sept. 6 and more than lives up to the hype (impressive for guys who are in the middle of their sixth decade).
The technological terror that was the Rolling Stones’ stage tore up most of the outfield grass. The following night’s game was delayed an hour because the field needed to be dug up, leaving the grass from the shallow outfield to the warning track an off-color green – from somebody who went to one of the shows, let me tell you it was worth the hassle.
By the way, if the Sox are overtaken by the Yankees, the new Fenway anthem will be the new Stones’ tune, “Oh No, Not You Again.”
This year’s Red Sox squad is an extreme departure from last year’s championship nine, the main difference being the depleted, injury-prone, inconsistent pitching staff.
The number two starter David Wells recently apologized to Commissioner Bud Selig after he berated the Commish when the appeal for his six-game suspension – which was well deserved – was denied.
Wells replaces Pedro Martinez this year as the pitcher ancillary to Curt Schilling, and while the Pedro of 2004 wasn’t the Pedro of 1999, Wells is still not in the same league.
While Martinez’s tumultuous tenure with the Sox was full of bratty moments and endless whining, he had one of the best stretches a pitcher can have while he was donning the Red Sox uniform, and that is something Boomer can’t equal.
Anyone who has watched teams tee off on Curt Schilling for the past couple of weeks knows that he is not the Schilling of old.
The garrulous hurler has not recovered from the infamous ankle injury and – in his first appearance as a reliever against the Yankees with an inherited lead – received an emphatic “Welcome back” from Gary Sheffield and Alex Rodriguez (triple crown, anybody?), who promptly doubled and homered to erase the illusion that Schilling would return to his former self anytime soon.
Bronson Arroyo, along with creating a rocked-out version of the Standells’ “Dirty Water” (which is nothing special), has morphed into a batting practice machine on his off-nights and has been saved from a ghastly record this season by the Sox’s relentless offense.
Tim Wakefield has been, as always, the consummate teammate and professional. This is a guy who takes pride in putting on his spikes every day, and will do anything asked of him, even if it means saving the team at his expense – a.k.a, taking the ball in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series last year when the Sox were getting shelled and clearly out of the game.
By taking up innings that would have been reserved for Foulke, Timlin and Embree, Wake single-handedly saved the bullpen for the rest of the series. He is part of a dying breed of athletes who will sacrifice themselves and their statistics for the greater good of the ball club.
The bullpen is as shaky as ever. Keith “Payday is My Favorite Day” Foulke made his season debut recently and has looked mediocre at best. No one feels comfortable with Mike Timlin in the closer’s role; his earned run average isn’t bad, but whenever he inherits runners he is disturbingly inadequate in tight situations.
The minor league system has been put to use like never before, as most Sox fans – upon hearing about all of the young promising arms in Pawtucket – respond with an incredulous look and say something like, “I didn’t know we had a minor league system.”
Jonathan Papelbon and Manny Delcarmen have made solid appearances for the Sox this year and the Sox brass is excited about these kids in the future. But as far as 2005 goes, there are conflicting opinions as to how to handle the young guns.
Papelbon has made the most appearances for Sox, starting three games and appearing in relief in six. Terry Francona has said that the team wants to be careful with Papelbon’s psyche.
However, when the kid – who has been compared to a young Roger Clemens – gets into jams, the manager is quick to take him out and let more experienced arms take care of the runners. What kind of message does that send? Don’t trust him enough to fight through tough situations?
The Sox have had a tenuous hold on the AL East lead for a while now, and while they have their problems on the rubber, they are fortunate that the Yankees have the same issues.
The difference between the Sox and Yanks – two teams with stellar hitting and sub-par pitching – right now is their home ballparks: while Yankee Stadium doesn’t tailor to hitting, the Sox are cozy in the friendly confines of Fenway Park, a hitters’ heaven and a pitchers’ purgatory.
The AL East rivals have three games left, all at Fenway, and the Sox are in the driver’s seat right now. But if the World Series banner hasn’t erased your paranoia, the Boston pitching staff will be a little unnerving down the stretch.
