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By Sully, 5/5/2004 11:28 am

- Why is this lineup swinging at so many bad balls? In the first alone, Johnny Damon struck out waving at a 57-footer, Jason Varitek swung at a ball in the dirt and Manny swung at a first pitch at his neck. What made this offense so potent last year was its strike zone command. Aside from Bellhorn, nobody seems to have any.

- I am not sure I can take many more David McCarty at-bats.

- Derek Lowe is nuts if he thinks the Sox ought to give him 4 or 5 years at $12MM per. There are simply too many variables that come into play when the pitcher is downright incapable of striking out even a decent portion of a crappy lineup. Aside from Omar Vizquel’s 1st inning double, Jody Gerut’s double in the 4th and Matt Lawton’s 6th inning two-bagger, all of Cleveland’s hits were grounders that found holes. But such is life as a pitcher that relies on batted balls being converted to outs as heavily as Lowe does. Sox batters pounded grounders all night, only theirs did not find holes. Mark Bellhorn’s 7th inning fielder’s choice and David Ortiz’s 3-6 groundout in the ninth come to mind.

- During the Cleveland half of the fourth, I was as frustrated as I have been with a Red Sox team in a long time. Two errant throws and a kicked ball by Pokey. It was embarrassing. I know these things happen but when your offense is struggling, which will happen from time to time, you bear the hell down in the field. So what happens? The Sox claw a run across in the top half of the 4th, get within 1, and then the fielders kick the game away in the 4th. It manifested such a gross lack of concentration and foucus. Whatever. Moving on…

- The game ended on an up note for me. It was nice to see a bit of the fight that characterized the 2003 team as the Sox were able to climb within 1 run. Rafael Betancourt, the Tribe’s hard-throwing right handed reliever, blew a fastball by Manny to end the game. It was a fun matchup to watch.

- My main man BK takes the hill today. A win today would probaly go a long way restoring some goodwill with the inane sect of Red Sox Nation that still thinks the kid’s a choker.

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By Sully, 5/4/2004 5:48 pm

On Friday night, a documentary covering the ups and downs of the 2003 Boston Red Sox season will open at theatres in and around Boston. It is entitled, “Still We Believe”. While the film features heretofore-unseen footage from the clubhouse and front offices, the bulk of the film focuses on the season through the eyes of a number of fans. The film represents the latest example of an unprecedented level of media saturation that focuses not necessarily on what happens between the white lines but rather how “Red Sox Nation” reacts to what happens between the lines. So much has been written and covered about the game’s “most knowledgeable fans” or “baseball’s most passionate city” that merely associating one’s self with “Red Sox Nation” now supersedes even love of baseball when it comes to being a Red Sox fan. Players like Kevin Millar repeatedly stroke the fans saying things like “you haven’t played baseball ‘til you’ve played in Boston” (Really, Kevin? Because your ex-mates in Florida might claim you haven’t played baseball ‘til you have won a World Series). Pedro speaks up and writers wonder how “the nation” will react. Manny doesn’t run out a fly ball and talk-show callers speak of how you can’t get away with that in this town. An ugly self-importance now pervades Sox fans. The documentary got me thinking “still we believe what?” And so I would like to share my beliefs as a Red Sox fan while addressing some of what Alex Belth would call the “Red Sox loving mooks” out there.

I believe that being a Red Sox fan is special. It means you have been through and endured quite a bit. But so have Indians fans and Braves fans and Mariner fans and A’s fans and Cubs fans. Feel fortunate to be part of such a large and passionate fan base but never carry on with an air of superiority. Other cities love their teams too. Also Red Sox fans, do not act like you are owed anything. Relish the fact that you get to take in the greatest game in the world in a historic park. Relish the fact that year in and year out you get to root for one of the consistently competitive few in baseball. If, God willing, the Sox win the World Series in our lifetime, feel fortunate. Do not feel unfortunate when the club falls short.

I believe that a Red Sox fan cheers wildly for his or her team and leaves the booing and cursing to the mooks. It is in this area where the fandom has lost its grip. Sure there are other parks where fans can be nasty but up until 1999 or 2000, Fenway was never this way. Now, “Yankees Suck” and “A-Rod’s an A-Hole” shirts sell like hotcakes outside of Fenway. Byung-Hyun Kim was booed when introduced before Game 3 of the 2003 ALDS. Hell even Manny heard some boos during intros the same night. You cheer like hell or you keep quiet. Negativity has no place at the game. There is enough interactive media out there now so that any voicing of displeasure can be done ex post facto and away from the diamond.

I believe that one ought to carry out his or her Red Sox fandom completely devoid of self-awareness. More than anything I have been confused by the general discussion by Red Sox fans about Red Sox fans. Go to a bar in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and nobody talks about how passionate everyone down there is about Crimson Tide football. They just are. In Boston, you are more likely to hear a fan discuss other fans than they are to discuss the merits of the sacrifice bunt. This was not always the case. Sox fans were knowledgeable and loved engaging one another about real baseball talk. Except for the rare occasion, I can no longer just strike up good baseball talk in and around Fenway like I once could. Too many mooks more interested in cursing and drinking and booing and, worst of all, doing the goddam wave.

Part of what makes the Red Sox a historic and valued sports franchise is their fans. I do not want to diminish their importance. But try and keep in mind that we love the Red Sox not because we want to be part of something cool but rather because we love baseball. That we are part of something cool is simply the byproduct of our collective love for baseball here in New England. A true fan knows a true fan immediately and in the rare instance the two should cross paths, the conversation can be memorable and enriching. My hope is that mooks give way to the true fans in the days, weeks, months and years to come.

Let’s all try and keep baseball and the game itself at the fore of our Red Sox attention and come down from this three or four year self-important trip we have been on.

And then we can revert back to our buffoonery the night the Sox win the Series.

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By Sully,

In their last four games, games started by sensations Ryan Drese, Joaquin Benoit, R.A. Dickey and Jake Westbrook, the Red Sox have hit at a .242/.342/.333 clip. I am not really sure what to say about this other than that it is no reflection of the team’s true ability to hit, Nomar and Trot or no Nomar and Trot. For any of you sensing an inexorable free fall into full-blown panic mode, I invite you to take in this piece over at Larry Mahnken’s Replacement Level Yankee Blog. It was written the morning after the Sox completed their three game sweep of the Yanks and the Bombers stood five games out of first place. He urges New York fans to stay the course, that it is a long season, that the Yankees were too good to stay dormant for an extended period of time. Eight days later, the Yanks are a game out of first and winners of six in a row. So hang in there, Sox fans. The timely hits will come.

Tonight, Derek Lowe opposes Jason Davis. While I probably have said this about each of the last four opposing pitchers, I think tonight presents an especially juicy breakout opportunity for Sox bats. Davis, at best, has been shaky thus far in 2004. He has started five games, won zero of them and lost two of them. He sports a 4.91 E.R.A. and has a crappy 1.70 WHIP.

The agenda-driven will try and point at Pedro’s public comments Friday night to account for this slide. Try and block it out and hang in until the Sox lineup starts swinging the bats the way they are capable of swinging them.

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By Sully, 5/3/2004 8:43 am

I wrote this last week:

“…this roster is built to succeed with exceptional regularity and it is difficult to imagine even a hypothetical scenario in which things could go all that awry.”

Guess I forgot it was baseball.

The Sox hit just .245/.336/.337 over the weekend en route to dropping three straight to a Texas Rangers team that is looking more and more like it may have some staying power in a competitive American League West division.

Jeff’s point is a good one. No one area of the game wins on its own. There has been a popular sentiment that this Red Sox team will be a better one because “pitching wins”. Of course the more apt saying would go something like “consistently scoring more runs than you yield wins”. Just as last year’s team could be frustrating at times because a lineup of historic significance often was backed by average to below average pitching, this team too will frustrate if the bats do not get going. Instead of losing in 12-10 type games like they would from time to time in 2003, the Sox will lose 3-1 type games if the offense continues as such this season. There are just 7 teams that have scored fewer runs than the Sox.

I don’t expect run scoring to be a long-term problem but I did think this weekend illustrated the point that winning is difficult without offense, just as it is without pitching.

On to Cleveland and Schill’s on the hill.

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By Jeff,

My enthusiasm about being translated into French has tempered to the point where I am thinking about going over there with a peashooter to conquer Paris.

After winning six in a row, eight of nine, and 11 of 13, the Red Sox came crashing down to earth under the weight of a Texas team that seemed to play like a coked-out 5-year old on the prowl for more Pixie Stix. After a nap. The Texas W. Rangers took all three games after a rare rain delay pushed the Red Sox to play two doubleheaders in three days. Not taking anything from Team Dubbya, but that couldn’t have helped the Soxos Rouge.

Why did the Bostonians lose?

Easy, they didn’t score any runs off the theoretical bottom of the Rangers’ pitching staff. The Sox missed Kenny Rogers, and Chan Ho Park, proven pitchers in that they have gotten the richest playing baseball, and scoring nine runs in three games against such moundsmen as Ryan Drese, Joquin Benoit, and RA Dickey. Talented pitchers all, but not exactly the creme de la creme (damn French). The worst part about the offensive implosion? Three of the runs came in the final inning of a 8-2 tally.

Yes, my friends, for all the lamentations that defense is what it takes to win, the Red Sox lost three games on the futility of their offense. In taking the microsizing of five games, the Red Sox won the games they scored six and seven runs, had great pitching, and shoddy defense, and lost the games with good pitching, good defense, and horrible offense. I wish I could say the offense was maligned because of the usual suspects named Reese, Kapler, and Millar. Millar actually hit, and Kapler/Reese didn’t have enough at bats to really merit them as a reason for dragging down the offense (Reese actually hit a little bit too).

Bill Mueller, David Ortiz, and Manny Ramirez however did not. Combined, they hit .143/.211/.143 for the series. Considering those three hitters are pretty much the entire offense (save for flashes out of Damon, and Bellhorn’s walks), as they go, so go the team while they are holding the bats.

Either way, in the marathon of 162, the Red Sox stand now at 15-9 after the first turn. Up coming is a four game series against the Cleveland Naps, at Jacobs Field. Hopefully the Sox bats can wake up, and take advantage of a suspect Indians pitching staff.