The Boston Red Sox fell below .500 again Friday night, losing in embarrassing fashion to the Minnesota Twins in 10 innings. Getting shut out on Thursday night, then blowing a four run lead on Friday has pushed this team to a losing record, and we're now past the 100-game checkpoint.
Is there any hope? Can the Red Sox make the playoffs? Do you even care if they make the playoffs? No to the third power.
There are too many things going wrong for this team. Jon Lester received the highest praise from teammates and media alike the other day for another loss and for lowering his ERA to 5.36. He went eight innings giving up three runs, a quality start, but if his performance can't motivate the offense to score even one run, it doesn't matter.
And the offense has been the only thing to keep this team rolling so far. On Thursday, the Red Sox managed just two hits, both coming off the bat of Adrian Gonzalez. He's heating up at the right time, but the trouble is, no one else in this line-up is following suit. Friday night the Red Sox had the bases loaded with one out in the eighth inning, and could not push a run across to break the tie. If that had been just a one-time thing, it would be water under the bridge. But in this case, its yet another tidal wave crashing down.
"Attitude reflects leadership, captain." The immortal words of Julius Campbell. A winning attitude should be exemplified by everyone affiliated with putting that team on the field, and everyone who is down on that field. Lose that attitude and you lose over half of your games. Sound familiar? The clearest example of this new attitude happens just before every game, during the National Anthem.
Look to the away team's dugout. You will almost always see the entire team and coaching staff lined up, attentive, paying respect to our nation. Look at the Sox dugout. You'll see Bobby Valentine, Mike Aviles, Daniel Nava, and maybe two other players or coaches.
Off-field issues are continuing to swirl as well. John Henry and the rest of the Red Sox ownership has been MIA since the trade deadline. To my knowledge, they have not been at Fenway Park, and are showing fans how much they truly care about the team. The Red Sox made less noise than a summer breeze does during the deadline, and it seems like everyone in the organization is trying to sweep this season under the rug before its over.
The worst part is, we can't even call this a rebuilding year. The team is not rebuilding! They're just falling apart before our eyes. I don't think this team deserves to make the playoffs. Teams that make the playoffs want to win -- they want to compete for themselves, for the fans and for a world championship.
No one on this team has shown that they want to win, or are even capable of it... except Cody Ross.
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