Frustrating
I’m not overly concerned or panicked, but I am frustrated. It’s very frustrating to watch your team do the exact opposite of what you expected to happen. I figured at worst, we’d split this 4 game series and we had a chance to sweep with the most likely outcome being us taking 3 of 4.
It’s even more frustrating knowing that we had chances to win all 3 of the games we lost. There was the knucklehead on Thursday night catching Giambi’s fly ball, Mirabelli running to second with his head down and Svuem not sending Millar on Saturday, and Cora being at the plate in the 9th with the bases loaded, no outs and the go ahead run on first last night.
I’m not big on nitpicking and second-guessing, but like most members of The Nation, I question Francona’s thinking on that last one. I don’t want to hear, who’s going to play second base if we tie it up and go into extra innings? I want to see John Olerud at the plate trying to win the game or extend the inning for the top of the order to try to put it away.
If we tie it up and have to work out our defense, so be it. We don’t even get to that situation with Cora up there. Millar has played 3rd before and Mueller could have moved to 2nd despite the fact that Francona says he doesn’t want to put him there anymore. It’s not ideal, but suck it up and see what happens. At least it gives us a chance.
Enough of dwelling on that stuff, it’s over and it’s time to move on. I’m still feeling good about this teams chances. A few things go our way this weekend and we get that 3-1 outcome I thought we were going to end up with.
There’s no question we’re in a little bit of a funk right now, but we’re not playing terrible and it’s only a matter of time before we get out of it. Three games with the D-Rays at Fenway might be just what we need for that.
Like I’ve already said, we’ve got a race on our hands now, but I still think we have the advantage and the best chance to win it.
One last thing that I’m a little annoyed with, Ramirez crushed that ball off Gordon in the 9th, no doubt about it. But damn it Manny show a little class. You know it’s gone, put your head down and run the bases. I don’t care if you hit the Citgo sign, you’re team is still down 3 runs in the 9th with the greatest closer in the game coming in, and not only that, but A-Rod and Sheffield have each hit a few balls at least as hard, if not harder this weekend, including last night.
It looked like Posada might have said something to him, I’m not sure, but if he did, he was well within his rights.
It’s even more frustrating knowing that we had chances to win all 3 of the games we lost. There was the knucklehead on Thursday night catching Giambi’s fly ball, Mirabelli running to second with his head down and Svuem not sending Millar on Saturday, and Cora being at the plate in the 9th with the bases loaded, no outs and the go ahead run on first last night.
I’m not big on nitpicking and second-guessing, but like most members of The Nation, I question Francona’s thinking on that last one. I don’t want to hear, who’s going to play second base if we tie it up and go into extra innings? I want to see John Olerud at the plate trying to win the game or extend the inning for the top of the order to try to put it away.
If we tie it up and have to work out our defense, so be it. We don’t even get to that situation with Cora up there. Millar has played 3rd before and Mueller could have moved to 2nd despite the fact that Francona says he doesn’t want to put him there anymore. It’s not ideal, but suck it up and see what happens. At least it gives us a chance.
Enough of dwelling on that stuff, it’s over and it’s time to move on. I’m still feeling good about this teams chances. A few things go our way this weekend and we get that 3-1 outcome I thought we were going to end up with.
There’s no question we’re in a little bit of a funk right now, but we’re not playing terrible and it’s only a matter of time before we get out of it. Three games with the D-Rays at Fenway might be just what we need for that.
Like I’ve already said, we’ve got a race on our hands now, but I still think we have the advantage and the best chance to win it.
One last thing that I’m a little annoyed with, Ramirez crushed that ball off Gordon in the 9th, no doubt about it. But damn it Manny show a little class. You know it’s gone, put your head down and run the bases. I don’t care if you hit the Citgo sign, you’re team is still down 3 runs in the 9th with the greatest closer in the game coming in, and not only that, but A-Rod and Sheffield have each hit a few balls at least as hard, if not harder this weekend, including last night.
It looked like Posada might have said something to him, I’m not sure, but if he did, he was well within his rights.
posted by Bob at 7/18/2005 11:50:00 AM
2 Comments:
Its times lke this...when we are losing...that I notice the little things like Manny hanging out to see if he has hit a homer or not, that I think of Francona's favorite phrase, playing the game the right way.
You know what? Quite a few of the Sox don't and I overlook it when they are winning and everything is fun sing-alongs to Sweet Caroline and David Ortiz bearhugs. But this team's base running is horrible, their fielding is below average and they lack a sense of urgency.
Of course, its not all of them. Varitek comes to play the game the way it should be played. Even when he's not in the lineup.
-Censy
I don't know if I would say it's quite a few, it's Manny and occasionally Ortiz. All the rest of them come to play, play hard, and play with humility when they're on the field. Some of them may talk a lot and occasionally say the wrong thing off the field, Damon, Millar, and Schilling come to mind, but they all PLAY the game the right way.
And you're right, it's much easier to overlook that stuff when they're winning. It still ticks me off though, I just don't point it out as much.
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