They have been as inconsistent as Brett Favre making a decision.
They don’t have a set everyday lineup. From one game to the next, the order changes so often that the strongest bats don't get an opportunity to be together with any regularity. As a result, the team has been unable to find any kind of rhythm, and when it does find a rhythm, somebody goes missing in action. Kevin Youkilis is back. Dustin Pedroia is out. Mike Lowell is in. Victor Martinez isn’t.
They have been out of synch more often than a poorly dubbed kung fu movie. When the offense is on, the pitching is off. When the pitching is on, the offense has disappeared.
There’s no reliable No. 3 starter. All the viable candidates have shortcomings. Daisuke Matsuzaka could be the answer, but his ability to deliver a quality start remains a mystery. Clay Buchholz has electric stuff, but the jury is out on his mental toughness. Tim Wakefield has experience, but he’s walking with a limp. And Brad Penny inspires about as much confidence as a Windbreaker in a blizzard.
They don’t play small ball. Walk, steal, bunt, sac fly isn’t a common phrase in Boston’s vocabulary.
They can’t throw out a base stealer. The advanced scouting report on running against the Red Sox is a happy face and a thumbs-up sign followed by 25 exclamation points.
They have trouble beating aces. Roll out a rubber-armed middle-of-the-rotation hurler, and the Red Sox eat him alive. But give the ball to the Justin Verlanders and CC Sabathias of the world, and the No. 1 guns turn out the lights faster than Usain Bolt runs to the corner store.
They haven’t been hitting well with runners in scoring position. If the Red Sox were fisherman, they’d be considering another way to put food on the table – or risk starving.
They have fallen on hard times since the All-Star break. Everything looked so promising before the Midsummer Classic. Now, some parts of Red Sox Nation are ready to throw in the towel.
But before anyone writes off the Red Sox, take a lesson from Paddy Powers. According to IrishCentral.com, Ireland’s largest bookmaker lost $2.1 million in early payouts to those that bet on Tiger Woods to win the PGA Championship at Hazeltine, when Woods led by four shots in the second round.
Woods shocked the world by blowing his lead in the final round and losing to South Korea's Y.E. Yang.
“It takes a special kind of dimwit to turn what should have been our best-ever golf result into our worst," a Paddy Power spokesman told IrishCentral.com. “Paddy Power punters are obviously the big winners here and have made like bandits getting paid out on Tiger as a winner.”
Putting the cart before the horse is never a good idea. If everything starts clicking for the Red Sox, the flawed team with no chance to win anything could end up being champions.
Stranger things have happened in New England.
