The Red Sox' dilemma with David Ortiz and Adrian Gonzalez is one thing. What was going on with the Tampa Bay Rays at this time last year was entirely another.
However, if history is a guide, and if there is any degree of desperation in Boston's willingness to install Ortiz at first base and Gonzalez in right field, the club may want to look back to what was happening with its American League East rival late last June.
On this date in 2010, the Rays did not have a designated hitter-first base conundrum. They were not mired in a lengthy stretch of games in National League parks — that portion of their schedule was over and done with. What they did have was a team that entered interleague play in first place, hit a wall offensively against NL teams and began to sink in the standings.
The Rays saw what was once a six-game lead turn into a three-game deficit in large part because of their 7-11 interleague record, which culminated in a fight in the dugout between third baseman Evan Longoria and center fielder B.J. Upton. From afar, it appeared as if Tampa Bay was done. They were losing to inferior teams (the Longoria-Upton encounter came at the end of a 2-4 homestand against San Diego and Arizona), quarrelling and headed for footnote status in a power-packed division.
Two days later, at Fenway Park of all places, the Rays won a game that sparked a 23-7 run that propelled them back into first place — which is where they would eventually finish the season. After that game, manager Joe Maddon uttered these words:
"We're keeping our head above water. We're not going away. To go through these tribulations offensively and still be right in the thick of things, I'll take it."
Maybe that's the difference between playing in Tampa Bay and Boston. With the Red Sox, when the team loses five of six games while averaging only 2.3 runs per game, the Gonzalez-Ortiz situation practically bumps Whitey Bulger from the top spot on the nightly news. Patience is sometimes at a premium in this town.
With Ortiz on the bench, Boston has seen its 1 1/2-game lead turn into a deficit of an identical proportion, and those waiting for the offense to return to form cannot wait any longer. They want a change, and they want it Wednesday night in Philadelphia.
The Red Sox will never admit to panic. It is as calculated an organization as one will find, with reason behind every maneuver. Let's just hope that there is no panic behind installing Ortiz at first and Gonzalez in right, and that it is instead done for the right reasons.
As Tampa Bay showed just one year ago, losing a few low-scoring games to NL teams in late June is not the end of the world. Keep your head above water, make a wave when you can (sorry, couldn't resist) and then return to Fenway Park on Monday to hit the reset button.
It doesn't need to be any more difficult than that.
