Upside Down

This was not how it was supposed to go. All year, we maintained this team was built for the playoffs, and they still might be, but as of now, the 2009 Red Sox have a lot of convincing to do.

They're coming home from the make-believe land of Southern California, tail between their legs, but not totally defeated. The players are saying the right things "it's not over, we've got a lot of baseball in front of us" - Dustin, I can't hit a thing, Pedroia, and "I welcome this kind of responsibility" - Clay, don't blow it, Buchholz. I can assure you however, that Red Sox Nation, at least the non pink hats, are waking up this morning with an empty feeling in their stomachs. That same feeling that makes typing this such a struggle, it's the concern that after coming this far, stressing this much, pouring it all out for this team, the Sox are not who we thought they were.

Through two games (the most important of the year I may add), they've looked like the Red Sox of early August. They've thrown out their two big studs, and not that they pitched poorly, but they have nothing to show for it. TMurph called it a few posts back when he voiced his concern that this team hasn't shown it can hit good pitching.....spot on, even he has to be right once in a while. Don't blame the umpires, don't blame Beckett or Lester, don't blame Tito or even Theo, blame the terribly inconsistent lineup. Blame the fans and the media for completely overlooking a talented Anaheim team, who we thought somehow would disintegrate because of past playoff performance.

The worst part may not be the fact that the Sox are down 2-0, it's that the Yankees are up 2-0 and doing it in fine fashion. Combine the two and you have the worst of both worlds, loud-mouthed Yankee fans who are only good for fist-pumping on the Jersey shore, pounding their chests and rubbing it in at every chance they can....and "blow it up" Red Sox fans who all of a sudden "knew this team was terrible" and want Theo to be fired.

So far, the playoffs have been turned upside down, with the Sox being silenced by the Halos, and Arod actually hitting the ball in NYY. There is still time for things to right themselves, but if they don't do it quickly, be prepared for a long, long off season.