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September 20, 2007

Boston Media Already Loading Up For Sox

From Eric Wilbur of the Boston Globe:

It is a maddening week to be a Red Sox fan, watching your team fall from the perch it has been sitting on all season long and discovering they have the killer instinct of Mister Rogers. Two hundred miles to the southwest, the Yankees are all but assured a playoff spot, but have yet to take their eyes off the AL East title and home field advantage. The Red Sox, on the other hand, seem happy enough just to back into the playoffs and start tinkering with putting their starters on a schedule suited for the postseason, despite the fact that October is still 10 days -- or two turns of the rotation -- away.

We understand the reasons behind the philosophy (hello, Matt Clement), but there is a certain arrogance that comes with preparing for a playoff berth that isn’t even officially yours, two weeks before the season even comes to a close. I’d love to hear Bill Belichick’s honest answer about what he thinks about the Red Sox looking ahead.

In this game, and especially in the postseason, you can’t make any assumptions, and the Red Sox have apparently decided to do so. Two weeks early. There’s a lot to be said for having your best pitchers lined up to go come that first week of October, but there’s also even more to say about doing it at home, in front of your fans, on a schedule dictated by you.

In the grand scheme of the postseason, it doesn’t matter how you get there. But it’s still hard not to notice how much the division title means to the Yankees and how little it appears to mean to the Red Sox. Once October is upon us, it means little less than having to destroy those AL East T-shirts that have already been printed. Whether it’s in Cleveland, Disneyland, or Boston, the Red Sox will be playing October baseball in less than two weeks.

This isn’t 1978. Boston has the wild card to thank for that. But the apathy in terms of how they get into the playoffs certainly doesn’t instill a lot of faith into some of their fans (presumably not the foam fingers who just can't let go of their colorful security tags) as to how they’re going to perform once they actually get there.

The Yankees want the division. And the Red Sox seem more than willing to give it to them. If it works out, then jolly good. But imagine a scenario where the Red Sox end up losing an ALDS Game 5, on the road in Cleveland, in the bottom of the ninth. If that were to happen…well, I don’t have to tell you that many members of that franchise might have plenty of explaining to do around these parts.

If the Yankees take first, and the Red Sox fail in the ALDS, it's going to be interesting to watch the media in Beantown take Henry, Lucchino, Epstein and Francona to town on this one.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at September 20, 2007 04:35 PM

Comments

FWIW, some bloggers are already after Theo. Here's a good one:

http://tinyurl.com/yroudv

Posted by: Steve Lombardi [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 20, 2007 04:53 PM

I've been thinking that even if Francona and the front office have decided not to fret about the division and just get set for the playoffs, it wasn't smart for Francona to say this, in so many words, to the media. It just sends a dreadful message to the media, to fans, and especially to the players - "We're not trying." I say "especially to the players" because do you really want your team back on its heels when October rolls around? I know, they are a major league team and should not need help getting fired up for the playoffs - but they are human beings (in some cases fairly young human beings) and even two weeks of "not trying" can lead to some lax habits. It's a very weird thing for Francona to have said.

Posted by: carla [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 20, 2007 06:27 PM

By the way, didn't Eric Wilbur make the same "assumptions"? Thanks to nomaas.org, he is the same person who wrote:

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Eric Wilbur of Boston.com, 8/7/07

They’re just a half-game out of the wild card lead, but let’s not overlook the competition they’ve abused to get into this position. That’s about to change, as it is for the Red Sox in a completely opposite manner. Before Boston heads to the Bronx on Aug. 28, it will face teams that it is a combined 17-5 against this season.

The Yankees have gone 19-7 against similar competition. But that’s coming to an end. As is any lingering alarm that they might make a run at the division. Call it obnoxious, call it foolhardy, call it a certain counting of fowl, whatever. Six games might be as close as they get from here on out. In just over a week, it might even be eight.

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Should anyone even pay attention to what he says?


Posted by: chris [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 20, 2007 07:29 PM

Now, imagine the Red Sox were starting Beckett and Schilling on every fourth day and doing whatever it takes to win the division. Then, in the ALDS, their pitching falls apart and they get swept by the Indians. Was it worth it, to win the division when you were assured of a playoff spot anyway? I'd imagine that Wilbur and others would be even more critical. If I'm a Red Sox fan (shudders), I would be upset about blowing the division lead because the Yankees are a bitter rival; but in the end I would realize that the Yankees played well below their potential for two months, and that just being in the playoffs is the goal of the regular season.

Then again, one of the main reasons I'm not a Red Sox fan is that I'm not paranoid enough to qualify...

Posted by: mehmattski [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 20, 2007 08:43 PM