The depressing Red Sox slide brings to mind two songs. One of them, written and sung by Bob Dylan in the 60’s is “The Times They Are A Changing”; the other, written and sung by Bruce Springsteen in the 80’s is “Glory Days”.
Boston fans-and that certainly includes Sox fans-have had plenty of glory days since the ’04 Miracle. In seven seasons after ’04, only twice did they miss postseason play-’06 and ’10-and that was largely because of injuries. Their overall record was 559-413, one of the best in baseball.
Trades and free agent signings-with exceptions like JD Drew and Greg Gagne-were generally positive. We’ve seen rookies come up and become stars-even, in the case of Dustin Pedroia, win an MVP. John Lester survived cancer, threw a no-hitter, and won the seventh game of the 07 World Series. David Ortiz, despite a few lapses, provided power to all fields. Jason Varitek was an effective captain, hung tough through injuries and accepted being a part-time player.
Tim Wakefield-still my favorite Soxer- won 200 games. Walkoff wins were not only frequent-they were expected.
But times are changing, and glory days don’t last forever. In the last couple of years, holes have appeared. There have been three terrible free agent signings-John Lackey, Bobby Jenks, and Carl Crawford (at least so far). The trading of Justin Masterson for Victor Martinez did not work out-Martinez left after one season and Masterson has become a reliable starter in Cleveland. Injuries have hit too many times, drawing questions about the team’s physical shape. But though the glory days may be over, the Sox should-I am saying should-be a contending team for the next few years.
Something is very wrong, however, when an entire pitching staff implodes in the month of September. No one ever seems to hear anything from pitching coach Curt Young, who most of the time is shown in the dugout with a blank stare reminiscent of Darrell Johnson in the 70’s. In his first year as pitching coach, he seemed to have very little to say as the ship sank. In a 19-game stretch, Sox starters had an incredible 7.91 ERA. Even starters of my youth like Tom Sturdivant and Jerry Casale did not put up those numbers.
I wouldn’t fire Tito yet-he gave us some very good reasons while avoiding the pitfalls of a Jimy Williams or Grady Little. But let’s face it-Young should go. His predecessor John Farrell, who now manages a good and improving team in Toronto, has been replaced by a silent and seemingly bewildered coach. That is where the changes should begin.
One more thing- congratulations to Joe Maddon and the Rays-they deserved it.
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