Good times

Hey, folks. I’m supposed to be covering for Evan today, but I’m currently experiencing massive computer difficulties. All week, I’ve had trouble with booting, trouble with crashing, trouble with freezing, you name it — and it’s getting worse all the time. And even though I’ve finally managed a little damage control, things still aren’t right. I’ll be calling a technician within the hour. With fingers crossed.
So I’m sorry, but today’s post isn’t going to be too in-depth. I’d like to point out that, apparently, the Red Sox have entered what I’m going to call Championship Mode, where the team can do no wrong: the starting pitchers are pitching at their best, the hitters are hitting at their best, the bullpen is well-rested, and (the best part of all, in my opinion) the ballgames are going so smoothly for us that the coaching decisions are all easy to make.
We saw Championship Mode last year in the playoffs against the Angels, but then it left us briefly at the start of the ALCS; then it returned for the final four games of the series against the Yankees, and it never left again as we trampled the overmatched Cardinals in the World Series. We also saw a stretch of Championship Mode against the high-flying AL West late last year — a run of dominance that solidified our place in the playoffs. Right now, it’s Pittsburgh, Cinci, Cleveland, and Philly who have incurred our wrath: last year, it was the Rangers, A’s, and Angels.
Poor saps never even saw it coming.
How long will Championship Mode last? I have no idea, but as long as possible, I hope. We’ll cool off eventually, and eventually we’ll probably hit a funk that will have us all questioning Theo’s sanity & intelligence. But as long as we play .500 ball when the cards aren’t falling our way, it’s only going to take two or three stretches of Championship Mode to secure our place at the top of the division. Or to put it another way, how often do you need to go 6-0, 7-0, or 9-0 before you know your team is for real? Doesn’t take much.
Oh, umm … and Manny just went granny off of Brett Myers to put the Sox up 7-0 behind David Wells in Philadelphia. Consecutive sweeps, anybody? Looks like we’ve still got it today: Championship Mode marches on.
Anyway, if you had told me in January that we’d be in first place at the close of June without any significant contributions from Curt Schilling and a dubious bullpen, I would’ve been ecstatic. And with the proposition of Schilling returning fully healthy in just two more weeks, the picture for the 2nd half of the season only gets rosier.
And so it turns out that Evan’s optimism in this team is fully justified after all. Who would’ve thought it even a month ago, when the Sox were in the process of losing 9 out of 13 games between May 13th-27th? But here we are in first place, and that Evan is a pretty smart guy after all. Who would’ve thought?