State of the Nation: How to lose a division in ten days

Ironic or just plain sad? Last year's damning Sox Photoshops are eerily relevant today

The debate has raged for the past few days, as the Red Sox were busy transforming what once was a magical season into another infamous disaster: could the Red Sox survive another late-season collapse, or would the psychological damage caused by blowing a 14 game lead destroy all hopes for a championship season?

Many have weighed in on both sides, with most supporters of the "no biggie" theory citing the Detroit Tigers of last year, a team that blew the Central division title on the last weekend of the season then went on to upset the Stanks and make it all the way to the Series.

Not to mention the fact that three of the last five world champs have come from the Wild Card, most recently our very own Sox in 04.

But to those ultimate optimists I say no friggin way. As in there is no friggin way Boston could recover from that kind of monumental meltdown and be mentally and psychically prepared for the rigors of the postseason.

The reason being that the Sox are backpedaling at an alarming rate, even for a team with a history of chokes under its belt.

After enjoying a 10-game lead following the first forty games of the season, a double-digit lead for most of the summer, and a steady 4-7 game margin as New york caught fire after the break, Boston is not only in danger of losing home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs but for the ALCS as well now that Anaheim and Cleveland have passed them for the league's best record.

How's that for a confidence booster.

Throw in the fact that the team is more banged up than Britney's cooch and that the once-heralded bullpen is now struggling to find one reliever who will not allow a game-losing hit and you've got the recipe for a Division Series ouster, not a World Series celebration.

So how does one team blow such a sizable lead in just a few short weeks? Let me count the ways.

1.) The injury bug struck again
Not only has super slugger Manny Ramirez missed the last 21 games with an obscure oblique injury, but now Coco Crisp (2 gms/back), Kevin Youkilis (4 gms/wrist) and Hideki Okajima (indefinitely/spent) have joined the Grillmaster on the physically unable to perform list.

2.)Lack of timely hits continues to derail offense
Partially due to the loss of Ramirez and the slumps of J.D. Drew and Youk, the Sox inability to cash in on numerous golden scoring opportunities, including a slew of bases loaded situations, over the past few weeks has severely cost this team

3.) Mediocre pitching from the starters and the pen
The starters for the most part have ranged from serviceable to spectacular in the second half, but too many times the man in charge of setting the tempo for the team has let the opponent wedge his foot in the door early, and then the once-rigid bullpen has allowed them to bust it open late

4.) Karma, baby, karma
A season full of rubbing people's noses in it, bragging about the superiority of the Sox over all other teams in the league, and a postseason planning session that started to take place in early July have all come back to bit the Nation in the ass big time.

And don't think that fucking 'Magic Number" countdown of the Globe homepage didn't have anything to do with it, either. That idea was almost as bad as spraying the World Series logo on the Fenway field before the ALCS is over.

Whichever side of the debate you fall on, if Boston can just take care of business this weekend here in Tampa Bay, then return home to Fenway and dispatch a couple of teams that are already making their offseason vacation plans, all will be right with the world.

If not it could be a very short foray into the month of October for our beloved Bosox.

Again.

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Sox Drawer: State of the Sox

The outfield situation is getting sticky, some starters are struggling (ahemDiceK) and there's magic number on the Globe homepage.

Time to assess the current situation of our Sox.

For the love of Ellsbury what's gonna happen in the outfield?

Face (of) the Nation--Ellsbury has wowed everyone with his skills and stills

While Manny rehabs his oblique in the healing sunshine of FLA and J.D. Drew lugs the burden of failing to meet even the lowest of expectations into each at bat, something totally expected is happened around the Hub: Ellsbury fever is gripping the city.

From Cohasset to Coral Gables and points beyond every member of the Nation is enamored with the first Navajo Native American to play major league baseball, be it for his rugged good looks, ability to scale outfield fences in a single bound or race around the basepaths as if he's trying to turn back time.

Or perhaps the love affair has blossomed out of the simple fact that the kid can flat out hit (.411 in 16 games this season, nine straight games since his Sept. 1st callup), and that's something that the $70 million pariah who currently occupies right field cannot make claim to.

Many a tantalizing prospect has come down the Pawtucket pipeline over the decades, but perhaps none with the combination of speed, power, agilty, good looks and at the exact time when the player in front of him is iritatating the Nation with his piss-poor production and "what, me worry" attitude.

I mean everyone knew Boggs was a great hitter and deserved his chance to play, but nobody was screaming to take Carney Lansford, a batting champ and Gold Glove-caliber third baseman, and sit him on the bench.

But that is quickly becoming the case with Ellsbury and Drew, so the question is, what do the Sox do with Ellsbury when Manny comes back in a week or so and you have Coco Crisp entrenched at center (for this season at least) and the multi-million dollar awful investment Drew anchored to right?

I'm not sure what Tito will come up with but this guy has authored more lineups this season than a former FOX executive, and my guess is he will rotate the positions enough so that Ellsbury plays regularly somehwre on the field, and as that magic number dwindles down he will rest some of the regulars and let Jacoby flaunt his stuff every day, then use matchups and game situations to determine his playing time in the playoffs.

Either way this kid has sewn up the right to patrol the Fenway outfield permanantly beginning next season. The decision will be up to Theo & co. which one of the incumbents to jettison in order to make it happen.

Matsuzaka's recent struggles have to concern Sox
The numbers are hard to ignore for the 26-year old Japanese rookie: in his last five starts the Diceman is 1-4 and has allowed 32 hits and 28 earned runs in 26 1/3 innngs for a 9.57 ERA, plus his strikeouts have decreased (seven in his last three starts ) while his longball total escalates (six in his last fourt starts, 23 for the season).

So what's the problem?

Obviously fatigue and lack of having been through the grind of a 162-game major league schedule would have to be the prime reasons for his recent nosedive, but the bigger question is, will he be able to recover from this dead arm period in time for the playoffs, or is he a ticking timebomb of potential burnout/injury ready to explode?

Boston has tried to provide some relief to the rookie who has almost reached his career high total for innings (205) with another couple of starts plus the postseason to go, but the big picture is he is being counted on to be the number two starter when the postseason begins, and a guy who has a multitude of pitches but is not getting guys out and is allowing a ton of homers isn't the guy you want starting Game 2 on the ALDS against a Cleveland or Anaheim.

No they need to get it straigtened out and quick ,even if it means sitting him out for a srat here at the end of the season to let him recharge his batteries and get prepared for the real grind that he has yet to experience--the MLB playoffs.

Magic number time already?! okay, I'll play along
Thanks to the Globe for reminding everone that with any combination of 14 Boston wins and/or Stankee losses the sox will officially clinch their first AL East title since 1995.

Get the confetti and streamers ready.

With a three game set against the Rays up next starting tonight and then a three gamer against New York, the number could be reduced to less than double digits in less than a week.

Then again by that time the season will be almost over seeing as there is only 18 games left, so what this number means is that Boston could clinch the division as long as they continue to win and the Yanks lose a few along the way between now and the end of the season on Sept. 30.

Thanks for keeping us up to speed on this, guys.

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