Games 114 through 116 - Red Sox
At Least We've Got the Olympics
Chicago White Sox 8, Red Sox 7
Red Sox 4, White Sox 3
White Sox 5, Red Sox 4
Record: 64-52
August Record: 8-6
Thankfully, I saw/heard/read/cared very little about this weekend's 3-game set with the ChiSox. Another disappointing series loss - this time at home - against a decent opponent. 2 more 1-run losses sandwiched around a (gasp!) 1-run win. Back to a flat-footed tie for the Wild Card lead with both Texas and Anaheim, and only 2 1/2 games up on the fast-closing Cleveland Indians.
This team just can't get over the hump. Winners of 5 of 6 games headed into this series, gaining steam as the post-Nomar roster began to gel, and then...pffft. Again. Karl Ravech noted last night on ESPN's coverage of the Cardinals/Braves tilt that both teams entered the contest with at least 30 wins in their last 40 games (St. Louis was 30-10, Atlanta 31-9). I'd give Terry Francona naming rights to my next-born child if the Sox could rip off a stretch like that. He'd ponder it for a while, trying really hard to do what he thought Theo Epstein wanted, then he'd fuck it up by bringing in Mike Timlin to help name the kid, even though Timlin had named 6 kids in the past 3 days, and despite the fact that the kid was left-handed and Alan Embree hadn't named any kids in days. At least Curt Schilling would be happy.
Thank the Good Lord that the Olympics are on 37 different channels for the next 2 weeks. Despite the insufferable homerism displayed by the NBC team (I never thought I'd hear myself shit-talking Bob Costas' visage on my TV screen - seriously, he must have to wash his hands for hours after each shift to get the scum off after shilling so blatantly for the IOC's image), and the well-documented corruption of the muckety-mucks that drive the Olympic movement, I'm still a huge sucker for the Olympic Games.
Which is a good thing, because I need a distraction from the Red Sox for the next fortnight. So, hello Michael Phelps, Carlos Arroyo, Iraqi soccer players, Greek steroid cheats, Svetlana Khorkina (you naughty little minx), Larry Brown's disbelieving eyes, Marion Jones, Tom Pappas, Inge de Bruijn, and all the rest of you. Manny, Pedro, David, Curt, and the boys - I'll check back with you in 2 weeks, let's see if you can put a little distance between yourselves and the rest of the league. Maybe call those Cardinal guys for some advice.
(Preemptive qualifier for Whitney - this is all poetic license, I'm not planning to take another blog vacation, even though it was highly effective last season.)
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