Truth Hits Everybody

Game 100 – Red Sox

A’s 5, Red Sox 1
Record: 61-39

All things being equal, as of today I don’t believe the Red Sox will make the playoffs. There. I said it. The following table (Well, it would be a table if I had the patience to figure out how to drop in the appropriate html code. Just pretend, mmmkay.) is Exhibit A through Z in my case against the Olde Towne Team’s postseason hopes:

BOS - Schilling/Beckett/Lester/Snyder/???
NYY - Mussina/Johnson/Wright/Wang/Ponson
CHW - Buehrle/Conteras/Garcia/Garland/Vazquez
MIN - Santana/Liriano/Radke/Baker/Bonser
DET - Verlander/Rogers/Bonderman/Robertson/Miner

If you go 2 deep in the rotations of the 5 teams that are competing for 3 playoff spots (I'm disrespecting Toronto intentionally, despite their dominance of the Sox in 2006) the Sox are right there, arguably no. 2 behind Minny. 3 deep, and the Sox are still competitive, though Lester's inexperience is a concern. From there, though, the Sox fall off the face of the earth, giving 40% of their starts the rest of the way to...what? The sky, my friends, is falling - even with an offense that still ranks among the league's most fearsome.

Here's the thing, though. (C'mon, you know you've been waiting for me to break out that old chestnut. I can hear the cheers from Fairfax to Arlington.) If the Sox actually play the season's final 60 games with that rotation, I'll wear Teejay's Simspon (that's not a typo for those of you not way inside) jersey and a pair of seersucker pants into a biker bar, order a cosmo, and ask if everyone would please refrain from smoking. 4 days 'til the deadline with a season in the balance in Beantown - whattyasay, Theo, the Monster's hungry.