Day And Night

Curt Schilling's last start was like a sunny day, fair-weather puffy white clouds streaming eastward towards the tranquil blue Atlantic Ocean. His start last night, full of promise and hope, was vastly different, a pitch black night with rumbles of thunder and deadly crackling lightning flashes scorching the ears and eyes. Yes, it was that bad. The first batter of the game reached base, a run scored. Another run came across the plate in the second. And then, could it be? Things looked as if he had turned things around in the third and fourth innings, but then there was the fifth, and after that, he was gone, seemingly vaporized by one of those bolts of white-hot lightning. It was 6-2, soon to be 9-2. And the Red Sox took another step backwards. As Bruce Springsteen sang in a song from his 1987 album TUNNEL OF LOVE, "...one step up, two steps back." He was writing and singing about marriage's ups and downs. I'm talking about that team we love. They've won only 5 of their last 13 games. Lugo and Coco and Drew, and that's one third of the darn batting order, continue with their oh for fours. Errors abound. The Yankees have won 8 straight. As the title suggests, it's like day has turned into night. Daydreams of peace and love have morphed monsterously into nightmares of murder and mayhem. OR WORSE. But hope is on the horizon....not in the form of a new player, but just this. A new approach for the guys, our guys at the plate. Be patient, swing at good pitches. Is it the fault of Mags (the Red Sox hitting coach) ? I cannot answer that question. I don't KNOW the answer. Ok, back to the future, which is RIGHT NOW, as we look forward to........read on.......

Josh Beckett tries to bring us back to the light once more, and it sure would be great to see the Sox start winning regularly again. They have to start hitting. The pitching has to be consistant, although it generally has been good, with a clunker or two thrown in like the one last night. Sorry Curt....it was. We all know the Sox aren't going anywhere but second place if they continue to hit this way. Lugo, Crisp and JD Drew--that message is meant for you.
Click on the title for more on Curt's aborted start and the Red Sox stumbles and bumbles from the Herald's Michael Silverman. AND GO JOSH. We need you. Badly. Right now!