Bleached Sox

All empires inevitably, must fall….

It happened to Alexander the Great, it happened to the Greeks, it happened to the Romans, it’s happened to countless other dynasties and kingdoms. Hell, it’s even happened to the Yankees.

It is now Boston’s turn to fall.

Historically, most empires fall because their leader is inept, or diabolical or just plain bats-hi*t crazy.  It is different here in Boston. The man at the helm was known as a players-coach, loyal to the end. A man of high baseball IQ, demanding, yet fair. During his rookie season, Dustin Pedroia hit under the “Mendoza” line (under .200) for the first two months, as the starting second basemen for the Sox. Francona stuck with him, and he ended up winning the rookie of the year. The next year, he won the MVP. When Papi started off and the media and fans wanted him gone, Francona stuck with him. Ortiz had a decent 2010, and this year ended with 29 home runs 96 RBI and a .304 batting average.

The demise of the Red Sox does not lie on Tito’s shoulders. It lies on something much more intangible. Specifically, it lies on the introduction of players that do not mesh with the fabric of the Boston Red Sox.  When you think of recent Yankees, you think of Bernie Williams, and Jeter, and Posada and Pettite, guys that ooze Yankee pinstripes. When I think of recent Red Sox players, I think of Damon (he was never a Yankee), Schilling, Varitek, Lowell, Pedro, in some cases guys that truly “bled” Red Sox.  Crawford and Lackey are no Red Sox players. Neither is Adrian Gonzalez.

Previous to the 2010 campaign, the Red Sox were known for winning with players not of all-star luster. In 2004, they coined themselves the “idiots”, and well so, as their cast included the Damons and Millars of the world. A cast of outcasts, outlaws and in some cases bat-sh*t crazy players such as one Manny Ramirez.  What separates those guys from this year’s team, is grit and guts. This year’s campaign sounds like an all-star line up – Ellsbury, Pedroia, Youkilis, Gonzalez, Ortiz and so on…and although some of them have won rings here in Boston, they are missing many others. The chemistry is unhinged, unbalanced, impaired. Guys like Mike Lowell are no longer around. Guys like Trot Nixon and Dave Roberts and Alan Embree and Mike Timlin and Orlando Cabrera, are no longer here. 2007 contributors like Eric Hinske and Bobby Kielty and Doug Mirabelli – gone….

Theo Epstein has done a wonderful job in bringing the right guys together to win championships. That is no longer the case. The Red Sox inability to not make much noise since 2007 is due to the current absence of players such as those from 2004 and 2007. Hell, I’ll take John Valentin and Brian Daubach and Troy O’Leary from back in the 90’s! Theo or whoever the GM may be, needs to get back to those roots. Boston is not a town that is known for glamorous baseball. It needs the Damons and the Millars of the world. That is why we won in 2004. That is why we won in 2007

Remember in Rocky III when Rocky gets beat up by Mr. T’s character (Clubber Lang…?)? Rocky got used to training in shiny gyms and clean facilities. Rocky finally comes around when he goes back to his roots, dingy gyms, jogging in the streets of Philadelphia – stays hungry. You don’t take a sewer rat and bleach him with Clorox.

Let’s hope the Red Sox can get dirty once again in the near future. After all, isn’t their theme song “Dirty Water”….?

All empires inevitably fall….