Did you happen to see Dustin Pedroia’s postgame comments? (I didn’t see them live but the vid is up on the NESN website as well as being conveniently embedded at the end of this post!)
He didn’t look mad. Didn’t look frustrated. Basically said “Shit happens. We know our bullpen is good and we’ll get them tomorrow.”. (Not direct quotes, mind you!)
Sometimes, just for a moment, I forget that I live in post-2004 Red Sox Nation and I get the “25 cabs/25 players” worries. And then I see Pedie on NESN and it quickly goes away.
What also helps get over a truly crappy loss like last night’s is visiting various Red Sox message boards and blogs and expecting everyone to be carping about the sky falling but instead finding people chanting the mantra that you’ve had for a few years now: “As long as we win the series…”. I was a little surprised at how many of the fans (I avoid the more negative places on the whole so I’m sure I missed a lot of the whining!) were disappointed but not devastated by the bullpen choking up the game.
We’re never going to be happy when the team loses. But whether they lose 1-0, 15-0 or 11-1 after being ahead 10-1, it still counts the same in the standings. The team doesn’t get penalized for “blowing” a game as opposed to “just” losing one. So why waste the extra energy?
Josh Beckett is on the mound today. We get AFTERNOON baseball on a day I’m actually home to see it (and live blog it!) and even though I still don’t see the sun, my windows are open and I hear birds singing (and I don’t hear rain!). This day is shaping up to be one that will soon make us forget the ugliness of last night.
//