They can only get better!

Because Johnny Pesky can always make me smile! (Photo courtesy of Kelly O'Connor and used with permission)

Well this sucks.

Seriously.  There is no sugar-coating that your team, the team the entire freaking world has predicted will win upwards of 100 games and then go on to win the World Series, can’t win a damn game.  Four losses in a row to start the season is like  someone pulling a perfectly healthy tooth out of your head in slow motion with no pain killer.  There is nothing positive to say about watching your team begin the season losing four games in a row.  Nothing.

But…

There have been positives in these games.  David Ortiz is hitting.  Jacoby Ellsbury is getting on base.  Heck, Josh Beckett didn’t look half bad last night.  Go check out a box score from any one of these games and you’ll find little things to give you hope.  Just because it sucks now doesn’t mean it will for the rest of the season.  No team ever went 0-162, right?

Received a fun email last night from a newcomer to my blog who wrote that he didn’t comment because I would probably have deleted it (let it be known, if you are a fan of a different team you are welcome to comment here.  I only delete offensive comments or comments that bait other people into a flame war).  The person didn’t identify their team affiliation as being New York, but he (she?) was crowing about the Red Sox losing while the Yankees were beating up on the Minnesota Twins again.  As I read it, Rafael Soriano was busy giving up the 4-0 lead the Yankees had.  I get my entertainment where I can when the Red Sox play this way.

Just think about how much fun it will be tonight to watch Daisuke Matsuzaka put 327 men on base while none of them score!

So this 0-4 thing.  Do we start genuinely worrying?  Does it mean that the team isn’t as good in reality as it is on paper?  I have to say my answer to both questions is no.  I mean, again, it’s terrible.  Who the heck wants to watch their team lose four in a row ESPECIALLY to begin the season?  I can tell you I don’t.  It’s bringing me physical pain to watch it.  While watching the game last night, I said a couple of words last night repeatedly that I would never write on this blog.  It’s not fun at all.  But to be at a point where I’0m worried that the Red Sox will play this way all season?  I’m not there.  Not even close.  It’s worrisome to see the rest of the AL East winning (well, except the Rays) and to look at the hole the Sox are digging for themselves but it’s not something I’m ready to genuinely get upset over.  It’s a long seasons and there will be other teams with losing streaks.  Heck, if I have to put SOME kind of positive spin on it I suppose it’s that I’d rather they have their crappy spell at the beginning of the season than in the middle or near the end like it often comes for the Red Sox.  Let’s get all the misery out now so we can thoroughly enjoy our summer!

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Random stat that means nothing, really, but sounds good:  According to Scott Lauber at the Boston Herald, even though none of them began the season, every team to win a World Series since 1988 had a four-game losing streak.

Blog suggestion for the day:  Over at the Fenway Faithful Report today the focus is accentuating the positive.  The positive being the Red Sox bullpen.  I have a feeling we’re going to be grateful for that a lot this season.