11-16

"Let's not forget how lucky we've been."

This is what my friend said to me as we were just talking about the Red Sox and their slow start. And I thought about how lucky Red Sox fans really have been, especially ones who are our age. We've only had to live through the 2003 ALCS; no Buckner, no Bucky Dent...just Aaron Boone. Which was redeemed one year later in the greatest comeback in MLB history. We've had no-hitters thrown at Fenway, we've had a clinching Game 7 ALCS victory, we've had two World Series championships. Retired numbers, Hall of Famers, idiots, and everything else that's happened to this team. As an aside, the entire city of Boston has been blessed with such success with sports teams. Three Super Bowls, an NBA championship, a Stanley Cup, and two World Series championships, all in the span of a decade. We have been very lucky. But have we been too lucky?

Have we come to expect too much out of a team that might not be able to deliver? The three best starting pitchers heading into this season included a two no-hitters, two World Series clinching game winners, and a slew of talent. This year, one of them has allowed five or more earned runs in each of his first six starts (Clay Buchholz). One had a start skipped simply because he threw 126 pitches and didn't tell anyone he was feeling hurt before the start (Josh Beckett). The third, our ace, has a 4.62 ERA with a 25:17 K:BB ratio (Jon Lester). Having been blessed with some of the greatest pitchers ever (Pedro Martinez being the first one off the top of my head), are we expecting too much out of our pitching?

And the offense. The 2003 and 2004 Red Sox lineup was one of the most potent in history. There were no automatic outs, the team ran around the bases, and was always a threat to break out for a crooked number. This year? Statistical observation aside, the team runs itself into crucial outs and takes itself out of situations for runs.

Straight up, this is not a fun baseball team to watch. Everyone is still a believer, but I feel like I'm one of the first to think about what exactly we're believing in. We will always believe in the hometown team, the one who's been there for us. But I think that it's time to ask ourselves - are they there for us now?