The BoSox are back in town. A lot has taken place since the Red Sox ousted the Yankees in the first game of the major league season on April 4th, 9-7. Unfortunately, not much of it has been good. Opening day was a breath of fresh air for Boston fans who were getting sick of an old, wheelchair-bound basketball team and an underperforming hockey team all Winter long. Since opening day, complete with the over-performed antics of Neil Diamond, Steven Tyler and that four-year old kid from youtube, Boston has done a 180, as the B's and C's have both been able to turn it on come playoff time. OK, so the youtube kid was pretty neat. In all honesty though, radio show hosts started making a lot of sense to me when they talked about how embarrassing some opening day antics are. Yeah, they get the kids fired up, and even I felt a little chill when that kid told the Yankees to "screw", but what was next? I half expected Andy Samberg and T-Pain to run out of the Green Monster and perform "I'm on a Boat" after the Red Sox won. Yes, it would have been awesome, but this is baseball here, folks, and at some point a line needs to be drawn.
The team has performed poorly at best. Through 19 games, the Red Sox hold an 8-11 record, with four of those wins coming against the lowly Texas Rangers, who traded away all their talent, and the even lowlier Baltimore Orioles, who have Julio Lugo in their lineup (haha- that says it all). The Red Sox are in trouble. At this point in time, the Sox are slumping at the plate mightily, and a defense that was touted as one of the best in the league has 13 errors already, good for 10th worst in the league and fourth worst in the AL.
The pitching hasn't been as great as it was supposed to be either. So far, newcomer John Lackey, Josh Beckett and Jon Lester, the three aces that were supposed to come together in an orgasm of pitching gorgeousness have been inconsistent. There are no Boston pitchers in the top forty starting ERAs in MLB, which is a brutal reality for fans who were expecting air-tightness on the pitching front.
Even worse than the starting situation has been the relief. Ramon Ramirez, one of the key cogs in the Red Sox' bullpen last year and a great find, has had a brutal start, racking up a 7.56 ERA through 8.1 innings. Daniel Bard, the guy who is supposed to take over for the much appreciated but also much-more-hittable-as-of-late Jonathan Papelbon has been very unimpressive as well.
Here's the good news Sox fans. It's still April. It has been proven time and again that a long baseball season can prove to be a great equalizer. Take the (shiver) current World Series Champions of New York for example. Remember how high and mighty we felt after opening last season 8-0 against the Bronx Bombers? Remember the joy we felt as Jacoby Ellsbury slid under Jorge Posada to steal home? Now do you remember how silly we felt last September when it was the Red Sox who were blowing games against the Angels and leaving the door wide open for the Yanks to buy another Series? Yeah, it still stings, but it's true. The Sox are known for starting strong, getting hopes up, dipping severely in the Summer, and starting up the engines just in time for a playoff run. That plan of action hasn't worked out too too well for the Sox (see 86 years prior to 2004), but then again, 2004 and 2007 are the obvious counterpoints.
This year, maybe things will be different. It's hard to believe that a pitching staff lined with such talent could go the whole year carrying its current 4.61 ERA. I bet that at some point, guys will get hot, and runs against the Red Sox will be few and far between, as they should be. The defense will have to figure itself out, and then things will be as planned. Who knows, maybe the Red Sox will ride their current vibe and be majorly disappointing. But I like to believe that with the resurgence of Lester, Beckett, Matsuzaka (hopefully he can finally string together the year he's been looking for since coming to Boston), Ellsbury (once he's back from injury), and David Ortiz (this guy is going to figure it out sooner or later), the Sox will be in the running again. Pair the return of these guys with the strong play of Adrian Beltre, Dustin Pedroia, and Kevin Youkilis, and things are looking up.
Even with the good news I have a hard time getting my hopes up for this team. I have not been too keen on the moves they have made as of late. The age of some players has caught up to them, and because of some finicky trading, some positions have been up in the air for far too long. There are two glaring holes that I see as definite problems that need to be addressed. One is shortstop Marco Scutaro. I have no personal beef with the guy, but he's in a major slump right now (flattening a Red Sox comeback attempt this afternoon by going 0-5 and popping out to end the game). I don't have the patience with him that I can have for other guys mostly because, no matter how touted he is as a defensive shortstop who can hit the ball, he hasn't been productive on either side of the ball yet. More importantly, the shortstop position has been figured out three times since the departure of Nomar Garciaparra in 2004, and the Red Sox have failed to hang on to the right guy each of those times. I would have taken Orlando Cabrera, or Alex Gonzalez either of the times the Red Sox had him over Marco Scutaro, and arguably for less money. AGon was having a ball last year hitting at Fenway and he was one of the best defensive shortstops that I have ever seen in a Red Sox uniform. Losing him for a second time rubbed salt in a proverbial wound of mine. The acquisition of Scutaro simply wasn't going to cut it. The other glaring issue with this team is its inability to stop players from running on them. It seems like lately everyone and his brother is stealing bases from the Red Sox. It's getting really ugly out there. Something needs to be done about this and fast. There's no reason why Victor Martinez, a capable backstop in every other facet of the game, can't figure out how to throw to second in time to get a few guys.
The Red Sox will be good entertainment this year, don't get me wrong. They are not in nearly as much trouble as their stats would indicate. It will be interesting to see how they fill some gaps and holes as the season goes on, and they are sure to be in the thick of things with the Rays and the Yankees when September comes rolling around again.
Ah, the Patriots. There has been ample time for New England fans to cool off from this January's shellacking at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens, especially since the New Orleans Saints held off Peyton Manning from a second super bowl victory. Things have quieted down considerably on the football front in New England since the History Derailed season. It seems the Pats have defined the meaning of the anticlamax since letting Peyton's younger, slightly less ugly brother beat them in the most important game of the year. Last season's rout at the hands of the Ravens and the Texans after a rousing romp of the Jaxonville Jaguars also left fans unsatisfied. And more recently, the Pats have been anticlimactic in the 2010 draft.
I don't know much about the players who are coming in the draft this year except a few of the quarterbacks and some other top ten picks. Needless to say, I have heard very little about any of the Patriots' picks, so this blurb promises to be short. After trading down to the dismay of many a climax-loving fan, Bill Belichick did not go out and get stud Wide Receiver Dez Bryant to fill the Patriots' most glaring hole. Instead, he drafted Rutger's cornerback Devin McCourty. There are mixed emotions about this guy. I like that he's less of a mouther than Bryant would have been, and the Pats do need a guy to hold the corner like Asante Samuel used to. It remains to be seen whether McCourty is the right guy for the job, but I must say I'm not opposed to the pick. I think wide receiver Wes Welker's injury at the end of last year scared fans into thinking that drafting a new WR was a do or die situation. While some extra depth would be nice, I don't know if someone like Dez Bryant, a top round pick, is the guy to do the job.
At Tight End, the Pats did fill up their ammunition this draft. Second round pick Rob Gronkowski will fit the bill as a strong blocker and receiver. The scary bit comes with the Patriots' inability to nab a pass-rusher, a position they longed for last season. Without Richard Seymour, they had to rely on Tully Banta-Cain as their only semi-pass rusher last year, and with only one guy, the Pats had little success getting to the quarterback- (need I remind you of the main reason for History derailed?- Offensive and defensive line).
So, where does this put the Patriots? I really don't know yet. Maybe the Pats will be poised for another great run with Brady at the helm and a strong team behind him. They are still a good team, that's for sure, and when your team is at least good, anything can happen when the season starts. Look for the emergence of linebackers Jerod Mayo and Pat Chung and Wide Receiver Julian Edelman as key contributors next year. With a somewhat-newly defined defense and an offense led by one of the best quarterbacks in the league, maybe the Pats can get back to their Bruschi-esque days of leadership and shut some teams down. In their way, however, will be the New York Jets, who took a major page out of the Yankee's offseason playbook, buying whatever free agents they could to make their team look as good as possible. It is yet to be seen whether their moves will pay off of whether such a patchwork team will rip at the seams due to lack of chemistry, but the AFC East will not be the pushovers that the Pats have experienced as of late, that's for sure.
Now we get to the good stuff, playoffs. For the third straight season, the Celtics find themselves with a postseason berth. After the 24 win abomination of 2007, this is a breath of fresh air for Celtic fans, but it would seem that the era of the Big Three could be close to being over. There's no denying that Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen are old. This whole season, people have been complaining about a lack of youthful energy on the Celtics' squad, and it has shown. Lackluster games against select foes have left the Celtics with a less-than-perfect record for sure. It seemed like the C's were limping considerably heading into the end of the season, dropping contests to the Milwaukee Bucks, the Washington Wizards, and the Chicago Bulls by wide margins.
Who would have thought the C's could turn it on like they have. It looks, right now, as if the game plan of rest and cautious play towards the end of the regular season is paying off for the Celtics and the Big Three. Through the first three games of their round one series with the Miami Heat, the Celtics have dominated. KG has been solid on the defensive side of the ball, Pierce has been clutch (effortlessly and fearlessly nailing a buzzer-beater to win game three right in the face of a defender), and Allen has been good old sugar Ray again. Rondo and Perkins have kept up their side of the bargain as well, as both players have grown into strong talents that will be invaluable for the team then the Big Three are gone. And so, virtually momentumless, the Celtics flipped a switch and have returned to form against the Heat. Even without KG in game two, when he was suspended for elbowing after a silly mix up in front of the Heat bench, the Celtics dominated Miami in every facet of the game. In their most recent game, however, the Celtics looked lackluster, giving up a lopsided loss to Dwayne Wade, who scored 42 all on his own. If the Celtics really can turn their play on and off as they have shown, they may have made a big mistake by deciding to take today's game off. I didn't get to see too much of it, and maybe the Heat simply played better than the C's today, but the fact remains that Boston missed a great opportunity to close out the series early and get an extra day of rest heading into a much more difficult challenge in the next round.
I expect the Celtics to finish off the Heat. They have shown that they are too experienced at this point in a series to lose all of their momentum and blow a three game lead. The main question is how and when they will move on. They need to be at their top performance level heading into the second round, as they will be facing stronger, younger teams. I don't see the Celtics getting too far in this tournament. It's just a feeling I have. But, I wouldn't be surprised either is veteran leadership and experience brought another banner to the rafters at the TD garden.
Take a look at these guys. He Bruins are possibly the biggest shockers in an April of shocking sports developments in Boston. Defying their critics, the B's executed down the stretch of the regular season and snagged a pretty sixth seed entering the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Through five games in the first round against the Buffalo Sabres, things are looking bright for a team that had legions of fans hanging their heads all season long.
The Bruins hold a 3-2 series lead against stud backstop Ryan Miller and the Sabres, and can finish the series off tomorrow night at the TD Garden. While a loss would send the series to sudden death in Buffalo, somewhere the Bruins do not want to be, a win would put the Bruins in the second round of the playoffs against either the Flyers or the Penguins. Much more likely is a collision with the Penguins, last years' Stanley Cup winners. The matchup would solidify a date for the Bruins against the hated Matt Cooke, and with Marc Savard on the brink of returning to the ice, this matchup would kick the hub into a frenzy for sure.
While playing the Flyers may be safer in the long haul for the Bruins, as it would mean that the Capitals had been eliminated from competition, the matchup against the Penguins would be much more interesting. Against the Flyers, Philly would have the energy on their side, as the B's were able to steal the winter classic from them in overtime on New Year's Day. They will be looking for payback. Against Pittsburgh, the Bruins have all the momentum on their side. The Penguins are built on a strong offensive unit, and the Bruins' tip top defense and stunning goal tending have the opportunity to shut that down. With Matt Cooke stepping in the Garden again as well, we would have a great chance at seeing some fired up Bruins players skating with attitude.
That attitude is exactly what the Bruins need. There is no doubt that the B's double overtime win against the Sabres at home for a 3-1 series lead had them fired up. The crowd was exploding over the mistakes of an almost flawless Ryan Miller, and Tuukka Rask and his defense ate it up, making it only a matter of time before the Bruins could finish off the Sabres in double OT. Back in Buffalo two nights ago, and that pressure was off. The Bruins skated with less intensity. I hope that the Bruins regain their luster and their fierceness before it is too late. If they can put away the Sabres with their home crowd behind them one more time, they will be a force to be reckoned with for the rest of the playoffs. And if they are successful in sending a message to the Penguins, they may be able to ride that momentum all the way to the end.
In their game tomorrow tonight, keep an eye on Milan Lucic and Tuukka Rask. I expect Lucic, or another Bruins playmaker, to set the tone early by shutting down any Sabre who gets out of line. If Tuukka is psyched up for this game, we will know early. I especially will be watching for the first goal of the game. The Bruins need to defend against the early goal that the Sabres have been getting in each game in the series so far. From there, they can focus on figuring out Ryan Miller and finishing the game off. In a playoff series where unexpected players have stepped up to the plate in key moments, don't be surprised if there is an unlikely hero to tomorrow night's game.
April showers bring May flowers- Lets see if they can bring some trophies too.
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