Games 22 - 24

Final Scores:

Game 22: Boston Red Sox 5, Texas Rangers 8
Game 23: Boston Red Sox 3, Texas Rangers 4
Game 24: Boston Red Sox 1, Texas Rangers 4

I will not panic even though the Sox were swept over the weekend. I will not panic even though the Sox were swept over the weekend. I will not...

Ok, so not a good weekend for Red Sox baseball. I was in Boston this weekend (even walked past the Holy of Holies on Friday night), which I would have thought would help, but apparently it was not to be. My father put forth a theory this weekend, while we were listening to the game on 'EEI (see my comments on the ridiculousness of broadcasting the majority of Red Sox games on cable below), about what might be termed the curse of A-Rod. Young Mr. Rodriguez starts with the Mariners. After he leaves to go to Texas, the Mariners become the dominant team in the AL West, winning obscene numbers of games. Texas, meanwhile, becomes the bottom of the heap. A-Rod leaves Texas and comes to NY. Texas goes from the cellar to the top of the AL West and goes on to crush my beloved Sox over the weekend. That said, the Yankees have won their last six games (how dare they) and have pulled into second place ahead of Baltimore, so I guess the theory will need some refinement further proving. Or we could just say that the power of the Evil Empire is such that even the Curse of A-Rod cannot defeat it. Something like that. I want it noted here, however, that I was against the A-Rod trade after it stopped involving Magglio Ordonez. The Red Sox do not need the two highest paid players in baseball, no matter how good they are.

Let's focus on more negative: contract negotiations. Specifically, Pedro's declaration of free agency and the idiocy of the Red Sox ownership. As someone living in New York City (a New Yorker, even?) who frequently takes the subway, I am frequently privileged to encounter that paean of journalism, the New York Post. The New York Post is to New York City what the Boston Herald is to Boston; it reeks of the scandalous. The Posts' writers cried like wounded puppies when Clemens announced he was signing with the Astros, cackled gleefully over the A-Rod deal, had a field day with Game 7, etc. Now, they're tearing into the Pedro situation (who can blame them), because, of course, Mad King George recognizes a good pitcher when he sees one. My take on all this: at the moment, the contracts of Martinez, Garciaparra, Veritek and Lowe are all up at the end of this season. Management kinda dicked around with Nomar during the off-season by entering trade negotiations without telling him beforehand (yes, I know this is a business, but a little courtesy ain't so bad). Now, according to Pedro at least, the contract offers that have been made so far have been a bit lacking. It may be that they were made in the spirit of economies, because I have heard some suggestion that paycuts will need to be taken for this team to continue to grow. I've also heard that Pedro said he was willing to take those pay cuts...so maybe the offers just weren't reasonable. Or maybe he changed his mind. Let's hope it gets worked out one way or another.

TV broadcasts: TV licensing has become rediculous. You shouldn't need to have a cable box to watch the Red Sox on TV. You shouldn't have to deal with Tim McCarver and Joe Buck and the FOX network broadcasts during important games. If I'm up in Boston, give me Sean and Jerry and make it snappy. That is all.

Now for the only positive note: it's a Monday night and there is baseball being played and broadcast. The Monday night day off policy bothers me to no end. Yes, I understand that teams need a night off and that more people are likely to be watching/listening during the weekend than during the week. Unfortunately, I'm not one of those people. Not only do I tend to be out doing things on the weekend, but it's Monday, man. I need baseball on a Monday night like a soothing, soothing drug (one that frequently gets me hyped up, admittedly, but that's not the point) to help start the work week. Fortunately, I will not have to go without tonight. Excellence shall abound and the hated Indians shall be crushed.

Ok, that's it until tomorrow. Before I sign off, I've been asked to include a note. My girlfriend is from the Bronx and is a Yankees fan (you don't know how many people asked me how I can stand to date her this past weekend. A few even called me a better man for being to do so. I thought it was great). She asked me to include this in my next sign-off: that the Yankees do not suck, that it's just my overactive Boston-influenced imagination mixed with the bitterness that comes with the longest can't-quite-make-it-past-second-place record in baseball. I, of course, have only one response: THE YANKEES HAVE SUCKED AND WILL CONTINUE TO SUCK!

Later.