CalYankeeFan
08-30-01, 10:28 AM
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/columns/20010830/curseofjimypreventingred.html
CLEVELAND -- The Red Sox play their final 20 games against the bottom-feeding Tigers, Orioles and Devil Rays. But by the time they enter that stretch, they might be out of contention for both the AL East title and the wildcard.
Beloved in New England, beleaguered since 1918, the Sox didn't just lose shortstop Nomar Garciaparra Wednesday. They also lost their fourth straight game, a dispiriting 2-1 affair against the Indians at Jacobs Field.
The Curse of the Bambino lives, and the Curse of Jimy is not far behind.
The Sox are five games behind the Yankees in the division, five behind the A's for the wildcard. They're also 6-7 under manager Joe Kerrigan after going 65-53 under Jimy Williams, and the new skipper's attempt to implement a running game is going about as smoothly as Russia's attempt to convert to capitalism.
Kerrigan had spoken of "treading water" during this 13-game stretch against the Indians and Yankees. But with Bartolo Colon, Roger Clemens and Mike Mussina the opposing starters in three of the next four games, the Red Sox are in danger of drowning.
"We're getting down to the point where every game for us is almost must-win," Kerrigan said. "Whether it be five games from now, 10 games from now, we're the ones trying to play catch-up. You can put down every game from now on as a must-win for us."
Informed of Kerrigan's comments, left fielder Dante Bichette said, "I don't know if it's real good to put that kind of pressure on yourself. It tightens a team up more than anything. I just think we need to have fun, enjoy this game and play our best. If we're good enough to get it done, we'll get it done."
Right now, the Red Sox don't look good enough, even with a $111 million payroll. They've been ravaged by injuries, and frankly, it's amazing that they've contended for this long. If Garciaparra or Pedro Martinez had been healthy the entire season, their record might be better than the Yankees'.
Williams had a lot to do with that, no matter how much his players and the general manager despised him. His firing will seem all the more ludicrous if the team crumbles. Kerrigan is a first-time manager, and he's trying to change the team's identity in the middle of a pennant race.
The concept of the "runnin' Red Sox" is almost laughable -- there's a reason that the team has stolen fewer bases (37) than Yankees rookie Alfonso Soriano (38). Kerrigan acknowledged Wednesday night that the transition is not going smoothly. If Garciaparra is unable to return from his wrist injury, it probably won't make much of a difference, anyway.
The Red Sox stole six straight bases at one point after Kerrigan took over, but they've been caught in nine of their last 10 attempts, including twice Wednesday. Trot Nixon was picked off first in the third inning, and Bichette was caught on the front end of a double steal when Jose Offerman struck out on a 3-2 pitch to end a threat in the fourth.
Bichette is one of the Red Sox's slowest runners. Offerman has struck out 86 times in 441 at-bats. It wasn't the best combination to execute such a maneuver, even if Kerrigan was only trying to avoid a double play.
"We put some hit-and-runs on tonight that we missed," Kerrigan said "We're trying to be more aggressive on the bases. We're trying to create some offense. The guys just aren't used to getting signs. They're not used to picking up hit-and-run signs and steal signs. It's going to take a while for them to be aware that, hey, this is going to be aggressive, so look out."
Kerrigan was indeed aggressive -- he ordered his hitters to swing away in possible bunting situations early in the game, reasoning that it was pointless to play for one run against a team as explosive against the Indians.
Fair enough, but the Red Sox finished 0-for-11 with six strikeouts with runners in scoring position. Their only run came on a monstrous homer by Manny Ramirez. They struck out 14 times combined against the Indians' C.C. Sabathia, Danys Baez and Bob Wickman.
Come to think of it, until the Red Sox loaded the bases against Wickman in the ninth, they played almost as if they were trying to get their manager fired.
Oops, they tried that already.
The Curse of the Bambino was enough of a burden.
The Red Sox didn't need The Curse of Jimy.
Senior writer Ken Rosenthal covers baseball for The Sporting News. Email him at krosenthal@sportingnews.com.
CLEVELAND -- The Red Sox play their final 20 games against the bottom-feeding Tigers, Orioles and Devil Rays. But by the time they enter that stretch, they might be out of contention for both the AL East title and the wildcard.
Beloved in New England, beleaguered since 1918, the Sox didn't just lose shortstop Nomar Garciaparra Wednesday. They also lost their fourth straight game, a dispiriting 2-1 affair against the Indians at Jacobs Field.
The Curse of the Bambino lives, and the Curse of Jimy is not far behind.
The Sox are five games behind the Yankees in the division, five behind the A's for the wildcard. They're also 6-7 under manager Joe Kerrigan after going 65-53 under Jimy Williams, and the new skipper's attempt to implement a running game is going about as smoothly as Russia's attempt to convert to capitalism.
Kerrigan had spoken of "treading water" during this 13-game stretch against the Indians and Yankees. But with Bartolo Colon, Roger Clemens and Mike Mussina the opposing starters in three of the next four games, the Red Sox are in danger of drowning.
"We're getting down to the point where every game for us is almost must-win," Kerrigan said. "Whether it be five games from now, 10 games from now, we're the ones trying to play catch-up. You can put down every game from now on as a must-win for us."
Informed of Kerrigan's comments, left fielder Dante Bichette said, "I don't know if it's real good to put that kind of pressure on yourself. It tightens a team up more than anything. I just think we need to have fun, enjoy this game and play our best. If we're good enough to get it done, we'll get it done."
Right now, the Red Sox don't look good enough, even with a $111 million payroll. They've been ravaged by injuries, and frankly, it's amazing that they've contended for this long. If Garciaparra or Pedro Martinez had been healthy the entire season, their record might be better than the Yankees'.
Williams had a lot to do with that, no matter how much his players and the general manager despised him. His firing will seem all the more ludicrous if the team crumbles. Kerrigan is a first-time manager, and he's trying to change the team's identity in the middle of a pennant race.
The concept of the "runnin' Red Sox" is almost laughable -- there's a reason that the team has stolen fewer bases (37) than Yankees rookie Alfonso Soriano (38). Kerrigan acknowledged Wednesday night that the transition is not going smoothly. If Garciaparra is unable to return from his wrist injury, it probably won't make much of a difference, anyway.
The Red Sox stole six straight bases at one point after Kerrigan took over, but they've been caught in nine of their last 10 attempts, including twice Wednesday. Trot Nixon was picked off first in the third inning, and Bichette was caught on the front end of a double steal when Jose Offerman struck out on a 3-2 pitch to end a threat in the fourth.
Bichette is one of the Red Sox's slowest runners. Offerman has struck out 86 times in 441 at-bats. It wasn't the best combination to execute such a maneuver, even if Kerrigan was only trying to avoid a double play.
"We put some hit-and-runs on tonight that we missed," Kerrigan said "We're trying to be more aggressive on the bases. We're trying to create some offense. The guys just aren't used to getting signs. They're not used to picking up hit-and-run signs and steal signs. It's going to take a while for them to be aware that, hey, this is going to be aggressive, so look out."
Kerrigan was indeed aggressive -- he ordered his hitters to swing away in possible bunting situations early in the game, reasoning that it was pointless to play for one run against a team as explosive against the Indians.
Fair enough, but the Red Sox finished 0-for-11 with six strikeouts with runners in scoring position. Their only run came on a monstrous homer by Manny Ramirez. They struck out 14 times combined against the Indians' C.C. Sabathia, Danys Baez and Bob Wickman.
Come to think of it, until the Red Sox loaded the bases against Wickman in the ninth, they played almost as if they were trying to get their manager fired.
Oops, they tried that already.
The Curse of the Bambino was enough of a burden.
The Red Sox didn't need The Curse of Jimy.
Senior writer Ken Rosenthal covers baseball for The Sporting News. Email him at krosenthal@sportingnews.com.