Sox Go Down In ALCS

So it started Saturday night when Francona conceded the game to the Rays by bringing in Grandpa Timlin. The trend continued all game Monday. With your team down eight and three catchers on the roster he allows Jason Varitek, batting .130 this post season and 0 for the ALCS, to keep batting. Are you serious?

Today doesn’t get much better with Tim Wakefield on the hill. No offense to the Sox elder statesman but he hasn’t been exactly lights out this year against the Rays. 0-2 in three starts with an almost six ERA in just over 15 innings while allowing the Rays to reach with a .279 average. The pessimist in me sees the Sox going down three games to one again in the ALCS.

The big difference between this year and last though is that if this team goes down 3-1 I don’t think they come back and win the series. No Mikey Lowell, Big Papi playing hurt, Varitek sucking giant balls, Drew playing every other game, and Jacoby 0-14 in the ALCS. All these things adding up to a team that shouldn’t have been in the post season, got lucky with the Twins falling on their face in September, and are just outmatched in this series.

With all of that said, I would love nothing more than to eat all my words. The fan in me loves to see the team succeed but after years and years of losing (and a couple World Championships sprinkled in) I’m very cynical.

So here’s to an eight inning shutout by Wakefield, key hits from Varitek, Papi, and Jacoby, a Papelbon save and more importantly a Sox win. That should get the ship righted instead of sinking.