It’s Been One Week!

What a difference a week can make, eh? When the Sox left town, they were reeling. Rain had, thankfully, washed out the last game of their series against the Yankees, following an epic collapse the day before. They needed a decent road trip to help bring things back. Thankfully, they had the chance to beat up on the weaklings in the AL Central. Some people had their doubts as to whether that would even help. In fact, the text question on the Red Sox radiobroadcast starting the trip asked the odds of the Sox having a .500 road trip. I don’t they got a lot of absolute certainty in their responses.

But, with the road trip the Sox did. They cruised through the travels, finishing 6-1 on the trip, after winning the first six games. How great of a trip was it? People were upset that they didn’t win all seven! The bats were awake. The pitchers showed up every game. It was magnificent. It was everything you hoped for when the trip began.

Now the Sox get to come home. They have a short stay, facing some more weaklings. They should clearly win the homestand against Oakland and Baltimore. In fact, the rest of the month looks pretty good too. Looking at the schedule for the next four weeks, the only decent team I see is TB (sorry Jim). And, the Sox took 3-4 from Tampa the last time they played.

That’s really the thing most people forgot in all their doomsday scenarios. The rest of the league just isn’t that good. A team with the talent of the Red Sox should be able to cruise against the likes of KC and Seattle. Or Oakland and Minnesota. Or any number of teams. They can’t help but be in the playoff hunt. That was always the reason the games against NY meant so much. They both should have been able to dominate the rest of the league. The division could very well come down to the head-to-head. That’s what made it hard to say the Sox were going to finish third or fourth in the East. Sure they may struggle against Detroit and Texas. But, so will everyone else. The Rays will beat up on the weaklings, but so will the Sox. It’s going to come down to a few games, and a little luck. Currently the Sox are 3-3 against TB and NY. That’s a good start.

This could be a fun month.