That Was Easy

The 2016 World Champion Red Sox started off their run to the title yesterday with a couple exhibition exhibition games. As expected, they proved unstoppable as they cruised to easy victories.

It was nice to be proven correct right off the bat. Hanley Ramirez was flawless in the field. Exactly as I told you he would be. It didn’t matter if it was fielding a groundball and taking it to the bag himself, or taking a throw from a fellow infielder. Hanley handled the position like he had been there his whole life. He’s on pace to tie the team record for fielding percentage in a season for a first baseman. Start engraving that gold glove.

And some of you were worried.

The offense also looked amazing. Mookie Betts showed that he can make adjustments mid-game, and showed no signs of a sophomore slump. He seems ready to make another run at an American League MVP award.

What’s more is that the Red Sox were able to completely dominate while holding back David Ortiz. Imagine, resting your presumed clean-up hitter, but still cruising to an easy victory. I team like that will be hard, if not impossible, to stop all season.

Similarly, the Red Sox have yet to throw their ace. They have been content to show the rest of the league that starters 2-10 are perfectly capable of shutting down the competition on their own. At this point, one has to wonder if David Price should be simply traded for prospects. If you don’t need him this year, then why not use him to build for the future?

Of course, as any great team will tell you, the general public hates perfection. Just ask the Patriots. So, these Red Sox knew that simply steamrolling team after team after team was boring. The fans and the press would grow antsy. If there wasn’t a flaw, they would make one up themselves. Thankfully the Sox know how to play the game. They had Pablo Sandoval muff a ground ball. They knew that morons would quickly grasp onto that as some sort of flaw. It would be too easy not to fall back on fat jokes and comment how he can’t even bend over to field a grounder. (I know. Hard to believe people would be that pathetic.) It was sheer genius. This team really does have everything.

It won’t be long now until the Sox unleash their team on the rest of their league. I half wonder if other teams will bother to show up. Or, maybe the Sox will lose a game early on? Again, just ask the Patriots how annoying endless questions about an undefeated season can be. 

Maybe 161-1 will have to do.