Ridiculous to the sublime

Date: Tuesday, July 31, 2001
From: Kevin Hench
Subject:  Ridiculous to the sublime

Now is the summer of our discontent turned glorious... summer... by this son of... Ramon Garciaparra.

Prior to His return, the Red Sox had lost 16 games by one run or in extra innings.  In those 16 games, His four replacements managed these numbers:

7-for-60, a .117 batting average, with 0 RBIs and 33 men left on base.

Hopefully, this is the last time I will have to update these stats.  But you must admit they are staggering.  In our 16 most difficult losses, our shortstops contributed not at all.  A lot has been made of the nine total errors made by the four-headed replacement, but not enough has been made of the fact that when we really needed one of them to get a hit, they were worse than a below-average-hitting pitcher.

Glad some are tickled that the Twins just got Rick Reed, giving them four All-Stars in their rotation.  Let's see... Twins get Reed, Yankees get Hitchcock, A's got Dye... hate to see the competition getting better, but the Duke's in a tough spot... while Urbina or latest-rumor Quantrill would be a boost... would hate to give up Fossum or Diaz... would gladly part with Izzy for pitching...

As I've said all along, the Yanks will win the east with their slide-proof staff, leaving us with the Mariners in the first round if we're lucky enough to win the wild card.  So our epic trip would probably be Mariners-Yankees-(Braves/D-Backs/Cubs). I'm sure I will be the picture of serenity in October.

After 13 straight against Indians and Yankees to end August and start September, we close with Tampa Bay, Detroit, Baltimore and Detroit again.  By the way, the unbalanced schedule sucks.  Why, for example, do we play our 19 games against Toronto and all six of our games against Kansas City before they dump, while our competitors can fatten up on them once they've unloaded?

Kev