Momentous occasions
My buddy Dave D’Onofrio makes an excellent case that Sunday’s thrilling 6-5 win over Toronto well may go down as a turning point in the season, the inspiring, we’re-all-in-this-together victory sure to provide the fuel for more delirious fun in the next two months.
It’s an understandible sentiment – hey, who isn’t giddy when Coco Crisp, of all people, hits a meaningful home run, or when Manny Delcarmen finally flashes the poise to match his ungodly stuff? But while I have espoused similar thoughts myself through recent seasons, and certainly hope Dave’s theory proves true this year, I can’t help but be skeptical of the Defining Moment concept this time around, for a couple of reasons.
Foremost, the Red Sox are not winning anything of consequence if the condition of Josh Beckett’s elbow continues to be a troublesome mystery. Jon Lester’s a wonderful young pitcher, and Daisuke Matsuzaka somehow has managed to win 15 of 17 decisions, but Beckett, at age 28, already stands among the greatest postseason pitchers of all time. When healthy, he’s the epitome of an ace, the Sox’s trump card over everyone else, the one pitcher no one wants to face in the playoffs. The Sox can probably win without J.D. Drew, they can possibly win without Mike Lowell, and they sure as hell can win without Julio Lugo. But without Beckett for any length, these Sox have to be considered more pretender than contender, no matter how many affirming victories over the Blue Jays they can accummulate.
Beyond that, baseballreference serves to inform us that the moments we remember as pivotal in a particular season really weren’t at all during that particular time. In 2004, the Sox went 5-5 in the 10 games after Jason Varitek introduced Alex Rodriguez to his mitt, and lost three out of their first five after Nomar Garciapparra was dealt at the trading deadline. Those future champs didn’t really get rolling until mid-August, despite what our memories and highlight videos tell us.
And it seems to me that if any such moment occured during last season’s title run, it was well after the postseason was in full swing: J.D. Drew’s improbable grand slam early in Game 6 of the ALCS against Cleveland co-ace Fausto Carmona sent the Sox on a six-game winning streak that concluded with another party on the duck boats. Maybe I’m forgetting something, but in my mind the Red Sox managed to arrive in October without an obvious, unifying highlight.
Indirectly, I guess I’m also falling back on another ballpark cliche here: Momentum is only as good as the next day’s starting pitcher. I’d feel much better about the Sox’ chances of building on the victory over Toronto if the Sox began their final visit to Yankee Stadium tonight with, say, a healthy Beckett on the mound, rather than a fresh-off-the-disabled-list Tim Wakefield, he of the 5.14 career ERA against the Yankees. At least they’ve been known to hit Andy Pettitte.
While we’re speaking of the pinstriped devils, we all know that they Red Sox have crossed off some rather notable items on their To-Do list the past few seasons while also discarding decades’ worth of historical baggage. (Wonder what Fox Sports did with all that grainy Babe Ruth footage they used to like to pound us with.) But there’s one thing they haven’t accomplished: eliminating the Yankees from the playoff hunt.
For all intents and purposes, they have a chance to do just that right now. The tattered Yankees are five back of the Sox in the wild-card chase, and nine behind the Rays in the division, with 32 games to play.
If they Sox take two in this series, the Yankees will be on life support. If the Sox sweep, the Yankees are done, their remains left to be picked apart by the bloodthirsty tabloids.
Should the latter happen . . . well, perhaps then I’ll believe in Defining Moments again. Right now, one encouraging Sunday isn’t enough.
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As for today’s Completely Random Baseball Card:
For Dennis’s dad. Get well soon, sir.
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