It’s time for Red Sox to start fulfilling expectations
COMMENTARY
Don’t start planning the parade yet, fellas. All right? A three-game winning streak is a good place to start. Know what’s better? A four-game winning streak. And there hasn’t been one of them around here all season. So don’t start throwing the confetti around just yet, OK?
I sounded like Bill Parcells there, didn’t I? Definitely felt like I sounded like Bill Parcells there. Or maybe it’s just that I’m currently wearing khakis hiked up to north of the belly button, an accidental homage to the Tuna.
Either way, I do have an actual reason (believe it or not, fellas) for referencing an old football coach in a column presumably about baseball. The Red Sox’ stirring victory Sunday, a come-from-behind 7-4 victory over the A’s that may stand alone this season as this thus-far bummer of a team’s most satisfying win, reminded me of something Parcells once said.
No, this has nothing to do with his mused metaphors about grocery shopping, or what happens to a ball that trickles into high grass. Actually, it’s not even an original Parcells witticism, but words of wisdom from football legend Emlen Tunnell that Parcells referenced during his Hall of Fame induction speech in 2013. It is a gem, one that surely hangs on a placard above the doorway in countless sports locker rooms around the country.
“Losers assemble in little groups and complain about the coaches and players in other little groups,’’ said Parcells, quoting Tunnell. “But winners assemble as a team.’’
Winners assemble as a team. That, if not for the first time this season than certainly for one of the few times, is precisely what the Red Sox did Sunday.
It’s not just about the seven-run, eighth-inning rally from a 4-0 deficit, though finally catching a glimpse of that dynamic offense we were promised in the spring was a sight as welcome as it was unexpected. It’s not just about the final outcome, but the assembling.
It’s about Steven Wright, who handled his demotion to the bullpen with uncommon perspective, picking up the slack for an ineffective Clay Buchholz with 3.1 innings of scoreless relief.
It’s about Tommy Layne filling in for Koji Uehara and picking up the best kind of save — an uneventful one.
It’s about Sandy Leon handling the additional degree of difficulty and throwing out Marcus Semien, who was trying to swipe second with a knuckleballer on the mound in the sixth inning.
Sure, it was about all of the elements of that rally too — Rusney Castillo’s home run that got the Red Sox on the scoreboard and Kendall Graveman out of the game, and the Dustin Pedroia/Brock Holt table-setting, and Hanley Ramirez’s RBI double, and David Ortiz’s sac fly to make it 4-3 … and all of it and everything, really.
The most encouraging plot twist was also the most important. Xander Bogaerts’s go-ahead two-run double. The 22-year-old shortstop cranked an inside changeup, a pitch he never would have touched at this point last year, when he was in the early stages of a three-month slump that would have crushed a prospect of lesser talent and mental toughness.
It’s happening for Bogaerts. He’s improved defensively to the point that there’s no longer doubt about his ability to handle shortstop, and he’s en route to becoming an outstanding offensive player at the position. Bogaerts is hitting .346/.372/.469 over the last month, and he’s up to a .296 average with a .742 OPS on the season.
(This is where I note that Stephen Drew delivered a .777 OPS for the 2013 World Champions. Only three ‘15 Red Sox currently have a higher OPS. Stephen Drew was the best.)
What does all of this mean going forward? Who the hell knows? Momentum in baseball is exaggerated, if you believe it’s existent at all. I like the Red Sox’ chances tomorrow not because they won Sunday, but because Eduardo Rodriguez is on the hill. But confidence born from success — now that can develop into something rewarding and sustainable.
This much we can say for sure: If it’s going to happen this year, for this team, Sunday’s win would be a fine place for the spark to lead to the fire. Despite sweeping the A’s and winning five of their last seven games, the Red Sox are 5 1/2 games behind the Yankees — their biggest deficit in the division all season.
The Red Sox don’t collide with the Yankees until July 10, but there is a chance to establish themselves as a team to be reckoned with — the team they were supposed to be — over the next few weeks. The next six games are against AL East foes Baltimore and Toronto. Sixteen of their next 23 games are against division opponents.
The sweep of the A’s was progress.
The time is now to assemble something bigger — a team, and with that, the fulfillment of expectations.
Notable Red Sox Rookies
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