Alex Cora raises his fist (and broom) in victory as he crosses the plate. (SawxBlog Illustration)
Before I jump right into this post, I want to first thank the numerous bunch of you who have contacted me, friends and strangers alike, asking if I'm "all right" and pleading for SawxBlog to come back. I assure you, all is good on my end, it's just about once a year I get a little burned out from all the blogging and I need to take a break and enjoy the games as a "regular fan". Trust me, I've been intensely following all the pennant races, and with a re-charged battery and new found focus I'm ready to get back on the horse. However, I'm always more then welcome to reviewing guest posts, so if interested in having your words posted on this humble blog please submit all entries to webmaster@sawxblog.com for consideration. Now, onto baseball.
Yesterday afternoon's game against the Baltimore Orioles may be one of the more inspirational victories of the season for the Red Sox. The Sox were once again sans Youk, as they had a lineup that was drastically different from what they opened the season with in Japan. Coming behind from behind a deficit of four runs late in a game with a lot of your "stars" out in September can do wonder for a club come October. All players on this team are contributing right now, and it's again a mix of vertans and rookies with new Red Sox and old all chipping in. Not looking at the standings for a second, you'd have to say this team is starting to resmeble the 2007 team a lot, even if the personal is not exactly the same.
This is what makes the Red Sox succeful as an organization, their ability to plug holes with both the farm system and with trades/waivers. The Red Sox have had the types of injuries and set backs to numerous key players that would cripple a lot of other baseball teams seasons, however if anything it seems we're continuing to gain mometum. All the while the young kids and new veterans on the team are gaining confidence and experiance with the ballclub and are all keenly contributing to the pennant push.
In the matter of what seems only to be a week and a half we've added a lot of distance in the Wild Card race, and are now back in the conversation for not only the division, but the best record in all of baseball. Even if we don't acive the last lofty goal, we're still the most dangerous team heading into the playoffs if this pace keeps up AND get the likes of Lowell, Drew, Beckett, and Youk healthy and back in the lineup.
It's players like Alex Cora and Jed Lowrie who fill holes and exceed expectations which make good teams championship teams, and I once again I have a lot of confidence in this team...as long as Beckett can come.
Welcome back, that glass sure is looking half full right now.
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