Hardball Heaven

What in the name of Win Remmerswaal is going on here? The defending champion White Sox had to be licking their chops when they arrived in Boston, what with the tantalizing prospect of facing Julian Tavarez, Kason Gabbard (that's him, to the right there), and Kyle Snyder in succession. On paper, it looked like a slaughter. But they don't play the games on paper now do they?

Lo and behold, Tavarez and Gabbard have thrown gems through the first two games, and Snyder goes for the hat trick tonight. The bad-luck Sox have been infused with some good news lately - the return of several regulars, including Big Papi last night, and the news before last night's game that Jonathan Papelbon is okay, and just suffering from shoulder fatigue (hey - we'll take our good news any way we can get it).

We're in a strange, surreal place right now, us Red Sox fans. We realize the playoffs are a distant hope, but we also know we've got a bunch of games coming up against teams in front of us - and this team is only getting healthier. On the flip side, how can we think positive for this year when the front office (via the David Wells deal) has pretty much waved the white flag? We're still watching the games, mostly to see if Papi can break the Sox' single-season record for home runs, but we're starting to turn our attention to football. In the back of my mind, I wonder if this is what Theo envisioned all along - an off year in 2006 (are we prepared to accept a Yankees' World Series win for our long-term betterment as an organization?), and then full throttle in 2007. I know one thing. I sure wish Theo had been around to put the kibosh on the Beckett/Lowell for Sanchez/Ramirez deal. Have you seen Hanley's numbers?

On a side note, one interesting moment from this series against the White Sox came when Tavarez left the game after pitching so well. The Fenway fans rose to their feet to acknowledge his performance, but the crazy Dominican didn't respond on his way to the dugout. When it happened live, I was thinking - 'the guy's pissed off about how he's been treated this year. He's been a punching bag. Would I tip my cap to this fickle lot?' I've never understood the concept of booing, and apparently Julian doesn't either. I personally think he's right.