Often people are asked to use one word to describe something. When asked to perform that task regarding the Red Sox around the Boston area, the responses would probably be in line with “pitiful, disgraceful, embarrassing, frustrating, awful, and horrible.” And with a 31-50 record, which puts the Red Sox on pace for 100 losses, they would be acceptable answers.
So much so that the Red Sox are apparently shopping Rick Honeycutt, Tim Naehring, and Al Leiter to other teams in possible trades. The problem is that nobody would want Naehring and Lieter and their assorted problems. Both have a large hand in the losing ways of the Red Sox, especially Leiter whose ERA has just finally dipped below 6 (and for those keeping track at home, anything below 4 is considered good).
However, the Red Sox are coming off a huge series against their rival New York Yankees where they won two of the three games by a 17 to 6 margin. “We swung the bats great,” said Bill Mueller who contributed a 3 runs while getting three hits and two walks in six at bats, “and it would be awesome if the team could rally around this and go on a winning streak.”
The spark for this offensive outburst may have been Jimy Williams who tinkered with the lineup earlier in the week. “Well,” Williams narrated during a post game press conference held in his cramped office, “it took some time for the boys to get used to it but we feel good about our new attack at the plate. If only our damn pitching could catch up.”
The starting pitching hasn’t gotten much better for the Red Sox but General Manager Andrew Habermehl is hoping that the team has taken some small steps to correcting the problem. “We recently brought in Jim Lonborg to work with Al Leiter on his mechanics because we don’t think his stuff is where it should be,” explained Habermehl. Lonborg, a former Red Sox pitcher, is statistically very similar to Leiter and the hope is he can share his experiences and help get Leiter back on track.
Jim Lonborg Returning to Sox
Williams exclaimed “I sure hope it dang gone works for him because we need another starter who can pitch and not just throw junk over the plate” when he was told about the addition to the coaching staff. And Williams is correct as the Red Sox already have a powerful one-two punch with Curt Schilling and Scott Sanders. “If they can add one more arm to that rotation,” Red Sox analyst Jerry Remy told viewers during a recent telecast, “then watch out because no other team in the East besides Baltimore has three very good starters.”
While the statement “watch out” might be overkill, it does provide a glimmer of hope for the Red Sox if they can get a winning half of baseball going in the second half of baseball.