Monday Pythagorean - 8/28
This miry slough is such a place as cannot be mended: it is the descent whither the scum and filth that attends conviction for sin doth continually run, and therefore it is called the Slough of Despond.
That's where the Red Sox are this morning. Coming off another sweep at the hands of another bad team, Seattle this time. Eliot said that April is the cruelest month, but for these Red Sox, it's been August that has been the Waste Land.
After the agony in stony places
The shouting and the crying
Prison and place and reverberation
Of thunder of spring over distant mountains
He who was living is now dead
We who were living are now dying
With a little patience
Here is no water but only rock
Rock and no water and the sandy road
4 weeks ago, on the morning of July 31, the Boston Red Sox had the second-best record in the American league. They had just lost Tim Wakefield, Trot Nixon and Jason Varitek, and they've cratered since. They've played poorly enough that they should be 11-15, they've been unlucky enough that they've actually been 9-17. They've scored 4.96 runs per game, which is mediocre. They've allowed 6.12, which is horrible.
Mike Timlin's protestations notwithstanding, it has been the pitching that has been the problem. Most of the time, anyway. The offense has been nothing to write home about, but it has, on the whole, been mediocre. With mediocre pitching, they might be 13-13 over the past 4 weeks, rather than 9-17. If they were, they'd still be in competition for both the division and the Wild Card, as opposed to looking wistfully in from the fringes, as they are now.
It's not, of course, over yet. But. They need to put together the kind of run that it doesn't look like they're capable of putting together. They have 3 at home against both Minnesota and Chicago. They basically need to win all 6. They've got 4 in New York. They need to win all 4. It does not look as if this team, as currently constructed, is capable of doing those things. We'll know soon enough. Another week like the last 2, and we won't be talking about possibilities next week - we'll be talking about the Patriots and the baseball hot stove...
| R/G | (rank) | RA/G | (rank) | Pythagorean | (rank) | W | L | W | L | Luck | Detroit | 4.99 | (8) | 3.99 | (1) | 0.601 | (1) | 78 | 52 | 81 | 49 | 3 | New York | 5.65 | (1) | 4.77 | (6) | 0.576 | (2) | 74 | 54 | 76 | 52 | 2 | Chicago | 5.58 | (2) | 4.83 | (7) | 0.566 | (3) | 73 | 56 | 75 | 54 | 2 | Minnesota | 5.08 | (7) | 4.41 | (3) | 0.565 | (4) | 72 | 56 | 76 | 52 | 4 | Cleveland | 5.52 | (3) | 4.99 | (10) | 0.545 | (5) | 70 | 58 | 60 | 68 | -10 | Oakland | 4.63 | (11) | 4.38 | (2) | 0.525 | (6) | 68 | 61 | 74 | 55 | 6 | Boston | 5.4 | (4) | 5.14 | (11) | 0.523 | (7) | 67 | 62 | 71 | 58 | 4 | Texas | 5.17 | (5) | 4.93 | (9) | 0.521 | (8) | 68 | 63 | 66 | 65 | -2 | Toronto | 5.09 | (6) | 4.88 | (8) | 0.52 | (9) | 67 | 62 | 68 | 61 | 1 | Los Angeles | 4.88 | (9) | 4.68 | (4) | 0.518 | (10) | 67 | 63 | 69 | 61 | 2 | Seattle | 4.54 | (13) | 4.77 | (5) | 0.478 | (11) | 62 | 67 | 60 | 69 | -2 | Baltimore | 4.86 | (10) | 5.5 | (13) | 0.444 | (12) | 57 | 72 | 58 | 71 | 1 | Tampa Bay | 4.28 | (14) | 5.25 | (12) | 0.408 | (13) | 53 | 77 | 52 | 78 | -1 | Kansas City | 4.57 | (12) | 5.98 | (14) | 0.38 | (14) | 50 | 81 | 47 | 84 | -3 | |
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| Detroit | 101 | 61 |
| New York | 96 | 66 |
| Minnesota | 96 | 66 |
| Chicago | 94 | 68 |
| Oakland | 93 | 69 |
| Detroit | 100 | 62 |
| New York | 96 | 66 |
| Minnesota | 95 | 67 |
| Chicago | 94 | 68 |
| Oakland | 91 | 71 |
| R/G | (rank) | RA/G | (rank) | Pythagorean | (rank) | W | L | W | L | Luck | Oakland | 6.83 | (2) | 4 | (3) | 0.727 | (1) | 4 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | Minnesota | 6.33 | (3) | 3.83 | (2) | 0.715 | (2) | 4 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | Cleveland | 7.67 | (1) | 5.5 | (12) | 0.647 | (3) | 4 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | Los Angeles | 5 | (6) | 4 | (3) | 0.601 | (4) | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | Seattle | 4 | (10) | 3.67 | (1) | 0.54 | (5) | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | New York | 5.43 | (4) | 5.14 | (9) | 0.525 | (6) | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | -1 | Toronto | 4.83 | (7) | 4.67 | (7) | 0.516 | (7) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | Chicago | 4.57 | (8) | 5.14 | (9) | 0.446 | (8) | 3 | 4 | 2 | 5 | -1 | Tampa Bay | 3.57 | (12) | 4.14 | (5) | 0.433 | (9) | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 0 | Kansas City | 5.17 | (5) | 6.17 | (14) | 0.42 | (10) | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | -1 | Detroit | 4.14 | (9) | 5.29 | (11) | 0.39 | (11) | 3 | 4 | 2 | 5 | -1 | Texas | 3.71 | (11) | 5.57 | (13) | 0.323 | (12) | 2 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 0 | Boston | 2.71 | (14) | 4.14 | (5) | 0.316 | (13) | 2 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 0 | Baltimore | 3 | (13) | 4.83 | (8) | 0.295 | (14) | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | |
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