Holding Out For A Hero
And his name is Darnell McDonald.
I have to be honest and tell you that I did not tune into the game until the 8th inning. The Red Sox were trailing 6 – 4 and things were not looking good. I missed all the grand larceny of 9 stolen bases in the first six innings. I missed Big Papi breaking his bat over his leg as he headed back to the dugout in the sixth inning.
But I tuned in just in time to see Jason Varitek come to the plate and hit an impressive double. He is red hot right now. Who would have thunk it? And then came Darnell McDonald (who??).
Who, indeed. He absolutely crushed it. His first at-bat at Fenway was almost Curtis Granderson-like. (That one is for you, Jane!)
When the Rangers intentionally walked Lowell in the bottom of the 9th, there was McDonald again and did he ever come through in a big, big way. He smashed a long line drive to the Green Monster which left the Rangers’ Josh Hamilton running full tilt into the green metal scoreboard. I could hear the massive “ding” off the Monster and wasn’t sure if it was McDonald’s ball or Hamilton’s head. Either way, McDonald hit the walk off winner and Hamilton lay crumpled at the bottom of the Green Monster.
Life is good.
I give a lot of credit to Terry Francona for finally having the kahunas to sit Big Papi down and pinch hit Mike Lowell. While I am a huge Big Papi fan and continue to have faith that he will find his groove this season, there comes a time when difficult decisions must be made. And that is what Terry Francona is paid to do.
There also comes a time when you need to shake up the clubhouse a bit. These Red Sox are great ballplayers – no doubt. But every once in a while, they need to look over their shoulders to see who might be in line to take their job. A little competition in the clubhouse is not necessarily a bad thing. And complacency is a slow death.
I must admit I’m a little sick of hearing excuses from the Red Sox. Yes, it is early in the season and yes, guys need to make some adjustments in April. Blah, blah, blah. But when the team is trending DOWNWARD at the end of April and not UPWARD, we have a problem.
Anyway, I will remain focused on the good stuff. We called on guys to fill in last night, and they are getting the job done. BTW – I am really impressed with Jeremy Hermida to this point. He is turning out to be a much better “spare” outfielder than Rocco Baldelli. Just my two cents.
The other thing I liked seeing last night was the team in the dugout actually up on their feet rooting for these guys at the plate. The 2004 team was like that. They were always up on their feet, watching the game and getting engaged in the other players’ performance. I am tired of seeing a bunch of sad faces in the dugout heading for the locker room in between at bats. The guys in the dugout need to be as engaged in the game as the fans are in the stands. Again – just my two cents.
I sure hope this signals a turnaround for the Red Sox. It is surely going to take more than one come from behind win. But I will take whatever positive I can from last night’s game.
Keeping the faith in my Red Sox and Big Papi…
Red Sox Faithful 