Dazed and Confused

(Photo from ESPN.com)

I really have to hand it to them--they really lost the shit out of that game.

Initially, I was disappointed to have to work late. Now, I don't mind so much.

I missed the whole game on TV, but had Gameday open briefly at the office; you should've seen my jaw drop when I checked in on it in the first inning and saw 5-0 Other Sox.

A veritable Pickett's Charge of our pitching staff stepped up and were beat down in Chicago today. We left seven men on base; the Other Sox left two, and that wasn't till the eighth inning. Five of Chicago's hits were home runs, and most of those multi-run homers. It doesn't get much more simple than that. It was a textbook, old-fashioned, all-day-long country ass-whupping. They smashed us to a pulp. They stomped all over us. Lordy, but it was a beatdown.

What's more complex is figuring out the emotions involved. Right now, about the only word I can think of to describe mine is stunned. I'm just sort of...if the Red Sox were in front of me right now, I'd probably just look at them quizzically and say, "What's going on with you?"

In past years, I'd have been sobbing by the fifth inning, awash in that old Red Sox despair. Listening to the press conference talk to Terry Francona as if he'd just lost a relative, I'd have been filled with dread. Now, after what I've seen, I'm just sort of lost. After all, in 1999 and 2003, the Sox rallied back from 0-2 to win Division Series. In 2004, of course...

So they've earned my benefit of the doubt. But at the same time, the pitching matchup today went how you'd expect given both pitchers' second halves of the season. It now appears we are seeing the Cubs version of Clement at the worst possible time, and if this series goes five games, we'll see it twice. Wells is a big, burly question mark, as is Schilling. Wakefield is always a crapshoot. It doesn't take much imagination to see a worst-case scenario unfolding from here. 

P.S. Some stuff to read while you're waiting for tomorrow tonight:

Elephants in Oakland's fantastic breakdown of the A's season and relationship with the media.

Howard Bryant's blog on BostonHerald.com, thanks to Dan for the link.

The title of this post at El Guapo's Ghost made me laugh.

Kristen's fantastic Yankees rant (posted per my popular demand), which vastly improves on mine from the other day.

Soxaholix on the Wells flack:

Yeah, something that can't be detected by human senses yet can help in "improving both his grip and the movement of his pitches." Somebody should call in the FBI. This could have military applications.

Also, um. This. Sorry.

Comments

[Boston Fan in Michigan]

I would venture to say that not only did we lose the shit out of this game, the White Sox won the shit out of it. Two sides of the same coin, but props where props are due, you know.