Is It Too Early To Be Scoreboard Watching?

Perhaps it was the horrible start to the year and the Red Sox not living up to the expectations that were so heavily put on them prior to April.  Or perhaps it’s the fact that the New York Yankees are in first place this early in the season and given their track record, Red Sox fans know what has to be done to catch them in the standings.  While it is far from unrealistic for the Red Sox to catch the Yankees for first place in the highly competitive AL East, why do I find myself watching the scoreboard around the Major Leagues? I’m not talking once a week or every other night. No, I am constantly checking the out of town scoreboards every 30 minutes to see what the other AL East teams are doing.

My thought process is like this: the Red Sox recently fell back to last place in the division, only to beat Baltimore and jump back into 4th place.   So every night I look and hope that the Yankees, Rays, Jays and Orioles all lose, so given a Red Sox win, we can gain ground in the division.  The problem still lies in the other AL East teams and the fact that they’re not exactly enduring long losing streaks.  In fact it’s been the opposite.

The Tampa Bay Rays were supposed to struggle this year and they lived up to that prediction through the first six games of the year, going 0-6.  Then Manny Ramirez decides to retire and voila, the Rays are 14-5 since the Manny show left the team and are sitting in second place just 1.5 games behind New York.  And they’ve been doing this without their all-star third baseman Evan Longoria.

Toronto has played consistent ball for most of April, hovering around the.500 mark whichis where most people felt they’d be for the season.  They are a good ball club and are only going to get better and more difficult down the stretch so don’t count those games as easy to win.

Baltimore is doing what most people thought, playing tough some nights and other nights, deciding to take the game off.  None the less, they always give the Red Sox a difficult time whatever calendar month it is, and add Buck Showalter’s comments to the mix and this Orioles team is out to prove a point against the high payroll of the Red Sox.

Then there’s the Yankees.  They are pretty much on par with what everyone thought they’d do one month into the season.  Their offense is belting home run after home run, which is providing enough offense to get their shaky rotation through 6 innings before handing the ball off to a so-so bullpen.  Mariano Rivera hasn’t been perfect and Rafael Soriano is just a head case waiting to explode.  None the less, they’re getting the job done, most nights, and hence the Yankees are in first…..what else is new.

Now I know it’s early in the season and a lot can happen with so many months of baseball left.  But why is it that I can’t stop scoreboard watching every night, hoping to see the Sox make up some ground?  Is this a normal feeling? Am I the only one doing this, what could be described as erratic behavior?

I’ve included a poll so please let me know if I’m crazy.

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