Excuse Me Mr. Cherington But I Beg To Differ

Admittedly,baseball is not my vocation. By day I am an IT professional who is allowed to move around big chess pieces and work with some pretty bright folks. Not bad.

Still, I am blissfully provided a forum by which to express my many vocal opinions about all things Sox. This is one of those delicious times. If any of you have read this morning’s Red Sox mid season report card, you’ll know where I’m coming from on this one.

Even for a casual observer of Boston’s woes, I really can’t imagine that Red Sox management feels like a few tweaks are going to suddenly make this team a contender. This isn’t a first halt of the season thing. This is a going on three years thing. Boston has finished in third place for the past two seasons and in doing so has missed the playoffs. This year is not looking much better.

"Yet there the remark was, floating over the airwaves like some rude flatulence released in church. Everybody pretty much knows where it came from and agrees that it stinks. They just can’t agree on why here and why now."

Red Sox GM Ben Cherington recently told WEEI’s Rob Bradford, “There’s no such thing as taking a year off in Boston. We feel like we’re right in it and have as good a chance as most teams to be there at the end….We’ve got some ways to improve the team internally, potentially. And we’ve started to look at ways to improve the team externally. If we play to our capability with the guys we have here our hope is we don’t have to make a lot of moves.”

Who, what, what? Ben, the team is an emotional, physical and team chemistry train wreck. Tweaks are out. Backhoes and steam shovels are required to regrade the playing surface and reset expectations.

For a guy so close to action the remark appears to reveal a profound disconnection with reality.