Runs, Hits and Errors: How The Red Sox Have Lost Their Way
The answer to the question “Is anyone having a good time in Boston?” is yes. The New England Patriots are having a good time. They are on the cusp of their 2012-13 campaign, a time when all things are possible and optimism runs high. You remember that, right? Back in spring training when, even though the Red Sox played poorly, many of the regulars dismissed it as spring training and said that they were simply working on some stuff. Well that “stuff” has turned to, well, stuff (if you get my drift). Here’s what we have.
Identity Crisis
At this point in the season, a team eternally in search of it’s identity all year has simply never found it. Nor did they find their mojo. Nor did they even find a way to make it work. I doubt the 2012 edition of the Red Sox could find Waldo at this point.
Team chemistry has been non-existent. Discord and drama have become the order of the day. No one on the team is immune. The subtle ingredients that enable unity and success – mission, trust, sacrifice and respect between players and their manager – have blended as if they were oil and water. These key components of team unity aren’t acquired by trade. They are baked into the culture. Players coming up through the system understand and conform to the expectations. The code is understood and supported by veterans. Until this is fixed no array of star-studded hired guns will get the Sox to the promised land again.
Anti Dirt Dog-Itis
For those of you steeped in Red Sox lore, the term dirt dog is well understood. For the uninitiated, a dirt dog is the highest compliment that is bestowed on a Red Sox player. It is defined by a gritty, bring your lunch pail, take no prisoners, do anything for the team mentality that ultimately engenders ironclad unity and clubhouse respect.
"Cody Ross is a dirt dog. Andrian Gonzalez if he played 100 years in Boston would never be a dirt dog."
Dustin Pedroia has been Boston’s ultimate dirt dog during his career although this year’s distractions have similarly unhinged him. He’s been less of a dirt dog and it both shows and hurts the team. Josh Beckett used to be a dirt dog then he simply turned into a dog.
Dirt Dogs are what gave rise to Boston’s 2004 team of “Idiots” and the team’s first world championship in 86 years. Without dirt dogs, 2004 and 2007 never would have happened. Boston would have continued to be thrown into the same bag with the Cubs, a punch line to every lovable loser joke in not just baseball but all of sports.
It started in 2003 when Kevin Millar, a dirt dog of the highest order, coined the phrase Cowboy Up, an exhortation to his teammates to play with more grit and determination. Those teams were loaded with dirt dogs. Millar, Pedroia, Johnny Damon, Jason Varitek, Mark Bellhorn, Bill Mueller, Pedro Martinez, Curt Schilling and Tim Wakefield – just to name a few – were the consummate dirt dogs who’s collective attitudes galvanized the team, riveting both Red Sox nation and the city of Boston during a wild ride fueled by do or die loyalty to the cause, braggadocio, humor and respect.
So What Does It All Mean?
Boston’s last championship in 2007 feels like a lifetime ago. Since then they have failed to make the playoffs in three of those succeeding five years. This year they are on pace to lose 87 games. Boston’s starting pitching staff sports a bloated 5.00 ERA. Worse yet, the team is corroding from within. One need only have watched the last three games against the Angels and As to see that this team is clearly emotionally gutted. In the past three games they have been outhit 39 to 20 and have been outscored 32-5. Boston has been swept twice in the past two weeks and is on the cusp of another if they drop the finale Oakland Sunday afternoon. This team looks like an early 1960’s version of the Sox. Yesterday Bobby Valentine said that Boston was going to win a lot of games in the last month of the season. (Insert editorial comment here: pfffft!)
"Boston management has become distracted buying soccer teams and abandoning player development from within, thinking they could put the team on cruise control by outspending the Yankees and bringing stars who saw Boston as a desirable destination into the fold."
After a steady stream of big name blow-ups in Beantown and massive disappointment leading to a new culture of losing, it’s time to get back to basics. Develop from within. Have management use their deep pockets to make smart trades and purchases. Rigorously assess not just talent but a player’s leadership and character components. If you need inspiration and guidance read Michael Holley’s Patriot Reign.
Boston has a lot of problems to fix. The time to Cowboy Up once again starts now.
You’ve lost that loving feeling, oh that loving feeling
You’ve lost that loving feeling, now it’s gone, gone, gone
– You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling, The Righteous Brothers