Red Sox Set To Visit Their Personal House Of Horrors

The Red Sox may have gotten off to a great start so far but now they face their first real test of the young season-  a trip to Arlington, Texas to face the Rangers.

If you know anything about the history between these two teams you know that nothing good ever seems to happen when the Sox visit the Rangers.

According to Baseball-Reference.com the Red Sox may have a winning record all-time against the Rangers but that’s mostly due to their 125-90 mark vs Texas at Fenway Park since 1972.  But at Texas it’s a far different story.

June 29, 2012; Arlington, TX, USA; United States Air Force F-16

No matter what the teams’ records are or how well either is playing during the course of a season, it seems when it’s Boston at Texas on the schedule, the Sox just don’t win that often.  That is reflected in their hideous 86-129 record in the city of Arlington  since ’72, when the old Washington Senators became the Rangers.

It’s not that I can remember any specific miserable moments during the Sox’ visits, it’s just that they seem to forget how to play crisp baseball when they head to the great southwest.  Whether it’s bad pitching or lack of hitting, something bad always seems to happen to the Sox.

It used to be that the Sox had the same types of issues in Minnesota and Kansas City as well.  But they’ve been much better in those cities in recent years mostly due to facing bad ball clubs.  But the Rangers are good and it shows in the results.

It’s gotten a bit better since the Rangers moved to the Ball Park in Arlington in 1994.  The Sox are 36-49 there for a .423 winning percentage as opposed to 50-80 and .385 at old Arlington Stadium.

But Boston has not had a winning record in Texas since 2008 and even that was merely one series that they won two games to one.

With the season going along swimmingly so far I think it would be another confidence builder for the Sox to at least play well in the upcoming series.  The problem is they will not have Clay Buchholz going in the series so they will need Jon Lester, who will pitch the series finale on Sunday, to bounce back from his bad previous start in Toronto.  John Lackey and Felix Doubront are the other two starters in the series so it could get ugly with a guy just making his way back from injury (Lackey) and a guy who is generous with the walks (Doubront).

If the Sox manage one win in this series it will pretty much be par for the course for them.  Just don’t get swept or embarrassed with bad play, which the Sox seem to find when they call on Arlington.