Limping to the Halfway Mark

BY GABE SOUZA
EDITORIAL - PHOTOS BY AP NEWS

As we approach the MLB All-Star game, looking for any semblance of consistency or predictability in the Boston Red Sox’ season is as fruitless as trying to figure out what goes on inside Manny Ramirez’s head.

The Sox currently sit in third place, a comfortable two games behind the beleaguered Tampa Bay Rays and a reasonable striking distance of five games back from the New York Yankees.

But the contributions have come from the most unlikely, from guys who, when Spring Training started, hadn’t the slightest dream of playing underneath the shadow of the Monster at Fenway.

So far, the two outfielders with the most games played – by a wide margin – have been J.D. Drew and Darnell McDonald.

Wait, what?

That’s right. The crybaby whose oft-chipped toenails, pulled hamstrings or hurt feelings usually left him wallowing in his own misery on the bench, has led the Sox outfield with 78 games played, a .275 average and 10 home runs.

Meanwhile, the unheralded 31-year old journeyman too-old-to-be-a-minor-leaguer McDonald has shown shades of former unlikely BoSox hero Brian Daubach.

In his first two games wearing a Sox uniform, McDonald came through in the clutch delivering two walk-off hits and becoming an instant Fenway hero. Since then, he’s provided steady production and helped the Sox win their series before the break by belting his sixth homer of the year and driving in two runs.

Not to mention Daniel Nava, who was cut from his first college baseball team in California and tried to regain the graces of his manager by working as the club’s equipment manager, has turned a career path filled with bumps and bruises into a Beantown instant hit.

The 27-year old rookie blazed his way into Fenway folklore with a Grand Slam in his first Major League at-bat on the first Major League pitch he’d ever seen. He is now batting .300 with 24 hits in 24 games and 14 very useful RBI.

Those contributions have helped rank the Sox first in the American League in runs scored.

Really?

Yes, really. It seems that their offense has been putting out no matter who’s in the starting lineup. One night it’s Bill Hall. Another is McDonald. Another it’s Nava. Just the other day it was Eric Patterson. Heck, sometimes its journeyman catcher Kevin Cash.

Speaking of catchers, the dream catching system Boston had - with one of the game’s best veteran signal-callers in Jason Varitek and perhaps the best offensive catching bat in the league in Victor Martinez - walked right out the door along with half of the team during its injury bug.

The red-hot Dustin Pedroia was deprived of continuing his hitting streak, the unstoppable Clay Bucholz was forced to holster the gun for a while and ace Josh Beckett has been on the shelf for a good couple of months.

The pitching has been anything but spectacular at times. The only two reliable weapons have been Lester and Bucholz. Matsuzaka is about as predictable as Wakefield’s knuckleball, which so far this year, has been more off than on, as Mr. Reliable himself is on pace to post his highest single-season ERA since 2000.

And the bullpen?

The bullpen is such a tossup that Bill Hall was called on to pitch a scoreless inning of relief a few months back. And Scott Atchinson has been one of the more reliable arms in the late innings – a situation that has turned into the Bard and Papelbon show.

Manager Terry Francona has such a fear that one of his other relievers may blow the slim lead that his patchwork offense pieced together, that if one opposing runner reaches base, he freaks out and immediately makes the call for the flame-throwing Bard. It’s something Francona will have to be careful of down the stretch so that he doesn’t wear out the unstoppable duo.

Each injury – and they have been many - has delivered a huge blow to the Sox. They seemed to soldier on for a while, but in the last 10 games before the All-Star break, the tables turned. New York and Tampa Bay each went 8-2 while Boston struggled with a 4-6 record, one that was even bested by lowly Baltimore who managed a 5-5 mark.

All the heralded uncertainty, potential talent and stockpiled disabled list beg the question, where do they go from here?

The talent is there, no doubt about it, although half of it is on crutches right now.

Limping their way to the other side of the break, the Sox have a hearty challenge ahead of them: a four-game rendezvous at home with the red-hot Texas Rangers followed by a 10-game West Coast trip where they will be challenged not only by jet lag, but by talented squads the likes of Oakland, Seattle and Los Angeles.

If they come out of those 14 games with a record just a bit over .500 – say 8-6, preferably 9-5 – they’ll be well on their way to a playoff berth.

And with Pedroia, Beckett, Bucholz, Varitek, Martinez, Jacoby Ellsbury and Mike Lowell all slated to return after the break, the Sox have a distinct possibility of tearing their way through the American League standings.

If they stumble, however, and return with a losing record on the trip and faltering morale, it could be an entirely different scenario.