By Eric Berry
John Farrell
It seems to be the overarching question of all Sox fans right now. Should the Red Sox try someone else as the skipper of the ship?
Well, as I have matured in life(pause and laugh hysterically for a bit), I’ve come to realize that when someone is let go from their job, they lose more than their identity. They lose their livelihood. They’ll have to replace that income with something else to maintain their current lifestyle, while also keeping their family’s lifestyle the same. So, when I wail at the TV bemoaning John Farrell’s every move, I try to keep in perspective that I don’t dislike the man-from what I know of him the players like him and respect him-but that being said, I think the Sox should move in another direction.
Other than 2013, which if you remember was the year of the tragic Boston Marathon bombings, the Red Sox struck lightning in a bottle about 99 times to win the World Series. Since then it has been mostly a downturn in success. Farrell’s win-loss record is just barely over .500. Is he the only one to blame? Probably not. Unfortunately though, it’s where everyone looks at first and foremost.
This year’s team stands at a paltry 22 and 21 at the time of this keyboarding. It’s not where we thought we’d be even with losing David Ortiz. The offense has lacked power for sure, and the pitching has been up and down, both from the starters to the bullpen. But this team simply has lacked discipline. There’s been base running gaffe after gaffe. There’s been errors-lots of them at third base which by no means are the manager’s fault(probably more like the GM who allowed Adrian Beltre to leave Boston-even though he wanted to but still), but, you have to wonder if there will ever be consistency under his management.
Had the Sox lost to the A’s and been swept I believe upper management would have had to take a long hard look at letting Coach Farrell go, and may still have to. To be fair our leader hasn’t had David Price to turn to every 5th day and Rick Porcello has fallen to Earth faster than a North Korean missile-but-one wonders if that even provides an excuse anymore. At .523 overall in his career at the top step of the Red Sox dugout, that ain’t good enough. Not for him, for me, or for any Red Sox fan.
Celts
Imagine if you had put money on the Celtics winning Game 3 in Cleveland? You could have paid your kids college tuition with any sizable bet I’m sure. The overriding feeling among everyone in New England, and seemingly beyond, is that the NBA playoffs are rigged worse than an Iranian election. Cleveland, and LeBron James had made Boston look like a high school team in Games 1 and 2. And then collapsed in Game 3 thanks to an invisible “King James” and finally some cold shooting. Didn’t it seem like Kevin Love or anyone else for that matter would never miss? Law of averages, according to Brad Stevens, had to come into play-and they did. I’ll be shocked if the Celts win another game-I too follow the conspiracy theory pretty closely where the NBA is concerned. They’ve wanted another Golden State/Cleveland James match up since the buzzer went off in Game 7 last year. I’m still trying to figure out how Cleveland was given Kyle Korver by the Hawks. Seems strange. Like Tim Donaghy strange-but I’ll leave it at that.
Locals
I believe we’re going to see some local baseball and softball teams do very well in the upcoming playoffs. I predict that the NEK will have representation in at last the Final Four in softball from Blue Mountain, Danville, Lyndon Institute, Oxbow, and North Country. Yup, I think North Country is going to make a run to the semi’s or finals! Kylie Wright will dominate, and Coach Cotnoir and Coach Sykes will lead the way to the promised land! As for baseball watch out Danville in D4 and Lyndon Institute in D2. Lyndon started 0 and 6 and now seems to have figured out ways to win! Brandon Brunell has been very good on the hill for Coach Jeremy Wheeler. If he continues that trend, the LI squad will upset at least one higher ranked team, and maybe two! St. Johnsbury Academy is rolling along and has put together another great season in their quest to defend the D1 title. They were dealt a big blow with the injury to sophomore sensation, Jake Cady.
Good luck to all teams-bring home the hardware!