There is something to be said for opening the season at home. Neither the Red Sox nor myself did that this year, with the club starting the year in Texas against the defending AL champs and me at a new store in Reno, Nevada. I didn't get to participate in my Opening Day traditions of dressing head to toe in Sox gear, passing out Hostess baseballs to everyone at work and greeting them with a big smile and "Happy Opening Day!" So, if you're superstitious like me and very other Sox fan, the change in the routine would have been enough to worry you. And if I wasn't worried when I woke up that day, I felt it creep into me after that first at bat. A week later, the Red Sox are 0-6. There is no need to panic in the Nation, but there is cause for concern.
The Sox aren't being outhustled, outplayed or with the exception of yesterday's 1-0 loss in Cleveland, just not catching the breaks. Far more disturbing is the lack of consistency with the team. When the pitching is on, the bats are quiet and vice versa. Many people want to point the finger at Terry Francona and the lineup, but that can be worked out during the season. No, instead, I think the Sox just need to find their groove. Every team hits a losing skid at some point during the year and the Sox are getting there's out of the way early. Some will say that no team that has been winless in the first week of the season has ever gone on to win the World Series and I'd say that no team down 0-3 in a playoff series has ever come back to win, except for, oh yea, wait, the Red Sox. Season starts today with divisional play at Fenway Park.
In a way, this is good. It's separating true Sox fans of the Nation from the faint of heart. To be a Sox fan is an excruciating, nail biting, testament of your nerves, even in April. But like Dustin Pedroia said in an interview yesterday, "You’re either two feet in now or you’re two feet out. Let us know now because we’re coming.”
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