Wednesday, June 08, 2005

Tears of the Gods

Terry Francona announced that Kevin Millar would play left field and Manny Ramirez would sit out the final game of the Sox series in St. Louis. The baseball gods have rewarded Francona's decision with rain, both in the Gateway to the West and in The Hub as cats and dogs come pounding down.

To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heav'n in a wild flower.
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.
---William Blake

A poetic interlude in a spell of twelve games with six wins and six losses against the Yankees, Orioles, Angels, and Cardinals. Some will argue that the Sox have found their grip on the handlebars during this stretch, but that sounds like sister-kissing logic around here. The Yankees are not even Tony Massarotti's 'Fortune .500' team (make a fortune, play .500) now, the Orioles outplayed the Sox and got beat by David Ortiz, the Angels series was ugly, and the Cardinals have phlebotomized the Sox to the point the socks aren't blood red anymore.

Do the Sox deserve a mulligan, with Curt Schilling injured, Manny Ramirez playing like he's hurt, and the pitching staff wallowing in self-pity? I'll give 'em one, as long as they DO NOT TRADE AWAY THE FUTURE for somebody else's past.

One final question, if you had to rank the Sox top 5 players, AS IS (e.g. Curt Schilling is broken and can't be counted) who would you want for one game right now?

1. Jason Varitek - two-way excellence
2. David Ortiz - spiritual leader and clutch bat
3. Johnny Damon - moves down a little being banged up
4. Trot Nixon - if he could only hit lefthanders
5. Matt Clement - best of what the Sox have

Again, do not trade the future for somebody else's past.

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