| 10 October 2009
After the Angels were fumbling through yet another loss in Fenway Park a few weeks ago, Torii Hunter called his teammates out for playing scared of the big bad Red Sox.
The next day the Halos clawed thier way to a 4-3 victory thanks to a Howie Kendrick RBI single in the 9th of Billy Wagner that was set up by a pinch runner and a sacrafice bunt.
My point is, Hunter sparked his team out of funk, not unlike the one the Red Sox are currently in. But we don't seem to have a Torii Hunter.
The Red Sox have taken the "one game at a time" appraoch to the regular season and the playoffs in recent years and they have been rewarded for their patience with two World Series Championships.
But wouldn't some emotion would go along way right now?
I think so, but the Sox don't seem to have that guy on this roster. Kevin Youkilis might be the fiestiest guy on this team, but after Manny bitch-slapped him for being too fiesty and most of his teammates looked the other way, it's pretty clear that Youk isn't in a position to call out his teammates.
Dustin Pedroia has the mouth and the respect to call a meeting, but Pedey's not one to yell at guys for not hitting when he's 1 for 8 in the series himself. The same goes for Big Papi ( 0 fo4 8, 4 K), although he has been know to call a team meeting or two in the past.
Jonathan Papelbon has the stuff to light a fire under his teammates asses, but with a lack of offense being the key issue here, it's not likey you'll see a pitcher stand up and start barking.
If we have a Torii Hunter on this team, it's Victor Martinez. It's been well documented that V-Mart is constantly chirping in the dugout and in the clubhouse in an effort to wake up his teammates. He's also got that latin falir that seemed to spark the Sox similarly to Orlando Cabrera's wacky hand shakes a few years back.
His arrival pulled Ortiz out of the biggest slump of his career and got the Sox back in the playoff race while the Yankees pulled away and the Rangers threatened to steal the WC spot.
Bottom Line: You could argue that the Sox should "change their spots" just becuase they're down 2-0 right now - and I would agree. Staying level-headed back in 1999 and in 2003 and 2004 enabled them to pull off some of the greatest comebacks in sports history... but we all know that we didn't have 25 JD Drews on those teams. We had guys like Schilling and Timlin coining phrases like "Why Not Us?" and idiots like Kevin Millar and Johnny Damon keeping everyone loose with wiskey shots and funny slogans like "Cowboy Up!"
I don't care who it is, but somebody needs to wake these guys up. Coming back to Fenway where we're 31 games above .500 will help, but I hope somebody gives the old pep-talk thing a try before lunch time on Sunday.
It might be too late for a 2009 catch phrase, but I'll steal this one from Zombieland and hope it inspires our boys to start playing with some passion:
"It's time to NUT UP or SHUT UP."
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