BOSTON — The rain in Tuesday’s forecast held off long enough for the Red Sox to celebrate last year’s World Series championship during their home opener at Fenway Park. But the Toronto Blue Jays rained down on Boston’s party and handed the Red Sox their ninth loss in 12 games.
For whatever reason, the Red Sox are still hung up on what happened last year. They don’t want to turn the page on 2018, they want to keep riding that wave in hopes that last season’s success carries over. That’s not how it works.
The Red Sox had their parade in October. They had their time to look down on everyone from the top of baseball’s mountain during the offseason. They got their rings Tuesday. Now it’s time to turn the page and get back to winning.
There seems to be no sense of urgency. They’re 3-9 and now have sole possession of last place in the American League East. They’re six games behind the Tampa Bay Rays (9-3 after Tuesday’s win over the White Sox). And while I don’t expect Tampa to run away with the division, nor to sustain its rapid start, it’s going to take the Red Sox time to close that six-game gap. It won’t happen in the blink of an eye and it won’t happen if they continue to play subpar baseball.
Maybe it’ll take them a while to come back down to Earth and realize it’s a new season. The “championship hangover” in professional sports is more feared reality than myth.
But when can we start holding this team accountable? Xander Bogaerts was thrown out trying to stretch a double into a triple in a 1-0 loss at Oakland. Mookie Betts and Jackie Bradley Jr. have twice failed to communicate with one another on balls hit between them. The starting pitchers all have an ERA of 6.00 or higher. They haven’t been able to save Alex Cora from turning to his bullpen earlier than he’d like. And Tuesday, the difference in a two-run loss was a passed ball followed by Blue Jays designated hitter Lourdes Gurriel Jr. stealing home. Chris Sale and Christian Vazquez weren’t on the same page, and it cost them.
Uncharacteristic mistakes have dipped the Red Sox to the bottom of the barrel in the division two weeks into the season. These are mistakes they should be held accountable for, regardless of how many games are left.
I’m not saying it’s time to throw in the towel on a promising season. With 150 games remaining, chances are the Red Sox won’t have much recollection of their slow start when all is said and done. But it isn’t too much to ask that these guys be held accountable for the slow start they’re off to. And it isn’t too much to ask them to move on from 2018.
Often when a team makes mental errors on a nightly basis it’s because players aren’t focused on the game at hand. In putting two and two together, it’s not a stretch to say the Red Sox aren’t focused on 2019 because they’re still living in 2018.
Let’s hope Tuesday’s ceremony at Fenway put the final bow on what was a great 2018 season. After the loss, Cora said, “It was tremendous. Obviously we accomplished something. It was great coming home. We got our rings and now we have to get back to playing good baseball.”
The Red Sox have had their time to celebrate the past. Now it’s time to shake the early-season blues and play ball.
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Tuesday’s game was the first in Major League Baseball history that featured two Puerto Rican-born managers. Cora was born in Caguas, Puerto Rico. Blue Jays first-year skipper Charlie Montoyo was born in Florida, Puerto Rico. When Cora was hired in 2017 his first request was that the Red Sox send a plane full of supplies to the island shortly after it was devastated by Hurricane Maria. Despite the loss, Cora couldn’t help but appreciate the history he and Montoyo made Tuesday.
“Charlie’s doing a tremendous job,” Cora said. “You can see the difference (Tuesday) compared with seasons past. They’re an aggressive team. They’re running more than they did last year with (John Gibbons). You can tell he has control of the Blue Jays.”
As a fellow Puerto Rican (my parents were born in the city of Villalba), the progress we’ve made in professional baseball gives me plenty to be proud about. Cora and Montoyo are great representatives of how passionate we are about baseball.
