‘Other stuff’ still there
Plenty for Sox to make right
HOUSTON — “It’s exciting,” Chris Sale replied, when asked yesterday how he feels to be one day away from making his first postseason start.
Of course. Any pitcher would be excited to be making his first postseason start. But for a pitcher of Sale’s renown — twotime American League strikeout king, sixtime All-Star, perennial Cy Young Award candidate — it must have been agonizing to play seven stellar seasons in the bigs without getting so much as a sniff of October.
But it’s what Sale said after the obligatory nod to being excited that was interesting.
“A lot of hard work goes into this, ups and downs of the season, battling the travel and all this other stuff,” he said. “So to be sitting here right now is pretty fulfilling.”
All this other stuff. It’s a mortal lock that Sale was referring to the usual things that wear out ballplayers — night games, the ceaseless media mob in the clubhouse, off-day throwing programs, trips to the trainer’s table, etc. — and not, you know, the other
stuff that brought so much needless turmoil to this Red Sox team.
Such as the fallout over how the Red Sox handled Orioles third baseman Manny Machado’s takeout of Dustin Pedroia at second base.
Such as the David Price verbal beatdown of NESN analyst Dennis Eckersley on a team charter to Toronto.
Such as how not a single uniformed member of the Red Sox, including manager John Farrell, ever offered Eck anything close to an apology.
Such as getting caught using Apple watches to steal signs.
Chris Sale was never connected to any of that ... stuff. He simply kept his head down and pitched, and on most days his pitching was off the charts. That he’s Farrell’s Game 1 Division Series starter against the Houston Astros today at Minute Maid Park is no surprise.
But while Sale didn’t have Machado, Eckersley and places to shop for Apple watches on his mind when he referenced “all this other stuff,” the reality is that it’s a part of this 2017 season that will only go away if the Red Sox make it as far as the World Series. If the Sox go belly up in the Division Series, as they did last year against the Cleveland Indians, “all this other stuff” will bubble back to the surface for renewed offseason analysis and discussion.
Is that fair? Unfair? History isn’t supposed to be fair or unfair. But there are many reasons these postseason Red Sox haven’t knocked New England on its as in years past, and “all this other stuff” is on the list. Admittedly, it’s not the only reason. Surely the retirement of David Ortiz has been a factor, not just in the lineup, but in the clubhouse.
And the Patriots are part of this as well. With each new season their regional muscle-flexing is ever the more pronounced, especially this season, since the Pats are coming off the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history.
Thanks to their bottomof-the-NFL defense, however, the Pats might be taking a step back this season and giving back a piece of the stage to the Red Sox. But you know the old line: Real power cannot be given, it must be taken. If the Sox are to get New England going crazy about baseball — and I mean, really, really,
crazy — they need to deliver a postseason for the ages.
It’s not complicated. If Chris Sale blows away the Astros today as the opening salvo to a monthlong beatdown of all comers by the Red Sox, I guarantee you “all this other stuff” will be placed in an old steamer trunk and stored away in the Fenway Park attic.
I’ll even make a prediction: If the Sox win the World Series we will soon see Price and Eckersley appearing together in a TV commercial for JetBlue, the official airline of the Boston Red Sox. I’m not kidding.
But the Sox do have to win — that is, at least make it to the World Series — to clean up their image. And if you’re in the camp that believes the Eck incident is old news, the problem with that is the Red Sox never made it right. They simply said, “We’re moving on.” That’s not an apology. That’s walking away from an apology.
I still say some of these Red Sox players have it in them to be powerful, dynamic personalties. Sale, though he says little, has a Nolan Ryan-like demeanor that commands respect. When center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. makes those web gems, when catchers Christian Vazquez and Sandy Leon gun down baserunners, when the outfielders do that postgame dance (I love it because it just kind of happened, and stuck), when . . . well, you get then idea.
This team can be all of that, and more.
And yet New England hasn’t embraced the Red Sox as in years past, and, sorry, part of that is because the Eck incident showed them to be horribly whiny and insecure.
Absent a heartfelt apology, only a heart-pounding October can make that go away.
The Boston Red Sox Redemption Tour begins today.