Red Sox fans haven't abandoned the locals. It feels like it's happened the other way around. The Smartest Guys in the Room constructed a team short on pitching and add in general underperformance offensively and defensively and another last place finish becomes distinctly possible.
Rather than calling for John Farrell's head, I feel sorry for him. There's no circling the wagons, no Band of Brothers, barely a heartbeat. Somehow, in less than two years, the slogan at America's Most Beloved Ballpark has gone from "Fear the Beard" to "Baseball Weird."
The games ARE shorter which makes for a poor consolation prize.
Leadership doesn't find problems, it solves them. Of course, baseball's momentum only lasts as long as tomorrow's starting pitcher, and there's the rub. The closest approximation to an ace may be a 22 year-old kid and the rest of the rotation hasn't found a way to take advantage of a PED-free league with expanded strike zones.
The Red Sox don't necessarily need a better lineup; they need the professionals in their lineup to play better. The leaders don't need to plead character, they need to produce. Blaming the media might be popular, but that's not a solution.
Maybe mean reversion will help coffee and sugar prices, and the commodity that represents the Boston Red Sox. "You're never as good as you look when you win or as bad as you look when you lose." The Sox are playing tight, trying not to lose, having forgotten or lost the joy of a child's game. When the game becomes just a paycheck, everybody loses.
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