Monday Stream of Consciousness: August 16, 2010

There's something about a nice quiet weekend that always leaves me wanting more. I was just thinking a three-day weekend would be nice...and then I remembered that one is coming soon. Labor Day is three weeks away! Perfect! Yesterday, while I was waiting for the Sox game to start, I was watching the Rays-Orioles (on my brand new HD-DVR! that I do not have to pay rental or service fees for! have I mentioned that I love my cable provider?) and was flabbergasted when I heard the Rays announcers say how impressed they were, the way the team has "played through allllll the injuries." I actually had to rewind it & listen again, just to be sure I didn't imagine hearing it. I'm sorry, but WHAT?!? All what? Three of them? (It's seven, by the way: Shoppach, Kapler, Pena, Niemann, Davis, Howell, Balfour.) Give. Me. A. Break. The Sox have had SEVENTEEN different players go on the DL for a total of TWENTY-ONE trips this season (Cameron (x2), Cash, Ellsbury (x3), Youk, Tek, Pedey, Jeemer, Tazawa, Lowrie, Bonser, Matsuzaka (x2), Lowell, Victor, Beckett, Hermida, MDC, Clay). We have as many guys on the DL *right* *now* as they have had the entire season combined. And they have the nerve to blame recent struggles on injury & gloat about how well their team has done overall with "allllll their injuries?!" It's a flipping miracle Boston isn't in last place considering we have not fielded a full team of starters SINCE APRIL 4!! Sure, I will (begrudgingly) admit that the Rays have played well this season. The fact that they have the second best record in baseball prevents me from being in full blown denial. But of all the teams with equal (67) or more wins than Boston, only one other team has played 119 games at this point (San Francisco), with all the others falling in at 116-118 games played. I think the fact that this team is still one blazing hot streak away from making the post-season is *far* more impressive--whether they get there or not. Sometimes I wish there was a way to reach through my tv screen & flick those two doofuses (doofi? doofeese?) right between the eyes.