2008 Woodie Awards
Red Sox Have Wild April
New England Sports
Chris Brodeur
Issue date: 4/30/08 Section: Sports
If anything positive can be drawn from the recent woes of the Red Sox, it's that they do remain near the top of the AL East despite a five-game skid.
The Tampa Bay Rays swept Boston at Tropicana Field over the weekend, marking the first time the champs have ever been victims of the broom in the short history of a ballpark where Sox fans regularly outnumber the locals.
The losing streak was preceded by a stretch of six-straight wins, which sums up the kind of bizarre opening month it's been for the club. April has had it all, from DL stints and a flu-ravaged clubhouse to a struggling Papi, a red-hot Manny and pretty much everything in between.
As the end nears and the calendar flips to May, it seems like an opportune time to serve up another installment of the Red Sox roundup as previously promised. To recap the month that was, here's a spanking new batch of the issues most pressing to the citizens of Red Sox Nation on the young season, along with my expert analysis on each of them.
Looking up at the Rays
Yes, you read that right. Entering Tuesday's action, Tampa Bay sits percentage points ahead of the Red Sox in the division standings in a tie for first place with Baltimore as they close in on the best start in franchise history. It isn't just the fresh uniforms on the backs of the Rays - now named for beams of sunlight rather than a sea creature - that has them looking like a new team. They've locked up much of the young talent they've accumulated by picking early in the MLB draft year after year, and the few established standouts on their roster are now joined by an abundance of budding stars like Evan Longoria and B.J. Upton. Pitcher James Shields has emerged as a second ace to Scott Kazmir, who currently looms on the disabled list. It's scary to think what their rotation will look like once the left-handed strikeout machine returns to join Shields, who out-dueled Josh Beckett on Sunday for a complete game, two-hit shutout to wrap up the sweep. Experts predicted a three-team race for the division with Toronto rising to become the third horse along with the usual suspects, but Tampa Bay seems poised to shake their pushover label and contend for a change, making the East as difficult a playoff ticket as ever.
The Tampa Bay Rays swept Boston at Tropicana Field over the weekend, marking the first time the champs have ever been victims of the broom in the short history of a ballpark where Sox fans regularly outnumber the locals.
The losing streak was preceded by a stretch of six-straight wins, which sums up the kind of bizarre opening month it's been for the club. April has had it all, from DL stints and a flu-ravaged clubhouse to a struggling Papi, a red-hot Manny and pretty much everything in between.
As the end nears and the calendar flips to May, it seems like an opportune time to serve up another installment of the Red Sox roundup as previously promised. To recap the month that was, here's a spanking new batch of the issues most pressing to the citizens of Red Sox Nation on the young season, along with my expert analysis on each of them.
Looking up at the Rays
Yes, you read that right. Entering Tuesday's action, Tampa Bay sits percentage points ahead of the Red Sox in the division standings in a tie for first place with Baltimore as they close in on the best start in franchise history. It isn't just the fresh uniforms on the backs of the Rays - now named for beams of sunlight rather than a sea creature - that has them looking like a new team. They've locked up much of the young talent they've accumulated by picking early in the MLB draft year after year, and the few established standouts on their roster are now joined by an abundance of budding stars like Evan Longoria and B.J. Upton. Pitcher James Shields has emerged as a second ace to Scott Kazmir, who currently looms on the disabled list. It's scary to think what their rotation will look like once the left-handed strikeout machine returns to join Shields, who out-dueled Josh Beckett on Sunday for a complete game, two-hit shutout to wrap up the sweep. Experts predicted a three-team race for the division with Toronto rising to become the third horse along with the usual suspects, but Tampa Bay seems poised to shake their pushover label and contend for a change, making the East as difficult a playoff ticket as ever.
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