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Sunday, September 30, 2018

Get Me Rewrite! - V

The words may be different but the column's the same:
I need an intervention.

The Red Sox have the best record in the majors. They have won more games (107) than any team in the 118-year history of Boston’s American League franchise. Mookie Betts is going to be the MVP. The Sox have two Cy Young starters and another guy who was the best starter in baseball for most of this season and last. They have a closer who is probably bound for the Hall of Fame. They have a guy who almost won the Triple Crown. They have scored more runs than any team in baseball. They have a great rookie manager — winning more games than any first-year manager other than Ralph Houk. They are humble and noble. They are very good dancers. If they were nominated for the Supreme Court, they would be confirmed by the Senate, 100-0.

So why do I worry that they are going down in the first round of the playoffs? Why do I think they have us teed up for a cataclysmic, apocalyptic fold of the highest magnitude? Why do I sometimes wonder if perhaps they are the most-flawed 107-win team in the history of baseball (think about the absurdity of that statement)?
If you get the feeling that you've read this column before, it's because you have, in one form or another.

2 comments:

Jason said...

No more absurd than calling the celts the worse number 1 seed 2 years ago huh dan?

Chris Matthewson said...

What a dolt! The Sox will go on to beat the "Tanks", then slaughter Houston, including three straight in Astroland, then mop up the "Codgers", bringing Manny Machado to his knees, in 54 nail-biting and celebratory innings.

What separates great sportswriters from all the others is not only their ability to write, but their love for the game and the characters who inhabit it, their capacity to transcend the on-field heroics to reveal hidden truths about human nature, their comprehension of both the intricacies of the game and fascinating details missed by the average fan, and their ability to connect the average non-sports reader to the game. One or two out of five doesn't cut it.