Sox Continue Road Woes

By Erik Pesta
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

An alarming trend is starting to form - it's becoming more and more obvious that the Boston Red Sox can't win away from Fenway Park. They are now 11-16 on the road, compared to a dominant 17-6 home record. What is to make of this? To beat an old horse, especially in this space, the starting pitching has been nothing short of horrendous. I have confidence in nobody, save for the 40-something guy who throws 68 miles per hour. To borrow a joke from Bill Simmons, read that sentence again.

The offense has sputtered recently, but has by no means been horrible. Jacoby Ellsbury, Jason Bay, Kevin Youkilis, and Jason Varitek have all performed at a high level. Reigning A.L. MVP Dustin Pedroia, Mike Lowell, J.D. Drew, and even Julio Lugo (seriously, Julio Freaking Lugo) have certainly contributed. The only person who hasn't pulled his (considerable) weight is David Ortiz. I'm probably not alone in saying that I'm getting pretty fed up with him. Enough is enough. He makes WAY too much money to cut him, and Tito would never do that, anyway. Fine. Bat him ninth, then. Seriously. It pains me to see him step into the box. As a Red Sox fan, I'm crushed.

This is hard. Ortiz is one of the most important sports figures to hit Boston since Larry Bird. In my lifetime, there aren't many on the Hick's level: Brady, Pedro, Bourque, the spot posthumously held for Manny, and Papi. That's it. That's the list. Screw Clemens. Garnett and Pierce are knocking on the door, but they aren't there yet. Garnett will be in Springfield on the first ballot, but hasn't been here long enough. Paul Pierce has been a Celtic for 12 seasons, has endured the worst years and enjoyed the best; he will forever have the love and respect he deserves from Celtics fans. But there is something missing. He never gave himself to us the way Ortiz did. And that makes a difference, at least to me.