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| Not Exactly the "mowing down the competition we had in mind, Daniel." |
TORONTO — It got to a point on Sunday where Red Sox manager Bobby
Valentine had little choice but to take Daniel Bard out before he
seriously injured one of the Toronto Blue Jays...TORONTO — It got to a point on Sunday where Red Sox manager Bobby
Valentine had little choice but to take Daniel Bard out before he
seriously injured one of the Toronto Blue Jays.. For the first time since he became a starter in spring training after
spending three seasons as one of the best set-up relievers in the game,
Bard admitted he’s not the same pitcher. “I allowed something to
happen when I switched roles,” he said. “I think it’s just maybe that we
just tried to turn me into a starter rather than just take the same
pitcher I was out of the pen and move that guy to the rotation, which is
probably what should have been done. “It’s partially my fault — it’s all my fault. Maybe it’s a matter of getting back to what I had success doing in the past.”
Damnit Bard, today wasn't supposed to be like this. I wasn't supposed to be sitting here dissecting your emo-angst ridden pity party in the globe. I was supposed to be talking about this: Sox Climb Out of Last Place . Today's pulse check was going to be all positive. Would've been two games back, two games clear of last place, singing "Oh Happy Day" while typing out the blog.
Instead Bard went out there and did his best Rick Ankiel on the mound impression, walking the entire city of Toronto and even plunking one or two for good measure. Great, just great. So fantastic that it's got the various talking heads in the media hoping for a Daisuke comeback...You know, the same Daisuke that all those same media folks openly thanked for choosing Tommy John last year as it likely spelled the end of his professional career with the Red Sox. That's who we're looking forward to here.
So you see Danny, the bar isn't high. I don't know what all that jibber-jabber about allowing yourself to change or any of that shit was about, but cut it out. Whatever worked for you last year, go out there and do it again, except for 5 innings at a time. No one asked you to be Greg Maddux lobbing up 92-93 mph mediocre fastballs and trying to paint the corners. That's not your game. Just throw some gas and see what happens. It is your fault, you're right about that, now go out there (if you get another chance) and do something about it. I'd rather see you go down with an elbow injury tossing heat than walk off the mound with a puss on your face looking like a depressed high school kid after getting embarrased for two innings ever again.
Other than that...everything's been great in Red Sox land. Seriously. I had no other complaints until yesterday happened. Sure watching Gonzalez trot around in the outfield still makes no sense whatsoever to me, but hey, its worked out ok so far. And yea, Nick Punto still maintaining status as a major league baseball player is a little befuddling, and I'd love to know where Daniel Nava got the horseshoe that's firmly lodged in his ass (maybe he's just good, but I don't think that's the case)...but you know what? As long as they're winning more than they're losing, I don't care. And that's the true nature of a Sox fan.
