Starter Josh Beckett, right, gives up the baseball to manager Bobby Valentine, left, in the fifth inning of a baseball game Saturday in Detroit. Beckett was relieved after giving up back-to-back home runs. (AP/Duane Burleson)VPR’s Morning Edition host Mitch Wertlieb is known for his early morning rants — err sports reports. Here’s his Monday morning take on the sluggish start for the 2012 Red Sox:
There was a time in my life when I kind of appreciated horror movies. I didn’t necessarily enjoy being jolted with spasms of fright by the scary films of my youth — “Halloween,” “Nightmare on Elm Street,” the “Friday the 13th” franchise — but there was a certain sensation one got of — accomplishment, I guess — for getting through those films and their worst moments that made it somewhat worthwhile.
But this much I know about those kinds of movies: the sequels had no redeeming value whatsoever. They were still occasionally scary, but they were decidedly dumber, less and less artful in presentation, and ultimately, just getting through them felt less like an accomplishment and more like a serious waste of time.
Point being that the Boston Red Sox 2012 season — merely a week old but with memories still fresh from last summer’s historic collapse – is already taking on the feel of one of the throwaway Halloween sequels — let’s say Halloween 4: the “Return of Michael Myers.”
Here are the gory details in quick summation for those lucky enough to have missed the Red Sox third straight loss to the Tigers yesterday: Starter Clay Buchholz was terrible — gave up seven runs. The Sox were down early 4-0, fought back to go up 10-7 into the bottom of the ninth, but then de facto closer Alfredo Aceves —who’s upset he wasn’t named a starter, and maybe he has a point because he certainly was no closer – gave up a three-run homer to Miguel Cabrera to tie the game at 10. But then in the 11th inning the Red Sox got two more runs to go up 12-10. Happy ending, right? Wrong — because in the bottom of the 11th Mark Melancon gave up a game-winning walk off three-run homer to Alex Avila and the Sox lost, 13-12.
You can listen to Mitch's report here.
Mitch,
ReplyDeleteI thought this was a brilliant piece of writing! I really loved it. I was driving in the car the morning it was aired and you had me with your first sentence. I often times find myself having difficulty concentrating while driving but not on Monday. I'm not a horror film fan nor a sports fan but I loved your use of metaphor while describing the Sox. The story made me smile as you often are able to do. Thank you.
Cambridgeport