Friday, July 2, 2010

Is There A New Red Sox Curse?



Call it whatever you wish, but the “Curse Of The DL” has fallen upon the Boston Red Sox.

Since June 24th, the Red Sox have been steadily adding names to the Disabled List, including Dustin Pedroia, Victor Martinez, Manny Delcarmen, Mike Lowell, and now captain Jason Varitek, who was catching just his first game since Martinez was taken with a broken bone on the tip of his thumb. Overall, Boston now has 10 total players on the DL, some with minor injuries and others with the kind of freak injuries that only befit a curse.

-         Josh Beckett – Lower Back Spasms – Due Back Late July
-         Jacoby Ellsbury – Rib Fracture – Unknown Return Date
-         Jeremy Hermida – Rib Fracture – Unknown Return Date
-         Mike Lowell – Right Hip Injury – Unknown Return Date
-         Jed Lowrie – Mononucleosis – Unknown Return Date
-         Victor Martinez – Broken Left Thumb – Due Back Late July
-         Dustin Pedroia – Broken Left Foot – Due Back Early August
-         Jason Varitek – Broken Foot – Due Back Early-Mid August
-         Manny Delcarmen – Right Forearm Strain – Due Back Late July
-         Junichi Tazawa – Tommy John Surgery – Out For Season

What lends credence to the thought of a curse is a couple of factor. First, the Red Sox had just pulled themselves within a game and a half of the first place Yankees in the AL East and had taken possession of the Wild Card lead from division rival Tampa Bay, so the timing of the recent rash of injuries couldn’t be any tougher to deal with.

Second, the nature of how the injuries occurred just hinges on the absurd. Both Ellsbury and Hermida experienced fractured ribs after colliding with third baseman Adrian Beltre on shallow fly balls. Pedroia suffered his broken foot after fouling a pitch off of it. Both Martinez and Varitek suffered their injuries while catching and taking a foul ball of an opponents bat into their glove hand and foot respectively. The sheer magnitude of all of these occurring within a given season is mind-boggling.

Perhaps the devil was due after the Red Sox had achieved not one but two World Series championships during the first decade of the century after waiting 84 years between championships. Perhaps it is just coincidence, but whatever it is a tremendous hurdle to overcome for a team in the middle of the pennant race and playing in the toughest division in baseball.

This is the kind of adversity that can define a team, something that could make or break them. No one would fault the Red Sox if they fell out of the race at this stage, but can you imagine what it will do for them if they pull though it and get back that troop just in time for the postseason? A team that rested could be a wrecking ball in October.

But first they have to get there.




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