THEO ESPTEIN HATES BLACK PEOPLE

Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal's decided to join the ranks of sensationalist soap-box-standers and slogan screaming carnival hawkers who disguise themselves as journalists. He opened his column yesterday with the hook:

"The Red Sox look very white."

The rest of his piece says essentially nothing beyond stating that the Red Sox are whiter than the Dodgers and Rays. He argues for nothing, against nothing. He lists statistics about minorities on the Red Sox and in Major League Baseball. He goes out of his way to clarify that he's not accusing the Red Sox of being racist, simply suggesting that an apparent lack of diversity might hurt them in the free agent market.

His views on race-relations in sports are laughably simple and come close to segregationist rhetoric - the idea that different races are only comfortable with "their own kind." Here's an excerpt of this subtle idea expressed by Rosenthal:

"Then again, Sabathia might prefer to join a team with a greater number of black players or live in a different city. He became good friends with veteran outfielder Mike Cameron in Milwaukee. The Brewers, who feature a sizable contingent of African-Americans, were an unusually close team."

I guess black players only feel comfortable around other black players? That's probably why Cameron and Sabathia became buddies. I guess the friendship between Kevin Millar and Manny Ramirez was some sort of fluke? Whites and non-whites don't get along very well, at least that's what Rosenthal seems to suggest.

Ken Rosenthal wanted attention for himself, and he got it. His column is devoid of any point, idea, argument, or opinion. It's a smattering of bullshit disguised in soft language, intended to incite people like me to talk about him in their blogs, on sports radio, on TV pundit shows, and so forth. It's air, it's ether, it's nothing. It's a "conversation starter," with the conversation inevitably spending at least a moment or two on Mister Rosenthal himself.

BLOWN AWAY

Before Good Will Hunting, and Boondock Saints, and Gone Baby Gone, and The Departed hit the Boston movie scene; there was Blown Away. A crappy thriller/suspense flick about an insane Irish Republican terrorist, and a burnt-out reluctant hero on the BPD Bomb Squad.



And if the Sox don't stop getting Blown Away, they'll be Gone Baby Gone very soon.

I didn't like the decision to start Wakefield in Game 4, but I didn't hate it. Wakefield has the capability of throwing 7-8 innings of 1-2 run baseball. Paul Byrd doesn't. But Wake also can lay an egg, like he did last night. So even though I felt like Byrd was a better option, I didn't mind Wakefield starting, so I'm not going to chew out Francona for something I barely disagreed with in the first place.

Even though they shouldn't have been in the game so early, the Sox relievers did a dreadful job of keeping victory attainable. Delcarmen and Lopez being the worst offenders. A 6-1 game turned into an 11-1 circus in the 6th thanks to these clowns. Tim Wakefield was the largest contributor to the Sox' losing effort, but next on the list were Delcarmen and Lopez.



On the exceedingly small bright side of things, the Red Sox offense showed signs of life, albeit when they were all-but dead in the game. Ortiz hit a triple, and Youkilis knocked in 2 runs. It's not much, but it's a start.



The Sox are up against it now, once more down 3-1 in an ALCS. But these Rays aren't the 2007 Indians or the 2004 Yankees. They don't seem like the choking type. They seem more like sharks, who strike hardest when their victim is near death. So if the Sox are going to win this thing, or at least make it interesting, they're going to have to do it on their own.

Daisuke vs. Shields Thursday night.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credits:
AP Photo/Elise Amendola
AP Photo/Charles Krupa
AP Photo/Chris O'Meara