Sense Of Entitlement Vs Righteous Indignation

Papo The Snow Tiger

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Aug 18, 2010
1,409
Connecticut
Before this season started I promised myself that no matter what happened, I wouldn't complain about anything Red Sox this year. I couldn't keep my promise to myself. In the game thread for after game 2 of Tuesday's double header I called for the heads of both Cora and Dombrowski. I admit that I was venting at the time and it was very reactionary of me, but I also have to wonder when does a sense of entitlement end and when is it okay to say "WTF, these guys suck". The Sox won it all in 2004 and 2007. They fell a little short in both 2005 and 2008, but both of those teams were in the playoffs. Anyone complaining about those years could be called entitled. There have been years where they didn't make the playoffs but were competitive. You can't complain about that either. However there have been years where the team flat out sucks. In 2012 guys couldn't wait to leave town, i.e. remember the smiles on Josh Beckett's and Adrian Gonzalez's faces on the plane heading to LA. 2014 was a train wreck, and by Memorial Day it had become obvious the team was heading for the dumps. So far this year they're playing fundamentally bad baseball and are grossly underachieving. At what point is it okay to call out your team?
 

cornwalls@6

Less observant than others
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Apr 23, 2010
6,249
from the wilds of western ma
I fall well short of calling for anyone to be fired, but I think's completely fair and reasonable to strongly question/criticize their approach to preparing this club to compete this year. Expecting to win it all, or even go deep into the playoffs every year, is entitlement, IMO. But with this much talent, and payroll, expecting a competitive, exciting, professional club that stays interesting all summer is, I think, a legitimate expectation. They don't appear close to being any of those things right now.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
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Oct 1, 2015
24,386
Only two teams in MLB have worse records than the Sox do right now. We know they MUST be better than this. Almost this exact same team won *108* games last year (119 counting playoffs). It's just not possible that they continue like they have.
 

uk_sox_fan

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Nov 11, 2006
1,273
London, England
There is no reason to think that they can't still end up winning 94 +/- 5 games this year even after this horrendous start. Their injuries so far aren't catastrophic and the talent is there to turn things around. If they come in at the low end of that range they'll miss the playoffs, in the middle they'll make the WC and at the high-end they'll have a reasonable chance at another division title. It's (still) not lost yet. Just 1/6 of the season is gone!
 

[icon]

Member
Jul 30, 2005
230
Memphis, TN
There is no reason to think that they can't still end up winning 94 +/- 5 games this year even after this horrendous start. Their injuries so far aren't catastrophic and the talent is there to turn things around. If they come in at the low end of that range they'll miss the playoffs, in the middle they'll make the WC and at the high-end they'll have a reasonable chance at another division title. It's (still) not lost yet. Just 1/6 of the season is gone!
94 wins will be .620 ball (83-51) the rest of the way. Certainly possible, but I'm not holding my breath. My guess is we're looking at more like an 85-90 win team. MIGHT be within reach of a WC, but I'm not holding my breath. I hope they prove me wrong... just not feeling it from watching them play this past month.
 

geoduck no quahog

not particularly consistent
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Nov 8, 2002
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Seattle, WA
There comes a point where the "lack of preparation" concept is no longer relevant and we're past it.

I liked what Kenny Smith had to say about how remarkable the Warriors run has been. He talked about the difficulty of repeating because no matter how strongly a team desires to win, there's something lacking inside after you've reached the pinnacle. It's human nature. You can claim hunger but if your belly's still full...

He implied you can't ignore the psychology associated with effort.

The reason he pointed out Golden State (versus, say, the Patriots) is how much easier it becomes if you change up team personnel. New faces bring new energy and desire to the core of a team. The Warriors haven't really done that.

The Red Sox didn't do it at all.
 

AB in DC

OG Football Writing
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Jul 10, 2002
13,633
Springfield, VA
It's not just about repeating as champs, though, is it? There hasn't been a repeat WS winner since the 1999-2000 Yankees, so if that's the standard, then pretty much everyone is going to fall short.

I thought the question is really about we, as paying (ish) customers, are getting to see a quality product on the field. Right now, we're not. I had expected this to be temporary, based on WS hangover plus the deliberate choice to ramp up very, very slowly during spring training. But if this sluggishness lasts well into May or June, that's another story.
 

Sampo Gida

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Aug 7, 2010
5,044
They are 0-6 in games their ace starts (18-9 in in his starts last year) They no longer have Kimbrel (58-5 in his appearances last year)

They crushed lesser teams last year winning 76% of games against sub 500 teams while winning 55% against over 500 teams. So far they are winning 50% of games against the likes of the Jays, Orioles and Tigers (SSS warning asis every point about 1month of baseball)

Offensively they look to be about the same, maybe better if Chavis stays and hits well. Its really going to come down to Sale and the bullpen as to how the rest of the season plays out
 

Al Zarilla

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Dec 8, 2005
58,909
San Andreas Fault
“Offensively they look to be the same”, you have to mean player-wise, because production-wise, we’re sitting at 22nd out of 30 in runs scored this year. Last year, we were first. We were first in every category ESPN cares to show except home runs and triples (1 less AB than the Cubs, but they played 163 games.). 2018 Red Sox were one sick club.

http://www.espn.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/batting/year/2018/sort/avg/order/true