Word gets out about the GABA... and the Red Sox demise

The Great American Baseball Adventure has legs! Thanks to proark for posting about the trip on message boards on 1560 The Game (Houston radio) and Astros Daily, a blog for, you guessed it, Houston Astros fans. Thanks for the love, Lone Star State! Here are the links:

http://www.1560.tv/forum/index.php/topic,5634.0.html

http://evilwontwin.yuku.com/topic/15755/t/Great-American-baseball-Adventure.html


People would be buzzing more about the trip if they weren't busy trying to find the Red Sox' dignity after a 1978-esque weekend in the Bronx. Let's review the four shameful games for the Nation:

Thursday: John Smoltz goes from the Social Security office to the ballpark, just in time to hand over a touchdown (complete with two-point coversion) in less than 4 innings in what might be the last start of his career. 13-6 Bombers.

Friday: After combining for 19 runs the previous night, the two teams spend 14 innings trying to hit baseballs with a sponge. A-Rod finally finds something wooden and puts a merciful end to the Friday night marathon. 2-0 New Yawk.

Saturday: Big Papi admits he got a little crazy with the Metabolift, and ChaChing Sabathia challenges Ortiz to a Body Mass Index contest. 5-zip Pinstripers.

Sunday: Sox scoreless streak hits 31 innings before Victor Martinez (who was playing for AAA Cleveland two weeks ago) finally finds the seats. The lead lasts less time than the average ride on a champion bull, as Daniel Bard gives up back-to-back homers. 5-2, Yankees sweep (insert obnoxious John Sterling noise here).


Please understand that I've never lived in New York, Boston, or anywhere near those two cities, so I'm neutral when it comes to this battle of baseball superpowers. But even from Switzerland, you could see the air being let out of Boston's big balloons.

Yes, the Sox were 9-0 against the Yanks in the nine previous meetings. But those were in April, May and June, also known in baseball circles as ancient history. What's more stark, and more stinging for Red Sox faithful, are these lines in the current standings: "W7", "L6", and "6.5"... the Yankees current winning streak, Boston's current losing skid, and the distance between the two in the standings.

The Brewers and Twins are now closer to first in their division than the Sox are to the boys from the Bronx.

And to top it off, Boston has to face another division leader starting tonight, with one of baseball's comeback stories of the year (Edwin Jackson) on the hill.

I'm not calling the Red Sox dead. I watched the 2004 ALCS; in fact, I worked with a Yankees fan who spent most of Game 7 with a bat in his hand threatening to take the head off a Justin Timberlake bobble-head. (Why didn't he pull the trigger?) It's August 10th, not September 10th, and in baseball circles, there are still several chapters left to be written in this drama.

No, the Sox aren't washed up yet. But if I were the Rays or the Rangers, I'd be licking my chops for a chance at that AL wild card.