July in RedSox Nation

So a normal July afternoon, nice day to be at work and something is nagging me, bothering me, deep in the far reaches of my mind...oh yeah, the Sox have an afternoon game, getaway day for the A's to conclude the four game series in Boston. I throw ESPN's gamecast window up on the screen, check it periodically.

Here are some highlights they flashed up on the screen during the game:

After the A's took the 4-1 lead in the 6th inning, ESPN gave the A's an 80% chance to win the game, nice statement of the ability of the Sox to comeback, trends don't lie do they:


As the Sox batted, here are some interesting July stats on a few of the key players:


Jason Bay, AL MVP candidate through June



JD Drew, much maligned rightfielder, doing reasonably well, without power through June



David Ortiz, struggling all year, most would say he has come out of it lately, July stats don't lie:


Jason Varitek, struggling the last couple of years, little more pop this year but July was tough and actually lowered his average


Newcomer Adam Laroche was supposed to be helpful, so far (July includes his time in Pittsburgh too) he hasn't


Finally, Youk, Kevin Youkilis. Youk was heading towards an MVP award showdown with Bay earlier in the year. He maintained an average over .400 for a long time, his OBP was hovering around .520 through May. Here is his July:


6 out of 9 hitters in the lineup most days are about to conclude a very miserable month of July. No wonder the team was 47-30 through June and 11-12 in July (7-4 before the all-star break in July, 4-8 after so far).

Usually teams have a player or two slumping, this is ridiculous. Either they get Gonzalez from San Diego AND Martinez from Cleveland or hope and pray they come out of their collective funk in August and September.

I hope they make a move, shake things up a bit, roll the dice. They aren't in first anymore, no lock on a playoff spot, why not?