It’s been a bit more than a month since the question was raised here about how small the margin of error is for some Red Sox, and the outcome has since been made clear for at least one player under the microscope – Hideki Okajima, who opens the 2011 season this Thursday in Pawtucket.
But the big club’s 0-3 start has caused a great many fans to add other names to the mix. Chief among these is Jarrod Saltalamacchia, whose 0-for-10 performance at the plate is already causing sportsradio callers to demand that Jason Varitek reclaim his place behind the dish. Next in line is newcomer Carl Crawford, who is but 2 for 11 and has already been moved both down and up in the lineup.
Here’s the thing, though: the major league baseball season is 162 games long, and even if the Sox do manage to win the 100 games predicted for them by pitcher Josh Beckett and Sports Illustrated magazine, that means they’re going to lose 59 more before they’re all done.
And chances are they won’t lose them all in a row.
So have a little patience, won’t you? Salty and Crawford no doubt are playing ‘tight,’ overeager to show the club and its Nation that they are worthy of the faith (and the investment, in the latter’s case) that has been bestowed upon them. They may be on TV, but they’re still human beings, and they fret and worry just like the rest of us. The difference is that they get to do so before 2+ million people in the stands per year, and millions more watching from their couches.
And sooner or later, more often than not, they rebound. Just like another on the “margin of error list” – David Ortiz – has done.
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