I'm to the point where I'm so disgusted with everything, that I find their failures more funny than I find any wins enjoyable. I mean, if they're going to tank, it might as well be spectacular. Everyday, that seems more and more likely.
Coming into this season, I was fully expecting 90-95 losses. But, what kept me going was that I was expecting a return to form from Sizemore (who was at one time one of the brightest young stars in the game), I always enjoy AsCab's game, then of course I was looking forward to the development of younger guys like LaBusta, Valbuena, Marson, C. Perez, Brantley, etc.. Well, every single one of those young guys are flopping big time and Sizemore and AsCab look to miss significant amounts of time. The lone bright spots on this team are Choo (who's production is suffering because of the pathetic lineup sourrounding him) and Carmona's quasi-resurrection.
We've all suffered massive amounts of pain being fans of this franchise (if any of you have never read "The Curse of Rocky Colavito" or "Our Tribe" by Terry Pluto, I highly reccommend them...just keep a bottle of pepto at hand), but this season, personally is setting up to be one of the biggest letdowns because nothing at all is going right. I hesitate to get too excited about Santana and Weglarz because I feel I'm setting myself up for disappointment at this point. I've always tried to remain optinistic about the future because, well, that's all we have. But with so many of the pieces that are expected to be the pieces of that future struggling or getting hurt, that optimism is fading daily.
I remember the '87 season vividly. That team was relatively young and coming off a surprisingly good year in '86. The lineup was stacked and there was supposed to be just enough pitching to make a strong run at the post season for the first time in over 25 years. So much so they graced the SI preseason baseball preview. Well, as so often happens, they didn't live up to expectations. The offense, while not as impotent as this years hacks, failed to be enough to overcome the ridiculously bad pitching that is still, to me, the benchmark for bad pitching staffs. That season was the most disappointing in my fandom. This season is starting to surpass that for different reasons. I held no delusions of contention, I just wanted to see some promise for the future. I'm not seeing it at all. LaPorta looks absolutely lost and he's too damn old to be this bad. Valbuena is a mess and with the injuries, I don't see them sending him down any time soon. So his confidence might well be ruined by the time all is said and done. They continue to trot Masterson out to get rocked every five games when it's abundantly clear he's not a starter. The bullpen is a mess for the 3rd straight year. Peralta is still here. Sizemore is a shell of his former self and can't stay healthy. Hafner looks like a 40 year old clinging to his former glory. Just a massive mess...
In short...
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