August

First, the good news. The Sox played .667 ball in August, going 18-9, while playing five series on the road, and only four in Fenway. In those five road series, they went 4-0-1. It was really the first time all year they played well, consistently well, on the road. And the August numbers were especially impressive, considering that they played pretty much the entire month without Mike Lowell (In the few games before he actually went on the DL, Lowell did very little at the plate.), and JD Drew, who played half a month, but like Lowell, didn’t really contribute much in that time. Not to mention the absence of Julio Lugo (Having Lowrie in the lineup may have actually been a net gain.); Papi still apparently hurting, and not performing up to prior years; and Manny gone west. Of course Jason Bay had a huge month, batting .358, knocking in 29 runs, and scoring 22. So then imagine how the Sox could do in September, with a healthy lineup. Right now, they’re 22 games above .500, and have a three-game lead for the wild card spot. Another month like this past month, and they’ll be playing come October.

But playing well with a banged up lineup is also the bad news. Because among the walking wounded is Josh Beckett, and even if the Sox can make it to the post-season, they’re not going anywhere without a healthy Beckett. Think of last year’s ALCS. Sure, the Sox ended up pounding the Indians into submission for those final two games at Fenway. But they never would have made it back to Fenway without Beckett. With a loss in game five, there would have been no games six or seven, no World Series, and no championship for 2007. And the bar has been raised since 2004. Yes, it’s nice to make the post-season, but how satisfying was 2005? And while it might give us some solace, and some hope for the future, to think that this team of youngsters made it to the post-season without any healthy superstars, in the end, that’s nothing more than another way of saying, “Wait till next year.”

So right now, entering September, priority one is a healthy Beckett. Assuming Beckett can finish the season strong, number two on the wish list is a healthy Lowell. Over the past few years, Lowell has meant as much to the team as anyone, other than Papi. Now I know we’ve only got about two-thirds of a healthy Papi, but even at that reduced strength, he’s still going to mess up opposing pitchers. And number three would be, in my estimation, a consistent performance from the bull-pen. That’s asking a lot, in light of all the ups and downs this year. But most everyone out there is healthy, and all of them have performed well at times, even if not all the time. But given those three things, OK, we can be ready for another October, even if we’d still be playing away at either LA or Tampa. So August was better than July; way better. Can September be better still? If so, we’ll worry about October when we get there.