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Mark Bellhorn, sadly, has continued the recent tradition of Red Sox second basemen with below average range, hands, instincts, etc. From the aborted Wil Cordero experiment, through Jose Offerman and Todd Walker, we've had some beauts. If only Pokey could stay healthy and hit the ball out of the infield more than once every ten plate appearances.

2) We may be the worst baserunning team in Major League history.

I wrote a column a while back, throwing Dale Sveum under a bus for his terrible base coaching instincts. But in his defense, it is very hard to coach terrible base runners. The Sox get terrible reads, bad jumps and, of course, have almost no wheels. Just as Peter Gammons was naming Jason Varitek the catcher on his "all they play the game the right way" team, Tek was getting doubled off first on a line drive to the shortstop FOR THE SECOND TIME on the brief road trip. The first one was incomprehensible. On a soft, broken-bat liner to short - a ball that never looked like a hit or a ground ball - Tek bolted from first and was easily doubled off. Then, on the second, he got doubled off when Gabe Kapler hit a line drive at Jolbert Cabrera's shoetops. Jerry Remy, in his infinite forgiveness, suggested that Varitek was in a tight spot as to whether to go or stay home. I say, it's an easy call. If Cabrera short hops the hot smash, it's going to be a double play no matter how hard Tek runs. If Tek runs and Cabrera snares it on the fly, it's also an easy DP. The only chance you have in that situation is to stay put and hope he squeezes it on the fly. This is why coaches tell us all our lives "to see a line drive through" before we attempt to advance.

Later in the Monday night loss to Seattle, Terry Francona put on a hit-and-run with Bellhorn at first and a lefty on the mound. Bellhorn was so crossed up by Gary Shirrell's delivery that he was going almost all the way back to the bag on the pitch. But the crazy thing was, he would still take off when the guy went home. So he was about eight feet off the bag when the ball reached the plate. This reminds me so much of all those strike-em-out-throw-em-out DPs in the playoffs against the Yankees last year. If you can't get any kind of a jump, there is only downside to sending the runner, no upside. You won't prevent a double play, you won't go first to third, you won't even open up a hole for the hitter to shoot at because the middle infielders can hold their ground until the ball is put in play and still beat the runner to the bag. The bad things, however, can still happen: caught stealing and line drive into a double play. I know people complain about our station-to-station approach, but your strategy needs to match your personnel, and, if the Sox hit-and-run 10 times this year it will probably be 10 times too many.

3) The Sox can't bunt.

Not a huge deal, but worth mentioning. And again, probably never a very good idea with this team, since our baserunners get such poor jumps and reads and are generally pretty slow. Even a B+ bunt won't get some of these runners over. And nothing kills a potential rally like bunting into a fielder's choice.

So we sit back and wait for Big Papi or Manny to hit a three-run dinger. Lord knows they've hit a bunch. But when they don't, we lose.

I don't think this team is good enough to make the playoffs in a vastly improved American League. But, that said, I'm not as panicky about the closing window of opportunity that I've associated with Pedro these last seven seasons. I think as long as Mr. Henry owns the team and the Kid is putting the roster together, the window of opportunity will be open. We're just not sailing through it this year.

I met Ty Law last week and he said he's so happy he doesn't have to play against Corey Dillon any more because the guy is a stud. Just a thought to ease the pain of the pending not-quite finish that awaits the Sox.

Sveum Old Song and Dance

6.6.04: Despite salvaging the last two games, this road trip raised several concerns for the Red Sox. Is Pedro Martinez even a reliable No. 3 starter at this point in his career? Can the bridge to Keith Foulke hold up without Scott Williamson? Is Cesar Crespo really in the Major Leagues?

But the biggest bummer about the trip for me was the revelation that once again the team has gone out and found a guy who cannot coach third base. - Continued - Hench's Hardball