1-161.

I figured: I'd get over it. Stomp around a bit. Glare at my framed photograph of Daniel Bard; turn him around so that he has to face the wall all night. Commiserate with poor Wakey.

But I'm beginning to realize that there's nothing worth seeing here: Terrible bullpen. Mostly terrible starters. Terrible hitters. As much as they might protest, the only thing that this team can do is catch the ball. I love defense--watching Adrian Beltre has been huge amounts of fun--but defense isn't going to win us games. We need to get someone who can swing a bat well and drive in runs because it's going to be a long season if we have to wait for 'Tek-less, Papi-less 2011.

I was willing to believe in run-prevention; it seems like a valid enough way of building a baseball team. But we've seen enough to know that either it doesn't work or this team just isn't any good at it. Irregardless, it's time to give up on the experiment and go with something that will win you baseball games: a big bat.



[Aside: I don't actually have a framed photograph of Daniel Bard in my home. He doesn't have to worry.]