The Red Sox are closer to fourth place than they are to first place.

The Mets are bigger underachievers and so are the Cubs. I'd say the Dodgers, too.

So the Red Sox are only the fourth-most disappointing team in major league baseball:

"The Red Sox have lost half their team this season and still came into the weekend with the third-most wins in the sport."

Wow, Mike Lupica is easy to impress. Second-highest payroll doesn't buy you much depth these days, I guess.


When this article was published, the following teams had better winning percentages that the gritty Red Sox: Yankees, Rays, Twins, Rangers, Braves, and Padres.

The Giants had the same record.

All of the above-mentioned teams have suffered injuries. Nobody cares about your injuries, especially when your payroll is north of $150M.


Yeah, I get that the Red Sox are more important to Yankee fans than the Padres. But this endless Gritty Red Sox Underdog storyline is tired and, in the year 2010, completely out of touch with reality.


Beckett is overrated. Lackey is a bust. Papelbon blows the save every time he faces a good team. Varitek, Martinez, and Ortiz are all off the PEDs and scaring nobody.

Beltre has had a great year, I'll give them that, and Lupica even predicted it.

But the Red Sox are not catching the Yankees*, and the Red Sox are not gritty.


* I hate making predictions, especially in baseball, but the Red Sox have to realistically win about 75% of their remaining games in order to win the AL East. I don't think it's happening and I don't think they would merit any attention if they had a different name on the front of their uniform.