Bull Durham and the Red Sox

Every season has a turning point. A deadline trade for Cliff Lee, a Jason Varitek punch to A-Rods grill, and now...a rain out.

"We need a night off just to stop
our losing streak.  We need a
rainout." - Bull Durham

I'm not the first to point out that, like the Durham Bulls, the Red Sox were in the worst slump in recent memory.  The hitters can't hit and the pitchers can't pitch. The Sox lost on the road and then even the Fenway faithful couldn't get them going.

And just as there seemed to be no end in sight...rain out.  And not one of those rain outs where the teams warm up and wait around wondering if its a delay or the real deal.  It was called very early.  Everyone got to sleep in.  The team probably spent some time with friends and family in town.  They had an extra beer or two the night before, and enjoyed a much needed break from ESPN and Boston Media losing their collective minds over the slow start.  Ahhhhhh.  Sweet rest. I would even go as far as to say some may have plopped on the couch and watched Bull Durham for the um-teenth time.

Have you ever worked late for a few weeks in a row on a project.  You get in to the office early.  You stay late.  You stress about making sure everything goes right from the moment you wake up to the moment you fall asleep. Then, throughout your restless sleep, you dream about what could go wrong and what people will say.  And after a few weeks of this you are dead.  You need a "mental health day" in the worst way.   You need your own personal rain out.   Then after that day off you get back to business like a new man (or woman of course) and things seem to be more clear and fall into place. 

Tonight the Sox open back up against Toronto.  A day off under their belt. A bounce and flare back in the team's step knowing that things are going to change now! 

As a Red Sox fan I am humored by the parallels of the Bull Durham 'rainout' quote.  But I am more hopeful that another Bull Durham quote will be more fitting a few months from now.

"For one extraordinary June
and July, the Durham Bulls, for
whatever perverse reason, began
playing baseball with joy and
verve and poetry...
After sweeping a July 4
doubleheader, the Durham Bulls
were tied for first." 

Go Sox!