The old saying goes, “what a difference a day makes,” but with the 2008 Boston Red Sox it might be better said, “what a difference a day off makes.”
The baseball season is a mental and physical grind; it wears you down. Want evidence, just look at the scuffle between Manny Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis in the dugout against Tampa Bay. That scuffle was born as much out of playing so close to the edge for so many days as the Red Sox (and every other team with realistic World Series aspirations) do day in and day out as it was born out of real tension between the two combatants.
Terry Francona knew it, adrenaline was running and testosterone was high.
Think of our lives. Most of us get two off days a week where work is a distant memory, our nights’ are our own, and if we travel, a Monday to Friday business trip is usually the max. While ballplayers have alot of things easy in their lives, schedule and time to decompress midseason isn’t a luxury that they can often afford.
Now imagine your world, where every night is the biggest sales pitch, assignment, or meeting you could have in your chosen profession. Imagine that any screw up was inevitably going to be scrutinized to the “N”th degree. How do you find time to right your own ship?
Let me take you down one last visualization to make my point. Think of how refreshed you feel after a nice weekend away from it all, you are a mental step quicker, ready to face new challenges, full of vim and vigor (or maybe just a Monday morning coffee). Point being, you took some time to get out of the grind and recenter yourself.
During the course of the baseball season you have around a dozen off days over the course of a hundred and sixty two game season. Trust me, as a fan, sometimes I need them just to catch my breath. Players are no different.
Think of last night, the Red Sox knowing they weren’t on the hook to play today after a Sunday afternoon win. They could take in a Celtics game, hang with the family, get a good night’s sleep, or whatever else they wanted. They could do that without having to think about the next day. Not having to think about tomorrow is what every Friday night of my 20’s was all about. These guys need nights and days like this just to catch up.
Looking at the team’s performance coming into and then after days off this season, not having to think for a day does a little bit more than just right the ship, it gives them a full head of steam as they take back to the grind.
Case in point; actually three of them…
Looking back at the three most recent off days the Red Sox have had, and in fact the only off days since they really got into the regular routine of their schedule, very clear trends emerge.
Off Day: April 28th
Coming into the end of April, the Red Sox had hit their first real scuffle of the season having lost five straight games including being swept in Tampa Bay for the first time in franchise history. After a much needed day off, the Red Sox only went on to win seven of their next eight games.
Off Day: May 15/16
The early May success turned sour on the road as the Red Sox once again followed a winning streak up with a losing streak with six losses in eight road games including four in a row. Once again, they came back home and after a rain out against Milwaukee gave them back to back days off the field the team responded by winning seven in a row.
Off Day: May 29
True to form, the team hit the road and spent the tail end of a west coast trip losing five of six before a four game set in Baltimore and this most recent home stand turned into a run of eight wins in ten games and brings us to where we stand today.
Off Day: June 9
There’s no losing streak to worry about rebounding from and the Red Sox get a rare non-travel off day. I must say, if I am the Baltimore Orioles, I am hating life right now. Not only are they getting a “recharged” Red Sox team, they are getting them at Fenway Park.
Sometimes the schedule doesn’t do a team many favors, but here is one that clearly swings in the Red Sox way. Let’s see if they can keep the post-day off trend alive and kicking through the end of the home stand and into Cincinnati and Philadelphia for an Interleague road trip.
