An optimistic Sox fan sees their Sox and says, “Detroit is due to fall.” A pessimistic Sox fan sees the Sox and says, “Whaaaaaaat’s happening?”
RedEye broke down Tuesday’s game from both points of view, and while this may not convince you to become either one, we think it’ll help you understand both sides a little better.
Scenario: Bottom of 1st, no outs, nobody on. Detroit steps up.
Optimism: Oh, three up, three down. Jon Garland (above) finds his groove.
Pessimism: Don’t pull a Mark Buehrle, don’t pull a Mark Buehrle, don’t pull a …
How it played out: Three up, three down.
Score: Optimism leads 1-0.
Scenario: Sox up 1-0 in 4th. Jermaine Dye (left) on third base with one out. Joe Crede’s up.
Optimism: Possibly a dinger, maybe a walk, probably a sacrifice fly. I’m a cautious optimist.
Pessimism: Dye tries to steal home and runs into a “strike him out, tag him out.”
How it played out: Crede walks before Juan Uribe singles Dye home.
Score: Optimism leads 2-0.
Scenario: Sox up 2-0 in 5th. Two Tigers on, two outs, and Placido Polanco’s up.
Optimism: Puh-lease. Double play. It’s too easy. I also have this week’s winning lottery ticket.
Pessimism: Double. Had a nightmare about this. Double. And somebody gets hurt. I can’t watch.
How it played out: Polanco singles home one run; Sox lead 2-1.
Score: Optimism leads 2-1.
Scenario: Thanks to HRs by Paul Konerko (right) and Joe Crede, Sox lead 4-1. Detroit’s Magglio Ordonez leads off the 6th.
Optimism: Our old friend gets a single, a friendly, harmless little single.
Pessimism: Ordonez homers and umps use a little-known rule to award three runs to Detroit since the baseball crossed an international border. Score’s tied 4-4.
How it played out: He struck out looking.
Score: Optimism leads 2-1-1.
Scenario: Sox lead 7-1 heading into the bottom of the 9th.
Optimism: I like to live in the moment so let’s finish like we started with a–
Pessimism: NO, NO, NO! DON’T JINX THIS! That’s it, here comes the Tigers’ big seven-run inning. Those damned rally caps actually work.
How it played out: Three up, three down.
Final score: Optimism wins 3-1-1. Truth be told, pessimism just knew it was going to lose.
