Through the first two weeks of the season, it appeared as though the lofty expectations for the Red Sox — following the winter acquisitions of Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford — would not be met. But despite a horrendous 2-10 start, Boston righted its ship and now sits atop the American League East standings, on pace to cruise into the postseason and compete for more World Series hardware.
The same can't be said for some other MLB squads, who have failed to live up to their potential and are struggling through the dog days of August with no October glory in sight.
The Minnesota Twins entered 2011 hoping for a repeat of 2010 in which the club won 94 games — including 12 of its first 14 September contests to pull away down the stretch — en route to their second of back-to-back AL Central titles. With All-Star and franchise cornerstone Joe Mauer behind the plate and 17-game-winner Carl Pavano re-signed, the Twins were predicted by Sports Illustrated and other media outlets to make it three consecutive division crowns.
Instead the Twinkies enter Monday night's matchup with Boston stuck in fourth place in their division, a distant 10 games behind AL Central leader Detroit. Mauer has been limited to only 56 games after missing much of April, May and June with bilateral leg weakness, while the pitching staff has struggled with only one starter, Scott Baker, boasting a winning record (8-6). If the Twins stay stuck in the fourth spot in the AL Central it will be their lowest finish in the standings since 2000, when the team lost 93 games and had the worst record in the American League.
The Dodgers began 2011 with the shadow of the Frank McCourt divorce looming over them, but with two of the top young outfielders in Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier returning along with pitcher Clayton Kershaw, L.A. had reason to be optimistic it could challenge the Giants for NL West supremacy. Unfortunately for new manager Don Mattingly, the results have not been there. Los Angeles is the third-worst run scoring team in the majors and sits at 52-61, 10 games behind San Francisco in the division.
Though few pegged them to compete in the NL East, the Mets still had the New York media there to put pressure on the team to improve upon a 79-win campaign in 2010. While the offense allowed the team to stay around .500 for much of the early going, the squad is, once again, in the rearview mirror of the NL East, 17 1/2 games back of the Phillies despite having the third-highest payroll in the National League. Instead of jockeying for postseason position, Mets fans are left wondering how much longer Jose Reyes will be in Queens or whether he will move to the Bronx and wear pinstripes in the future.
The White Sox had many believing the 2011 campaign would extend into October as 32 of ESPN.com's 45 baseball analysts pegged Chicago to win the AL Central. Slugger Adam Dunn was counted on to add some pop to the lineup while Mark Buehrle solidified the pitching staff. Instead, the South Siders are 55-58, 5 1/2 games back in a mediocre AL Central.
Dunn is the biggest bust in baseball this season, hitting an abysmal .163 with only 11 home runs and on pace to strike out over 200 times this season. U.S. Cellular Field has been a house of horrors for the club as the White Sox have the worst home record in the American League at 24-32. No matter what kind of spin Ozzie Guillen puts on it, the White Sox have failed to live up to expectations.
