YES
By Hailey Van Orman
Of course the Red Sox can win the World Series! It’s all based on our hitting. The Sox are stacked with hitters that pitchers fear when they come up to the plate. Adrian Gonzalez, who has been the Sox’s bright spot this season, has contributed 26 homeruns, and holds the highest batting average on the team with a .333. David Ortiz has been taking care of business in 2011, leading the Sox in homeruns with 29. Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroria, and Kevin Youkilis have bats of fire as usual, and when Carl Crawford heats up he can be dangerous. But to put it a much simpler way, in the 2011 regular season rankings, the Red Sox are 1st in three of the most important statistics in baseball. They lead the MLB in: runs (819), OBP (.348), and slugging percentage (.458). Boston is also 2nd in batting average at .279.
Is there even an argument to be to be arguing about? Those stats say it all. Who do we have to fear? The Yankees, who rank 7th in batting average? And whom we have a record of 11-4 against? Laughable! This is Title Town, and we know how to win.
No
By Jon Mael
When 2011 began, I thought (and said in The Mass Media) that this was the year for the Sox. Unfortunately a rash of injuries and some bad managing have put us in a tough spot. Winning the AL East is key to get to the World Series, because it would have given us home field in a potential championship series against the Yankees. Without home field it’ll be a very tough road to the World Series, especially for a battered team like Boston. While the bats have been heating up lately, pitching is twice as important as hitting when it comes to postseason ball. Right now we’re fielding a patchwork rotation consisting of the geriatric Tim Wakefield and the “immortal” Kyle Weiland. Even Lester and Beckett have been struggling lately.
The Sox will be facing a Texas team that they have really struggled against this year, and that was when they were at full strength. If Carl Crawford gets hot and Adrian Gonzalez has a big series then they have a shot at getting destroyed by the Yankees. Although the Sox are 11-4 against NY this year, all of those games were before the rash of injuries hit us, and now we won’t have a shot to win it all.
The Sox will be facing a Texas team that they have really struggled against this year, and that was when they were at full strength. If Carl Crawford gets hot and Adrian Gonzalez has a big series then they have a shot at getting destroyed by the Yankees. Although the Sox are 11-4 against NY this year, all of those games were before the rash of injuries hit us, and now we won’t have a shot to win it all.