“I’m a firm believer that God has a plan and it wasn’t in his plan for us to move forward. God didn’t have it in the cards for us… For me, I’m a firm believer in God and God has a plan and it wasn’t in God’s plan for us to be in the playoffs.”
– Red Sox first baseman Adrian Gonzalez
"It's all about injuries. If any team doesn't make the playoffs when they're supposed to, it's because of injuries." - Gonzalez
That's the kind of leadership I want on my team. Just taking full responsibility and holding himself accountable for the biggest regular season collapse in major league history. Wait, he didn't do that? Weird.
If you missed the NESN postgame last night, you missed one of the most asinine, whiney, out of touch statements made in a long, long time. Throughout the Red Sox' September swoon, there have been relentless questions about the team's makeup. Their mental toughness was always in question and aside from Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, Marco Scutaro and Alfredo Aceves, everyone else on the team acted like the playoffs were a foregone conclusion. They were lauded as the best team ever before they even played a game and approached the season believing their own hype.
Throughout the year, the team and manager Terry Francona made excuses for everything, namely during interleague play. After last night's comments by Gonzalez, we now have a clearer picture of the mindset of some of the people in that clubhouse. While Francona, Papelbon and GM Theo Epstein took questions like men, the new face of the franchise complained about injuries and God's plan.
Granted, the Sox were missing Clay Buchholz for much of the season but I'm pretty sure they still had the best team in baseball without their third starter. Oh yeah and Kevin Youkilis missed a bunch of time but I think there was a certain team from New York that missed the highest paid third basemen in the game for even more games. Injuries happen but to say "it's all injuries" and "any time a team misses the playoffs, it's because of injuries" is just a dumb thing to say but not as dumb as saying that losing Daisuke cost them 10 wins.
Then when asked if he could point to any reason for the collapse, he said that it wasn't God's plan for the Sox to make the playoffs. I didn't know that the big man upstairs was a Rays fan. Kinda reminds me of when Kurt Warner praised God for helping the Rams win the Super Bowl. I get praying for your teammates but when a reporter asks you to pinpoint a reason why your team just suffered a Titanic-sized collapse, don't tell me it's because God likes Joe Maddon more. Such a disgraceful cop out. Step up, be a leader and take responsibility.
Adrian Gonzalez isn't a captain but he gets paid like one and to hear a guy with his stature make excuses is pathetic. This guy is going to be a member of the Red Sox for the next six years and if this is how a superstar like him responds to adversity, it's no wonder that the most of the team gave up too.
I just hope God wants the Bruins to repeat as Stanley Cup Champions.
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