No Reason to Panic in Boston

The Red Sox are 0-6, in case you hadn't noticed, and now the Sox faithful are in panic mode.

My question is...why?

Many people have labeled the Red Sox a serious World Series contender in the American League this year, and rightfully so. Getting swept in two series to open the season doesn't change that. The panic would not be stirring as much if this six-game losing streak happened midseason. The fact that it's happening to start the season magnifies it and causes overreactions like what we're seeing now. Both of these series were on the road. The first was against the best team in baseball so far. No need to panic.

The Red Sox will be fine. They have too much talent to be this bad the rest of the way. Now they finally get a chance to play at home, against their hated rival, and they're angry at starting the season this way. I'm betting Boston takes the series over the Yankees this weekend. Remember the rocky start the Miami Heat got off to at the beginning of the NBA season, with all the superstars they brought in during the offseason? Now look where they are. Expect the Red Sox to bounce back in similar fashion.

This is just a classic example of putting too much emphasis on the opening moments of a baseball season. We have six months and 156 more games to go. It doesn't make sense for anyone to be panicking this early. The same message goes out to the Tampa Bay fans and the Houston fans. You can't measure a season by a six-game stretch. Especially not a six-game stretch in April. Come on, people. Have some faith.

And it works both ways. The Rangers are not going to go 162-0. The Baltimore Orioles will not finish the season in first place in the AL East. The season does not end today, so why make such a big deal about your team's start? And don't start throwing historical numbers at me. Those stats are kept specifically for instances like this where they can finally be put to rest or disproved. As far as I'm concerned, it will just add to the Red Sox legacy. This is a winning team, and pretty soon, we're all going to see it for ourselves. So what if we haven't just yet?