What happened at break last year?

[bobryansson]

First topic (or even post) for me... Sox fan all my 47 years, though.

Anyway, the death spiral began last year at the break. I do want to dredge up the past enough to try to get an answer to the biggest question on my simple mind. We had the best record in baseball a year ago, then somebody flipped the switch and it's been getting worse ever since. It was SO sudden for half #2 last year, carried through spring training, and (obviously) continues to worsen to this day. What happened?

My thought- KW needs to give MB his 5y contract and water the tarp before it is removed every game and encourage MB to go flop on it. Team's not been the same since the no-tarp-flopping edict. No fun.

[Yossarian]

The Sox were 56-29 and then lost 2 out of three to Boston right before the 2006 All Star break. Just about a week or so before that, Ozzie had his little dustup with a certain cretin at the Sun Times. I don't know what cosmic significance it all had, but things have gone from bad (second half of 06) to beyond worse.

[chisoxfan79]

The Sox were 56-29 and then lost 2 out of three to Boston right before the 2006 All Star break. Just about a week or so before that, Ozzie had his little dustup with a certain cretin at the Sun Times. I don't know what cosmic significance it all had, but things have gone from bad (second half of 06) to beyond worse.

Actually The Sox went on a nine game win streak after the dust up with Marriotti thats when they beat Texas the next day then Swept Cinncy, St. Louis, and won 2 against the Stros Personally I think this slide started last year when we lost that slugfest at the Urinal.

[Yossarian]

Actually The Sox went on a nine game win streak after the dust up with Marriotti thats when they beat Texas the next day then Swept Cinncy, St. Louis, and won 2 against the Stros Personally I think this slide started last year when we lost that slugfest at the Urinal.

Thanks for the correction. I thought it (the incident with the ST reporter) happened during the Cubs series. I agree about that Sunday game we lost, it was brutal. The pitching really went south (pun intended) after that game.

[PoopsThompson]

Yes.

[chiguy79]

Last Year Second Half: Thome stopped hitting, Contreras and Co. stopped pitching...

 

This Year: Everyone is old, slow and injured.

 

Has anyone ever seen so many infield pop-ups out of an offense. If you breakdown our outs in a game there are probably 10+ strikeout (if a decent pitcher is on the mound) and 5+ weak infield pop-ups. We can't even make good outs these days.

[RME JICO]

What happened last year:

 

1. KW did not get a legit LF, CF, and SS which killed the entire lineup.

2. KW not addressing the lineup against LHP (Added Mackowiak and Thome) which actually made team worse against LHP.

3. Team enforced stricter policies (haircuts, no tarp slides, etc)

4. Complacency (less motivation after winning title)

5. Fatigue (extended 2005 and WBC took a lot out of our team)

 

This year, KW failed to address LF, CF, and SS which has killed this team again. The team is still bad against LHP and now the bullpen is erratic. Add all the injuries and subpar performances and you have one of the most underachieving teams in a long time.

 

Trading MB or losing him to FA would just be icing on the poopcake.