What is wrong with the Redsock '17 Hall of Fame Superteam of Destiny (TM)?

They're limping toward the restrooms, three up with 19 to play. Nobody's hitting except Li'l Pete, and he's a living "Get well!" card. (See: Bird, Greg.) Tonight, they face the Oakland A's, a/k/a the Charlie Sheen School for Wayward Girls, and their prayers have been answered: They found someone - at 17 games below .500 - playing worse than they. Jubilation! Glory to Dombrowski, the Belichick of baseball! 

But it wasn't supposed to be this way.

Everybody knows the Redsocks, as God's most beloved tribe of suffering saints, continually consolidate all their woes, finish last for a while, and then rise to win miracle championships. Ever since vanquishing the evil curse of the Bambino, many years ago, Boston has lived the dream, embracing that puritanical New England spirit of hope and self-righteousness, knowing the dreaded Yankees have been exorcised like that Annabelle horror movie doll, and the new millennium belongs to those who are willing to lose for a few years in order to draft high. 

Last 30 days

And 2017 was going to cement their future. This would be the year when the B's - Benintendi-Bradely-Betts-Bogaerts - would replace Belichick-Brady, and the Sale-Price dynasty would begin. For the first half of the season, they simply lurked, waiting to make their move. In July, when the Yankees had punched themselves to sleep, Boston took first, and ever since, the only question was how much space they would put between themselves and the AL East.

Well, they're sputtering. The above chart shows Redsock hitting over the last 30 days, and it's not Ted Williams or even Trot Nixon. Most notable, I direct you to the numbers for Mookie Betts, now hitting .261 on the year with 19 home runs. (Keep in mind, practically everybody in baseball has at least 20.) We can debate hopes and fears about Aaron Judge throughout the coming winter, but Betts has dropped 60 points in average since last season, when the Gammonites pushed him for MVP. (Mike Trout won it, by the way.) Of course, he could go on a tear and lift his average 15-20 points, but that "future superstar" trajectory is no longer in place. He's just 24, so we won't dismiss him. But Boston's mad expectations have taken a turn.

And then there is Bogaerts, who last winter in the World Baseball Whatever forced Didi Gregorius to play 2B, causing him to hurt his arm on a twisting throw to first. Then, Bogaerts was the star and Didi the bench warming underling. Would anyone now buy such a comparison? For the record, Xander has 8 home runs and is hitting .266 on the season. Didi is the Yankees' best player. Period.

Still, with 19 games to go, it'll take a full collapse for Boston to lose the AL East. Once in the playoffs, anything can happen. But they are a team the Yankees can beat, and that - my friends - says it all.