Time to Shuffle the Deck?

Exactly when did the Red Sox turn into the 1906 Chicago White Sox, aka the "Hitless Wonders?" For those unfamiliar, the Pale Hose of 100 years ago won a World Championship with dominating pitching and anemic hitting.

After their June Swoon, this year's Carmine Hose appear to be heading down the same path. However, whether they can duplicate the '06 championship feat with their lineup bumbling along as it has been is debatable. It may be time for a shakeup.

The 1906 White Sox featured dominating pitching with two 20 game winners and a four man starting rotation none of whom had an ERA higher than 2.33. However their hitting was brutal, with a team high batting average of .230. No regular topped .279 and no one drove in more than 80 runs. Of course, they had an excuse. It was the Dead Ball Era.

These days, the only "dead balls" appear to be coming off the Red Sox' bats. They hit .264 in June, but only .218 with runners in scoring position. They scored only 112 runs in the month, compared to 155 in May. They put up 2 runs or less in 13 games. Amazingly, they won 5 of those. Overall, they were 13-14 in the month. And with another depressing 2-1 loss to Texas on Sunday and despite a mini-breakout last night, July is not starting out any better.

Now I know I'm not a big league manager or general manager, but if my Strat-O-Matic team was performing like the current Sox, I would be shuffling my player cards in an attempt to make something happen. I realize you can't move real humans around like cards - they are a lot bigger and heavier - but let's make believe we could. Herewith, my modest proposal for shaking the Sox out of the doldrums.

The main order of business would be to rearrange the batting order, including moving the big boys around. Let's face it, Papi and Manny have not been Papi and Manny for a while, so leaving them in the three and four spots is part of the problem. I understand that moving either one of them is akin to painting the Statue of Liberty lime green, but desperate times call for desperate measures. And watching the Sox these days has become painful. It's time for radical surgery.

So here is my revised lineup.

1. Dustin Pedroia
2. Coco Crisp
3. Kevin Youkilis
4. David Ortiz
5. Manny Ramirez
6. J. D. Drew
7. Mike Lowell
8. Jason Varitek
9. Julio Lugo/Alex Cora (platoon).

Here is my reasoning.

First, Pedroia is quickly become a prototypical Jamesian leadoff hitter. He works the pitcher, rarely strikes out and has a high on base percentage. He is Kevin Youkilis without the ugly goatee and less about 30 pounds.

As for Coco in the number two slot? The player the Sox traded for last year had his best year in 2005 with Cleveland. That year he hit .300 with a .345 OBP, .465 OPS and .810 slugging percentage. And where did he hit that year? You got it. Number two, right behind Grady Sizemore.

Youk hitting third is a no brainer. He is currently the best hitter on the team. Yes, you give up some power, but not that much as things are going now. Youk has 9 homers to 11 for Manny and 13 for Papi.

Ortiz moving into the four hole might take some pressure off him or at least give him a change of scenery.

Manny moving to number 5 gives the Sox the best fifth hitter they have had since Trot was in there hitting homers and knocking in runs.

Drew slipping down to six also strengthens the lineup. He is an overpaid flop as a five hitter, but at number six he doesn't look too bad.

Lowell, once his thumbs heal, gives you another potent bat in the seven spot.

Tek is solid and a nice bat at eight.

Let's just call a spade a spade and say that for the forseeable future, Lugo is a part time player. Go with a strict platoon with Alex Cora which puts both of them in the best position to succeed.

So take another look at that lineup. The only real hole is number nine and Cora can come up with the big hit occasionally and Lugo will break out at some point. But 1 through 5 is solid and can be spectacular, 6-8 should be "professional" ie eat a lot of pitches, occasional power and potential timely hitting. You also get a nice balance of R-S-R-L-R-L-R-S-L/R. Opposing managers can't bring in one reliever for more than one hitter in the later innings.

That's my solution. Let's give it a whirl. I bet it would work in Strat-O-Matic.