You Can't Blame Tito

As the Sox continue to stumble to the finish line, everybody is desperately searching for a scapegoat. Reading game threads on the Sons of Sam Horn or listening to talk radio, it's apparent that everyone is zeroing in on manager Terry Francona as the reason for the recent death spiral.

Looking at it objectively, there is simply no justification for blaming Tito.

Look, Tito drives me crazy some times when he rests Pedroia, probably the guy on the team who needs rest the least, or when he refuses to play small ball when it is obvious his popgun offense is on life support. But overall, I stand by what I said early this year: Tito is the best manager the Sox have had since Dick Williams in 1967.

And blaming him for what has transpired over the past month is simply illogical. Here are 11 reasons you can't blame Tito for the current Sox struggles.

You can't blame Tito for:

1. Manny being hurt/being Manny (take your pick). The Sox are 11-11 since the Slugger Savant went down. Unless you want to say Tito snuck into Manny's room in New York and pulled his oblique with his bare hands, it's tough to lay this one on him.

2. Youk getting hurt. The Sox are 1-4 since Youk went down after being hit. I've checked the replay many times. Tito was not pitching when Youk got plunked.

3. Big Papi's knee. When David Ortiz's knee pain eased up, he went on a homer tear. When the injury flared up again, Papi went into a slump. Not Tito's fault.

4. Eric Gagne being a fat steaming lump of dung. Theo pulled the string on this one (which EVERYONE in Red Sox nation cheered). It's not Tito's fault that the bespectacled one has personally blown four games.

5. Dice K hitting the wall. Tito tried to limit his pitches early in the year but was ridiculed for it since "Dice K always throws a lot of pitches." Well, guess what. The Dice man has never played a season this long, and you are seeing the results. Again, not Tito's fault.

6. Hideki Okijima running out of gas. You could make a case that Oki was used too much in the early going, but look back at Tito's alternatives at the time. Timlin was hurt. Delcarmen was blowing games in the minors and Joel Piniero was being groomed as a set up guy. What would YOU have done?

7. Coco Crisp getting hurt. Crisp had turned into the player we thought we were getting last year but the back injury brought him to a standstill. Tito's fault?

8. The sucking of JD Drew. This is Theo's albatross, but Tito has to inhale the stench every day when he makes out the lineup card. If Manny comes back for the playoffs and Tito pencils in Drew instead of Ellsbury, THEN I will join you in booing Tito.

9. Julio Lugo not hustling. Bad enough he's dragging around that .235 average of his. No excuse for not hustling in the game in Toronto. If he beats out the grounder, the whole complexion of the game changes. Again, this one is on Julio, not Tito.

10. Tim Wakefield getting hurt. Wake was on an unhittable run until his 41 year old body turned on him. He has given up 26 hits and sports a 12.08 ERA in 12 2/3 innings in three September starts. How is that Tito's fault?

11. Jonathan Papelbon turning into Heathcliff Slocumb. The unhittable Mr. Pap has just coughed up two leads in a row. Who would have predicted that? Certainly not Tito.

So to summarize. An already Punch and Judy lineup is ravaged by injury and Tito must insert some combination of Eric Hinske, Bobby Kielty, Kevin Cash, Brandon Moss et all to fill out a nine man batting order. A solid starting rotation disintegrated before his eyes as Wake got hurt and Dice K hit the wall. The strength of his team, one of the best bullpens in baseball, implodes in shocking fashion.

So explain to me again how any of that is Tito's fault?

Let me help you. It isn't.