A.L. East Better Take Notice

Following a period in the 1990s when Bruce Springsteen lost his sound, he began his comeback at the 1997 MTV Music Awards by stealing the show from Jacob Dylan during a performance of Dylan's song "One Headlight." As you can see in the video, the "Boss" takes over the show just over a minute after the start and relegates Dylan to a backup singer. A few years later, Springsteen released "The Rising" album which he followed up with "Working on a Dream." The "Boss" was back and it was all thanks to his emasculation of Jacob Dylan.

I had this performance on my mind lately because of the parallels between the return of Springsteen and the 2010 Red Sox.

There were many doubters of the Sox after an offseason in which they let their best slugger, Jason Bay, leave as a free agent to the Mets and announced that the team was going to focus on winning through pitching and defense. They backed up that claim by signing pitcher John Lackey, Gold Glove winners Adrian Beltre and Mike Cameron to play third base and centerfield, and shortstop Marco Scutaro. The pessimism was based on watching the Red Sox become a perennial contender over the previous decade as an offensive juggernaut and the nay-sayers were able to add fuel to the fire after an 11-12 start in April that was caused by silent bats, injuries to Jacoby Ellsbury,Josh Beckett, and Cameron, and poor starts by the frontline pitching staff of Beckett, Jon Lester, and Lackey.

That terrible start is now a thing of the past as the bats have started to produce a Major League best 383 runs and the pitching has shut down opposing hitters. The offense has been an effect of a deep lineup that is being anchored in the middle by Kevin Youkilis, Victor Martinez, and David Ortiz. The pitching staff is still waiting for Beckett to get healthy and back on track but have been led by Lester (8 wins), Lackey (8), and Clay Buchholz (9).

After trailing the Rays, Yankees, and Blue Jays for the first six weeks of the season, the Sox are now just a game behind the Rays and Yankees for first place in the A.L. East. Like Springsteen's take over of "One Headlight," I expect the improved play of May and June to continue for the remainder of 2010, culminating in the Red Sox winning the 2010 World Series.