By Jamie Rieger

There is not much more frustrating for a sports fan than knowing your favourite team is not performing to the best of its abilities and when the lackadaisical performance is coupled with a number of injuries by the players, the situation can be downright disheartening.

Such is the case with the current Boston Red Sox, who for a period this summer have had 11 of their players on the disabled list...many of whom are key players and a couple of their starting pitchers. And while the Red Sox were able to bring up a couple of fantastic players from the minors, it has not been enough for them to rack up the all-important wins that will be needed if they want to have any kind of chance at the American League East pennant,

If there had been a couple of players out, it would have been a different ball game. Any team should be able to win games even when a player or two are out of the game with injury. But, when you have 11 players, then eight players out, it is difficult for the active roster, which includes the minor league players. to pick up the slack.

As the players slowly return to the team, it takes them time to get back into the swing of things, so to speak. Nobody expected starting pitchers Clay Buchholz or Josh Beckett to pitch no-hitters in their first appearances back. However, the fans do expect the other starters, as well as the bull pen, to be out there giving it their best every single time they play. A couple of them have not been doing that, it seems. And the fans have taken notice. Having a Red Sox fan upset with their team is almost as bad as having a Yankee fan mad at theirs. Almost.

Then there is the key second baseman, Dustin Pedroia, outfield speedster, Jacoby Ellsbury, and veteran catcher and team captain, Jason Varitek, as well as second catcher Victor Martinez, all still on the DL. If one or two were out, the team could get by and still win. Having all of them out at once has been nothing shy of frustrating. The line-up stil has hitters that should be driving home the runs, but it is not happening in recent games. More frustration.

The Red Sox typically go into a bit of a slump following the All-Star break, so perhaps this is all going to be fleeting and will soon pass. A true fan is not going to ditch their team when the going gets tough, but they will still express their frustrations...especially when they know what their team can do when it is at its best.

For now, we rely on the team we have to battle hard on the field and wish the injured a speedy recovery..and pray for a string of wins before all we can hope for is the wild card for the play offs.