So What Does This Mean?

Obviously, today's 12-5 ass kicking at the hands of the Indians doesn't make us Sox fans feel good. The question now is, how bad should we feel? Was this abortion of an opener an omen of things to come? Well, let's see how some recent openers went, and how the season ended up.


2007- Indians 12, at SOX 5
Contreras gives up 8 runs in 1 inning of work in opener that was over before it started.
Final Record-???

2006- at SOX 10, Indians 4
McCarthy, Politte, and Thornton shut down Indians after lenghty rain delay.
Final Record 90-72

2005- at SOX 1, Indians 0
Sox begin season same way they end it, with a 1-0 victory.
Final Record 99-73, World Series champs

2004- at Royals 9, SOX 7
Billy Koch sets off 6 run ninth inning to blow 7-3 lead.
Final Record 83-79

2003- at Royals 3, SOX 0
Runelvys Hernandez, Jason Grimsley, and Mike MacDougal 3 hit the Sox. Royals on their way to a surprising season that finds them in 1st place in August.
Final Record 86-76

2002- SOX 6, at Mariners 5
Bullpen almost coughs up 6-1 lead, but Sox hang on to pin opening day loss on Freddy Garcia.
Final Record 81-81

2001- SOX 7, at Indians 4
Defending AL Central champion Sox defeat Bartolo Colon and Indians behind 6 strong innings from new acquisition David Wells. Probably his finest moment in a Sox uniform.
Final Record 83-79

2000- at Rangers 10, SOX 4
Nothing expected of young Sox team, and they get demolished on Opening Day. Mike Sirotka gives up 7 in 4 1/3. Kenny Rogers allows only 1 run in 8 innings for Texas. Things soon improve for the Sox though, and they win first division title since 1993.
Final Record 95-77, AL Central champions

So, there you go, in summary we've got

2000 L 95-77 (+20 games over prior year)
2001 W 83-79 (-12)
2002 W 81-81 (-2)
2003 L 86-76 (+5)
2004 L 83-70 (-3)
2005 W 99-63 (+16)
2006 W 90-72 (-9)
2007 L

The Sox have improved over the prior year in 2 of the 3 seasons this decade that they've lost on Opening Day. When they've won, they have finished with a worse record than the season before 3 out of 4 times. So, the moral of the story is, losing on Opening Day isn't the worst thing that can happen to a team, and winning on Opening Day doesn't mean that much either.

Still, Jose Contreras was REAL bad today.