I don't mean this to be one of those angry-but-secretly-jealous or hey-things-sure-have-changed posts. I really and suddenly do hate the Red Sox.
Wait, why did I like them in the first place? I started following baseball in 1997. That meant seeing Nomar Garciaparra, a hotshot Red Sox rookie, in the paper a lot that season. For a shortstop, that kid could hit. Coincidentally, from watching games and statistics, I decided that my favorite and the best young pitcher in baseball was a Montreal Expo named Pedro Martinez, who joined the Red Sox the next year.
Martinez's 1999 season was the stuff of legend, and Garciaparra was shaping up as one of the best players ever at his position. (What an arm on both of those guys.) They made a fantastic pair to watch. And the team's biggest rival was the New York Yankees, a team I'd already grown to hate. The Yankees had insufferable fans and had spoiled the World Series appaerance of Tony Gwynn in '98.
Plus the Red Sox were in the playoff hunt almost every year. They weren't my favorite team, but I like to pull hard for a team in the playoffs to keep myself interested. Just like how I like the Spurs in basketball, because of the Admiral and Tim Duncan, except when they're playing the Nuggets. I don't have own any Red Sox stuff, though, or anything like that. Is any of this so wrong?
I stuck with the Red Sox through 2004, even though they sent Garciaparra to Chicago. I will admit that I wrote them off after they fell behind 3-0 to the Yankees. Their comeback was fantastic, and it was great to see them finally win it all against the Cardinals.
The Boston fans grew more and more obnoxious, and everyone else hated them, but not me. I spent most of this season telling a Yankees-loving friend of mine they were winning the World Series. I regret that a lot now.
This year, though, I had to choose between the Rockies and the Red Sox. And, frankly, I didn't have to think about it for a second. You ever hear about the fantasy sports dilemma, where someone has to root for a player who's going against their favorite team, and there's all this internal conflict? Like they want their team to win, but they also want the guy to do well? Yeah, I've never understood that. You go with your team. Always. And that's why I pulled for the Rockies to win the World Series.
The Red Sox just killed that dream.
In the last few years now, Boston has prevented my two favorite players (Larry Walker and Todd Helton) from earning World Series rings. I don't usually feel sorry for teams that lose, but I do for players, especially those who've remained loyal to a team or have played at a Hall of Fame level for so long. That's what made the Broncos' first Super Bowl so sweet. I was happy for John Elway. But I felt the same way for Steve Atwater, Tyrone Braxton, and Shannon Sharpe. It was like they deserved it, you know?
The World Series, at least in the time I've watched it, feels more defined by the players who don't win it. Gwynn. Barry Bonds. And, for me, Walker and Helton.
Now, none of the reasons I rooted for the Red Sox before are there anymore. Nomar's gone, Pedro's gone. There's not really a likeable guy on the team outside of David Ortiz, but he's hardly an underdog at this point. The team itself...I don't know, it's just not half as interesting anymore.
Frankly, this postseason has finally solidifed for me what many have long suggested: the Boston Red Sox are, indeed, the New Yankees. They were cute before, when they couldn't win. But now I have to admit they're practically New York's mirror image, except they win. They're just another cash-heavy behemoth, dominating an off-the-field game almost no one can afford to play.
I could almost root for the Yankees now, and I'm not kidding. That might just be the pain talking. But unless something incredible happens—like Boston trading for Helton some day—my days of cheering for the Red Sox are over.
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Oh, yeah, one more thing. I get that Boston is basically the capital of the sports world now, what with the Red Sox and Patriots. That's fine, good for them. But just so everyone knows, the Celtics do not deserve to be mentioned alongside those teams. Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen are going to win it all now? Why don't we call Seattle or Minnesota and see how it worked out for them? In the West, this team'd be a contender for the fourth seed.
7 comments:
Wow, Amen on the freaking Celtics! I'm so sick of hearing about how they're a lock for the finals this year. I think Garnett and Pierce are over-rated, and Allen is over-the-hill.
I agree with you on the Red Sox too. I have hated them ever since I started following baseball and I hate them now more than ever, ESPECIALLY Manny Ramirez. "Oh that's just Manny being Manny! Ha Ha Ha" SHUT UP!! I love how Fox spent more time showing us Paplebon warming up than the actual game. I also really enjoyed the coverage of the Red Sox bullpen playing with their stupid bottles and spoons (or whatever they were using).
Ultimately, I had to come to terms with the fact that the Rockies were simply out-matched. However, what was the most irritating to me was the smugness I saw from the Sox. Maybe that was just Ramirez and Beckett.
I have always had a fondness for the Red Sox, but I agree that they are starting to wear a little bit thin. I loved watching them in '04 when they reversed the sweep and then reversed the curse against the Yankees, and the game I attended in Fenway Park may be the most memorable baseball game of my life.
That said, they are starting to resemble the Yankees a little too much, and now that they have won some of the mystique has worn off in my mind. I even found myself expressing hatred for a number of guys on the team over the past weekend - i.e., Mike Lowell (looks like some jerk and former jock who would be your neighbor), Dustin Pedroia (looks like a high school kid who drives a Jeep Wrangler and wears a white baseball cap), and Kevin Youkilis (looks like a weird guy who could never have a coherent conversation). So it may be time for me to find another second-string team to root for.
Hey, the Sox bullpen was just trying out for The Next Great American Band!
It's hard to tell if Ramirez is really smug or just incredibly laid-back.
Broooooo! (as Dustin Pedroia might say), your characterizations of the Sox are spot-on.
there was a really good article, i think it was a RMN column... not sure where it was now, but it talked about the mystique and charm of the red sox is ALL GONE.
and i agree, wholeheartedly. and yes this is the pain and the booze talking. and by booze, i mean diet coke.
i rooted for the sox back when they were loveable losers. what i did't realize, was that i fell hook-line-and sinker for that "woe is me, feel sorry for us, it's been 86 years" crap.
guess what, that is OVER. the grungy, rowdy, pine-tar charm is GONE.
a reporter from the news talked about how a fan at the stadium held a sign that said "the red sox are the yankees in drag."
amen.
i could barely choke down the vomit when i see manny and his hobo-ass dread locks, or david ortiz spit through the grand canyon in his mouth into his batting gloves...
youkoulis, who looks like a WWF wrestler...
and josh freaking becket... that chubby faced, fratboy with the hemp necklace. man that guy is good, but i want to punch him in the face.
they paid an arm and a leg for that world series. yes they have two good rookies, but the team isn't anything without beckett, schilling, ramirez or ortiz. those guys alone could fund two teams on their salaries.
i'm done with the sox sympathy, i've evolved into rooting for the yankees because i hate the red sox, i hate their johnny come lately fans, and the ubiquity of sympathy that abounds for their organization.
side note, think we can nab a-rod?
As some one who roots for the yankees for the same reason you now admit to rooting for the redsox. I must applaund you for finally coming to terms with the fact that you too are in the baseball whore club. Inhale deep my friend. Come to terms with ill gotten victory. If you close your eyes real tight you can forget all the money and embrace what Boston has become over the last decade. Loveable looser no more
Welcome to the club.
Mike,
Can we get a post on the Nuggets? How bout how they added Chucky Atkins? FINALLY we have someone who can hit an outside shot. I'm not sold on K-Mart yet, I would rather see Nene get more playing time, but hopefully he proves me wrong. I really think the Nuggets have a great shot at going to the western conference finals. Your thoughts?
dävid-I agree, especially on Beckett and his necklace.
Anonymous, what are you talking about? How could the reasons I had for rooting for the Red Sox (a team that could never get over the hump) be the same reasons someone roots for the Yankees (who've been over the hump so many times)? And I just said I don't root for the Red Sox now. In conclusion, are you retarded?
Blaine, I've never heard somebody so excited about Chucky Atkins. I didn't care for K-Mart when he got a ridiculous contract and I like him as a player even less now that he keeps getting hurt. Nene also got way too much money and won't live up to it. I'm hoping to catch the game tonight and may write something then, but after the Sox and Brett Favre I might need some time yet.
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