The Red Sox & Their Fans' Misguided Confidence

As promised, a blog entry. Wow, 2 days in a row. The kid is on fire.

I listen to a lot of baseball talk on XM radio. I probably listen to it for 10-11 hours per day. A lot of the talk has been about the Red Sox and what their fans perceive to be the greatest team ever assembled. I think it's funny how overly-confident they are about what I consider to be marginal upgrades. Ya know? They remind me a lot of some Yankee fans. I think we can all say over the last several years we've thought going into the season the Yankees were the best team ever, only to have them miss the playoffs or lose in the ALDS. Building a team that's great on paper often doesn't translate into glory. You think Sox fans would have noticed that by now.

Now don't get me wrong. The Sox improved their team by trading for Adrian Gonzalez and by signing Carl Crawford. But they didn't improve by leaps and bounds. They did lose both Adrian Beltre and Victor Martinez. Here's a quick comparison:

• Beltre/V-Mart = 338 for 1082 (.312), 81 2B, 3 3B, 48 HR, 181 RBI
• Crawford/Gonzalez = 360 for 1191 (.302), 63 2B, 13 3B, 50 HR, 191 RBI

Pretty close, eh? And yes I know, different parks, blah blah blah. Either way, you're not going to see the monumental gains you're expecting. Here's another point to consider: V-Mart was a catcher and his production is a lot harder to replace than that of a LF. Another point: Crawford isn't going to have the Red Sox to run all over either so expect fewer SBs. Again, marginal upgrades in my opinion.

The Red Sox really need those guys to over-perform. They also need Youkilis and Pedroia to bounce back from their injuries. Why, you ask? They need as much offense as they can get to make up for what I consider to be an average/below average starting rotation. On names alone their rotation is pretty good. But let's face it, after Lester and Buchholz, it's pretty bad.

• Josh Beckett = 6-6 w/5.78 ERA, 1.54 WHIP & 20 HR allowed in 127.2 IP
• John Lackey = 14-11 w/4.40 ERA, 1.42 WHIP
• Daisuke Matsuzaka = 9-6 w/4.69 ERA, 1.37 WHIP
• Tim Wakefield = 4-10 w/5.34 ERA, 1.35 WHIP

Ok, maybe pretty bad is an overstatement. But they're not good. I've heard many a Red Sox fan exclaim, "They'll bounce back. That was an off year." Blah blah blah. If that argument has any merit to it, then I can make the case that A.J. Burnett will also. While I'm at it, Jeter, A-Rod, and Teixeira will all perform to the numbers on the back of their baseball cards. No way those 3 all hit .270ish again, right? That argument is weak. Either way you want to slice it, the Red Sox rotation is not as good as the Yankees. Assuming of course Andy Pettitte comes back (which he will). If he doesn't, then I'll concede that point based on the 3 for-sure Yankee starters (Sabathia, Hughes & Burnett).

Do the Red Sox remind you of anyone? Maybe the Yankees from 2001-2009? Think about it. Their lineup is stacked with all-stars. Their rotation, while good on paper and high on name recognition, is for the most part, average to below average. The goal is to score a lot of runs because the pitchers are going to give up a lot. Sound familiar Sox fans? Your team is basically following the Yankees formula. Not surprising. the Sox and their fans suffer from a massive inferiority/jealousy complex. Can someone remind me how that formula for success worked out for the Yankees? Oh yeah. No rings and a bunch of first round eliminations from the playoffs. Good luck with that.

Having said all of that, I don't see why people are touting the Red Sox as heavy favorites. Based on the current rosters (Yankees without Pettitte), I'd give the Sox the edge. But not nearly to the extent that the run-of-the-mill Red Sox fan thinks. I'm failing to see where all of the confidence and chest pumping is coming from. I really am. Allow me to further explain.

If Pettitte comes back, the Yankees have pretty much the same rotation as they did last season. That rotation led them to 95 wins and the wild card. The Sox rotation, which is the same as last season, got them to 89 wins. The additions of Crawford and Gonzalez only marginally make up for the loss of Martinez and Beltre. I don't think you can assume that a healthier Sox team could have made up for the 6 game difference. There's no way of knowing what would have happened. Injuries are part of the game. Every team has their share of them, some more so then others, and the good teams rise above them. That's baseball.

So someone explain it to me because I don't get it. Why are Sox fans overly confident about their team? Maybe their a little better on paper than the Yankees right now, but only by a small margin. I don't see how anybody can call them heavy favorites. Sox fans should have also learned by now that the best teams on paper (see the 2001-2009 Yankees) don't often win. I don't understand how their confidence level is so high and I look forward to saying "I told you so" come October.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Getting Your Heart Broken In 41 Seconds

Earlier today I had a conversation with my soon-to-be 3 year old soon that resulted in my writing this tweet: My heart is breaking. My soon 2 b 3 year old is telling me he doesn't like the #Yankees. Says he likes the Red Sox. It's my worst nightmare.

Here's a brief 41 second conversation he and I had about it.

He doesn't know anything about baseball so I'm sure he'll wise up over time and realize the error of his ways. Regardless, it still stings to hear him say it. I've been trying to bribe him all day into denouncing his new found fandom but it hasn't worked yet.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Memo To Red Sox Fans:Shut Up Already

I've been listening to sports talk radio all morning and I have a message for you whiny Red Sox fans that keep calling in: Shut up about the bad calls by the umpires!!

Any baseball fan worth their weight in salt knows that bad calls are a part of the game. What goes against you one day is going to go in your favor the next. These things balance out. Every team, from the best to the worst, has calls go their way when they shouldn't. Hello Sox fans! How many times did Brian Fuentes strike out Nick Green for what should have been the final out of an Angels victory against you guys? Not once but twice. Oh wait, actually, it wasn't any because the umps blew 2 calls and the Sox came back to win the game. I guess the universe is now back in balance.

It definitely sucks that it happened in the playoffs. That's not when you want these calls to go against you, or when you expect them to. If anyone thinks those blown calls are the reason that the Red Sox lost, they're highly delusional and need help. It sounds like there are a lot of you out there from listening to some of these calls. The reason the Sox lost is because John Lackey dominated your lineup, allowing 4 hits and a walk. The reason the Sox lost is because Torii Hunter took Lester deep. The umpires aren't the reason you guys lost. Quit your moaning.

And another thing silly Sox fans. Some of you are making the argument that had these calls been made correctly than maybe the game goes differently. So we're resorting to the "what if" game now? I love living in fantasy land. Try this on for size: If nick Green gets punched out as he should have, maybe your season goes differently and you guys don't make the playoffs. Hey, it could happen. There's no way of knowing. These weak arguments you guys are bringing to justify your team's loss are beyond ridiculous.

And if case you're wondering, you can sure bet if this happened to the Yankees I'd be pissed about it, but it is what it is. And what it is, is the game of baseball. What bounces your way one day, bounces the other way the next. That's the way it goes. That's baseball. The good teams rise to overcome it.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

The Case Of A D-Bag Red Sox Fan

An anonymous reader, possibly my friend Don, left a comment earlier about a travesty that happened in my old stomping grounds, Syracuse, NY. A 4th grader in Baldwinsville, NY was told by his teacher, a Red Sox fan, to turn his Yankee shirt inside-out. Are you kidding me? Unreal.

I can't believe anybody in a position of authority, let alone someone in charge of a 9 year old, would ever tell someone that they can't wear a shirt of a sports team. Talk about being anti-American. Way to step on a 9-year old's first ammendment rights. I get that people dislike the Yankees. I get that some Red Sox fans, like some Yankee fans, are absolute morons. But come on now. This is the lowest of the low. Bullying a 9-year old because he's wearing a Yankee shirt. I hope you feel good about yourself Peter Addabbo. You are a grade-A douchebag.

The poor kid, Nathan Johns, was made fun of by some older kids for wearing his shirt inside out. The article quotes Nathan as saying, “It was such a horrible day. I don’t ever want anything like to happen again.” Man, what a douche.

The article also quotes Nate saying, “Just because my teacher doesn’t like the Yankees I should still have the right to wear a Yankees shirt." You're darn right you do. Nate also said that the teacher has Boston Red Sox paraphernalia all over the classroom on display. What a douche.

If you couldn't tell, I think that the teacher is a huge douche. I hope he feels good about himself. And congrats Sox fans, he's one of yours. Picking on a 9-year old for wearing a CC Sabathia t-shirt. Big man you are there Peter Addabbo. I hope you get what's coming to you.

There is some good news in all of this. The Yankees caught wind of the story and sent little Nate a gift package. Now that's class. Nicely done Yanks.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

(Most) Red Sox Fans Can Eat A Fat One

This is a day that many of us Yankee fans have been hoping for and knew was coming for a long time. I am taking great pleasure in this. I am loving every second of it. As the title of this post says, Red Sox fans can eat a fat one.

Red Sox fans crack me up. I love how they're dismissing the NY Times report about Manny and Ortiz being named on the list of positive tests from 2003. I've seen comments online like, "this isn't proof of anything," and "I'd like more more proof than some lawyers saying this," and "this is nothing more than hearsay," and my personal favorite, "using in 2003 doesn't mean they used in 2004." Blah blah blah blah blah. Your boys got busted, plain and simple.

I didn't hear any of you making statements like this when A-Rod's name was first leaked. You jumped all over us. Now that the shoe is on the other foot, you're singing a different tune. That's pretty weak. Unlike A-Rod, I'll bet that Ortiz doesn't step forward and admit to anything. He'll probably blame it on tainted GNC products or something. Sadly, you'll probably all believe him. He'll never admit it though. I'll give props to Alex for stepping up and "admitting" to it, even if it wasn't the whole story and may have included a few lies. At least he came out and gave the public something. All we'll probably get from Ortiz is "no comment."

This isn't a big shock to those of us outside of RSN. I can't believe that many of you were dumb enough to think the Sox clubhouse was clean. Right now, I am laughing in your faces. I've heard of wearing rose-colored glasses, but you guys took it to a whole new level. Your team is no different than ours. Except for the fact that the face of our franchise wasn't busted. Ouch. Red Sox Nation has been shaken to its very core. It's as if an atomic bomb was dropped in the middle of Fenway Park.

Sox fans deserve to have this thrown back in their faces. They deserve every second of it for all of the sanctimonious BS they've thrown our way since Giambi first admitted his use. It's worth mentioning that this doesn't apply to ALL Red Sox fans. I hate to lump the good ones in the bad ones as there are some good ones out there but they are few and far between. Some of them actually get it. The Yankee fanbase is the same way. Just own up to the fact that your team is no different than the Yankees when it comes to juicing. Both teams were using. Deal with it.

Here's how it's going to go. Red Sox fans can no longer act all sanctimonious when it comes to their team and steroids. Red Sox fans can no longer say anything about Jason Giambi robbing them of the making it to the 2003 World Series. Red Sox fans can no longer say anything about A-Rod. Red Sox fans can no longer point to the Mitchell Report as evidence of their clean clubhouse. That report is turning out to be a heaping pile of you-know-what. Red Sox fans can no longer chant "You used steroids" or any other steroid-themed chant at anyone. Sox fans can no longer say the Yankees championships of the late 90s were won on steroids without saying that about their 2004 and 2007 titles. No more calling A-Rod "A-Roid." No more calling Roger Clemens "Roidger." No more steroid-related nicknames. You guys got it? Commit this to memory because you guys no longer have the right to do any of it. Ever.

Despite taking great pleasure in this, it would be nice if we could find a way to put this whole steroid mess behind us. When these big names get leaked it just makes baseball's black eye bigger. So please release the list of who tested positive and get it over with already. Maybe once it comes out we can move on. Let's just get it over and done with.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Red Sox Fans Hate A-Rod More Than The Rest Of Us

Before I head off to work, I usually hit up my favorite sites to see what's going on in the wonderful world of MLB. I came across a poll over at ESPN.com asking people whether or not they felt A-Rod was credible yesterday at his press conference. Right now, after 66,360 votes, the nos have it by a margin of 52% to 48%. You can break the results down by state and when I looked at those results, I wasn't too surprised. In short, what it says, is that Red Sox fans hate A-Rod more than the rest of us.

At a quick glance, most of the states have a small difference of opinion by about 4% or so, with some scattered exceptions. When you look at the New England states, aka Red Sox Nation, the difference of opinion is much greater.

• Maine = 69% no
• Massachusetts = 69% no
• New Hampshire = 66% no
• Vermont = 57% no

It looks like there are 29 states that are on the "no" side. The only other states above 57% no is Washington (65%), Alaska (65%), and California (58%). Even New York state seems a little less biased. NY believes he was credible with 57% of the voters saying "yes."

I'm not surprised at these results. Most (not all) Red Sox fans always seem to be a little off when it comes to how the rest of the baseball world views things. A lot of Red Sox fans lost their credibility with me back in 2006 when ESPN did a poll asking who was the AL MVP. For those that don't remember, Justin Morneau won over Jeter, with David Ortiz finishing a distant 3rd, with no 1st place votes. In that poll, there were 4 states that thought David Ortiz was the MVP. Those 4 states are the same 4 states mentioned above, aka Red Sox Nation. Jeter was the top vote getter in every other state, except for four: Minnesota, the Dakotas, and Iowa. Those four thought Morneau was the winner, which goes to show the regional bias there as those states all are in Twins country. But I get that. Morneau did after all win the award. But what I don't get, and I still scratch my head about to this day, is how Red Sox fans put their guy above two far better candidates? Oh Red Sox fans. You're an odd bunch, obviously living in your own little world. Again, not all of you are like that, but a good number of you are.

As for how I voted in the poll, I voted twice. Once yes, and once no. Had there been a 3rd choice, something along the lines of "sort of," I would have chose that. I think he tried to be truthful but still left a lot of questions unanswered. I believed some of what he said, but didn't believe him on some things. Hence, my 2 votes. Perhaps more will come out in the future as I'm sure the media still has a lot of questions and I'm sure they're doing all they can to hunt down A-Rod's "cousin." As much as Alex and the Yankees want this to go away, we're not done with this story yet.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Hey Now. You're An All-Star. But You Shouldn't Be.

Not sure how many of you have ever checked out Yardbarker.com, but it's a great site that highlights a lot of great sports blogs on the web, and it has a lot of original content that's not focused on any blog. There's a link to an article over there today, posted by a Sox fan from his blog SoxAddict, that lists the AL all-star team. There are 2 comments on the post that basically whine over Jeter being named to the team, stating that:

"It’s a crying shame that not only is Derek Jeter on the All-Star team with his lackluster season, he’s the starting shortstop, too." And "Ichiro and Derek Jeter are the biggest jokes on the starting roster. Maybe if the ASG was a stolen base contest then Ichiro might deserve it. As for Derek Jeter.. his numbers aren’t that much different than Ichiro’s."

Now, I take a little exception to the comments about Jeter, not because I'm a Yankee fan, but because I'm a baseball fan, and a logical person. It's not a crying shame or a big joke that Jeter's on the team. You can make a case that he's one of the 2 best shortstops in the AL. The fact of the matter is that no AL SS is having what I would call a great season. Jeter is 2nd ranked (behind Michael Young) in batting avg, 3rd ranked in OBP (behind Julio Lugo and Marco Scutaro) and 3rd in SLG (behind Jhonny Peralta and Michael Young), 3rd in OPS (behind Young and Peralta), and 4th in fielding percentage (behind Orlando Cabrera, Young, and Peralta). I wouldn't have cast my vote for him to be the starter, but I wouldn't call it a big joke or a crying shame that Jeter's on the team. My vote would have gone to Michael Young, for lack of a better candidate.

Now, if you want to get into big jokes and crying shames, let's look at the selections of Dustin Pedroia and Manny Ramirez. Pedroia is having a great season. You can't argue that. You can strongly argue that he's not having the best season. You can also argue that he's not one of the top 2 second baseman in the AL. Perdroia ranks 5th in fielding %, 4th in average, 5th in OBP, 3rd in SLG, and 3rd in OPS. Ian Kinsler ranks 1st in all of those categories except fielding %. Kinsler is far and away having a much better season that Pedroia. He pretty much beats Pedroia in every offensive category there is. I'd say Pedroia starting is a much bigger joke than Jeter starting.

Manny getting voted in is by far a bigger joke than anyone. Manny ranks 17th in average, 7th in OBP, 9th in SLG, 7th in OPS, 6th in RBI. I could go on but you get the picture. There are a lot more deserving people ahead of Manny, namely Johnny Damon, Carlos Quentin, Jermaine Dye, JD Drew, Grady Sizemore, even Hideki Matsui.

The biggest joke of all was at least averted. For a while, it looked like Jason Varitek was going to get voted in. How can anyone in their right mind cast a vote for that guy? He doesn't even rank in the top 10 in most offensive categories. JV is hitting .219 with an OPS of .661. That would have been a crying shame had he been voted in.

Fan voting should be abolished anyway, or used as part of the selection process. The time is going to come where a guy like Varitek gets voted to the team when he has no right to be, and then it trivializes being named an All-Star. Thankfully, they got it right this time.

J-Boogie

Chien-Ming Wang Is My Hero

I am at a loss right now. A Yankees/Red Sox game ended in under 3 hours. I'm not really sure what to do with myself right now. I'm used to these 4 and half hour dragged out battles. I guess when you have a pitcher that throws a complete game 2-hitter on only 93 pitches you're going to have a short game.

I wanted to title this post "I Love Wang" but I've used twice in the past and I'm always afraid I'll get a bunch of new visitors to the site who were expecting something a little different. But it'd be a fitting title because right now Chien-Ming is my hero. He flat out dominated the Red Sox tonight. So much for those career numbers I posted earlier. It should have been a no-hitter. Abreu should have caught Drew's home run. No doubt. The odd thing with Wang's performance is that he got so may fly ball outs. Not your typical Wang outing. But he got the job done. He's increasingly mixing in pitches and isn't just relying on his sinker. It only makes him more effective. Anyone that doubts his legitimacy as a top-tier pitcher needs to do a double-take. I'm glad Girardi let him finish what he started. I would have even let him face Ortiz if Pedroia reached base in the 9th. You don't see complete game's often. The Wanger was phenomenal. Wang's the ace and he's my hero.

I'm still not overly impressed with the Yankee offense. They're hitting the ball hard but they're not getting timely hits. This game could have been a blow out. The Yankees racked up 10 hits and 4 walks and only managed 4 runs? It was enough tonight but it's not always going to be. It's a good thing the pitching has been so effective. I liked the small ball approach. Two sac bunts lead to 2 runs and those runs were pretty big. A 2-1 game is managed much differently than a 4-1 game. I like the approach. As I wrote earlier the Yankees always struggle with pitchers they've never faced. Tonight was no different. They didn't really do much off of Buchholz. It wasn't until Mike Timlin, a pitcher they're very familiar with, entered the game that the Yankees put real runs on the board. Not a good first outing there Mike.

Cano flat out stinks right now. If you're not going to hit the ball at least move the runner around. He put such a weak hack on Aardsma's pitch in the 9th, failing to score the runner. He's lucky Abreu picked him up. Even though Giambi went yard he's still pretty pathetic at the plate. He and Cano had such hot springs. What happened? I have faith in Cano to turn it around soon. He's been tagging the ball lately. Giambi? I don't have as much confidence in him. He needs to earn that back.

Jose Molina is rapidly becoming one of my favorite Yankees. Besides racking up his league leading 6th double (say what?), he called a great game. He deserves a lot of the credit for Wang's performance also. Molina is such an asset to the Yankees. He is far and away the best backup catcher the Yankees have had in a long, long time. Speaking of backup catchers, am I the only one who noticed that John Flaherty doused his head with a little Just For Men? He also looked like he was sporting a little too much make-up.

All game long I was hoping that someone would beat the crap out of the guy sitting behind home plate who kept waving a license plate. What a d-bag. I can't stand people that talk on the cell phones and wave to people at home. They should receive a beatdown on the spot.

I was left an anonymous comment from a Sox fan in an earlier post about being "optimistic" with my prediction that the Yankees would win 1 game this series. It was laughable to think that the Red Sox would sweep the Yankees. The Yankees won a game I wasn't expecting them to win. I'm feeling pretty confident now that the Yankees might actually take 2 out of 3.

With the win the Yankees move to 6-5. It's hard to believe they've won 6 games considering how pathetic the offense has been. They're winning the close ones and that's something they didn't do last year. The pitching so far has been rather impressive. Pettitte and Wang had great outings.

Moose, it's your turn.

J-Boogie

Oh Sox Fans. You So Silly.

After logging out of my Hotmail account I was redirected to the MSN.com homepage. A title of an article caught my eye: Yankee Stadium Curse? Sox Shirt May Do It. In short, a Red Sox fan who was doing some construction on the new Yankee Stadium buried a Red Sox t-shirt under what will soon be the visiting team's clubhouse in an attempt to put a curse on the Yankees. Funny, yes. A curse on the Yankees? Mmm, don't think so. I'm inclined to think that this act is the kind of thing that would work against the Red Sox. This can be spun either way and it's obvious that beliefs will be drawn staright down what side of the fence you sit on.

Yankees spokesperson Howard Rubernstein summed things up rather nicely: "It sounds like a tall tale, and it would take more than a Red Sox T-shirt to put a curse on the Yankees." Well put.

Time will of course tell. Don't forget to scorll down to see my breakdown on the upccoming series pitching matchups.

Peace, love and Pinstripes.

J-Boogie

The New Breed Of Red Sox Fan

I made up a trip to the mall this morning in a quest to find one of the new Yankees hooded sweatshirts. It's the one you see the players wearing during warm-ups. Yeah, I'm that guy. I have to rock what the players rock. One of the stores that I checked in was a local sports collectibles store that sells some team apparel. As I walk through the store's opening, the first thing I see is John Q. Red Sox Fan wearing a green Sox t-shirt and a matching Sox hat, staring back at me wearing my Yankees hooded sweatshirt. Incidentally, it was the hoodie that the guys wore last year. We lock eyes for about a second, exchange a quick head nod, and I divert my eyes to a scan of the store looking for the Yankees gear.

So as I'm perusing the racks, I can overhear John Q. Sox Fan talking to one of the guys that runs the place. He's talking about how he was at the game yesterday in Toronto and he can't wait to watch today's Sox/Jays game on TBS. The store clerk didn't know that they showed baseball on TBS and the Sox fan said it was a new thing and they would show about 30 games this year. Anyway, John Q. Sox Fan than says that he's excited to watch Halladay vs. Burkett. Yes, that's right, Burkett. What what what? Burkett? Really? I was very tempted to interject myself into their conversation and ask if meant Beckett, but I decided just to shake my head, chuckle, and chalk it up to him being part of the new breed of Red Sox fan. You know the type. The bandwagon fan that's recently jump aboard, has been a fan for all of about 2 years, and can't name more than 5 guys on the team. Every team has them. The Yankees have more than their share. And it's always annoying when you run into them. It wouldn't be so bad if they didn't try to play themselves as more than the average fan. But seriously. I would think even the most casual Red Sox fan would know that their team's best pitcher is named Josh Beckett. Inexcusable, but what can you do but shake your head and laugh?

And just to make sure, when I got home I checked the web and no, John Burkett is not making a comeback. And if you were curious, I didn't find the sweatshirt.

Enjoy today's game. Peace, love and Pisntripes.

J-Boogie

The Beantown Bandwagon Rolls On

So it's down to this. The Rox vs. The Sox in the battle for baseball supremacy. Being a Yankee fan, I'm hardwired to cheer against the Red Sox, so I'll pull for the Rockies, but to be completely honest, I could really give a flying (expletive deleted) if the Red Sox win. In my world, this is how I break it down. There are the Yankees, and then there is "not the Yankees." And if it's "not the Yankees," I don't really care who it is. The Yankees didn't win, and that's what matters to me.
Since the Sox are back in the Series, they will no doubt get another billion or so applications for membership in the Red Sox Nation. Red Sox Nation arguably has the most bandwagon fans in all of professional sports. Their membership has exploded since they won it all in 2004. It's evident everywhere you go. If you've ever attended or watched a Sox road game, you know that the home team's fans are in the minority. A few years ago, I went to a Buffalo Bisons/Columbus Clippers game. At the time, the Clippers were the triple A affiliate of the Yankees. The amount of people there sporting Sox gear was amazing. Yankees fans were in the minority. It was amazing. What I'm wondering, and I'll ask this of any long term members of the RSN, is it bothersome to have so many new members of your clan? You guys lived through 86 years of terrible lows, and now all of these people are coming out of the woodwork to ride on the current wave of success? Does it bother you that it's "cool" or "trendy" to root on the Sox? Does it bother you that most of the fan base, along with Kevin Millar, thinks that Ellsbury's first name is Jacob? Here is a recap of a recent exchange I had with a Sox fan in my neighborhood Best Buy, a few days after the Indians ousted the Yankees from the playoffs.
I was perusing the DVD section. I think I had a copy of Season 3 of "The Office" in my hands. I was wearing a Yankee cap. All of the sudden I hear, "Yankees s*ck." I turn and there standing is John Q. Soxfan, wearing a Sox hat. If I had to guess, I'd say he was 17-20. Now I'm not 100% on the age. If I were, I'd work at the State Fair guessing ages and weight.
Me: I'm sorry. What?
Soxfan: Yankees ***********.
Me: Umm, OK. Thanks! You a Sox fan?
Soxfan: He11 yeah.
Me: Who's your backup second baseman?
Soxfan: Pedroia baby.
Me: No, I said back-up, not starter.
Soxfan: "puzzled look"
Me: You don't know, do you? It's Alex Cora. Who's in your bullpen?
Soxfan: PAPELBONNNN!
Me: Anybody else?
Soxfan: Some Japanese guy.
And that's when I walked away. True story. And there you have it. A once proud fan base now is full of tools and dooshbags, more so than normal. I'm just curious if that bothers the die-hards. Does it bother you to show up at a game and to have people see a redheaded dude in RF and wonder who the heck he is? The landscape of the RSN has changed drastically since 2004. You guys are turning into, well, Yankees fans. The very people you guys despise. But I guess that's to be expected when you win. Everyone hops on the bandwagon. As I mentioned earlier, it's trendy to root for the Red Sox. Not because you identify with the team or the city, but because it's the cool thing to do.
You guys aren't too far off from being exactly like the Yankees. The two franchises are almost identical at this point. We both attempt to "buy" championships-- don't tell me that bringing in Matsuzaka, Okajima, Lugo and Drew isn't an attempt to solving your problems with cash. We both have huge, passionate fan bases with more than their fair share of tools and dooshbags. We both have players that like to slap at balls in the glove of the guy at first base during the playoffs. We have a lot in common. We don't have many differences any more. Is that bothersome? Do you like the new face of the Red Sox Nation?
Just curious?
J-Boogie