Let me tell you something real quick. I may not have been a Red Sox fan as long as you, as I was born in 1994 and have only started to watch them in the early 2000’s. I’ve never personally been to Fenway Park. Hell, I’ve never even been to New England as I live in Akron, Ohio. (So I don’t even have the chance to listen to Boston sports radio that you insist I am persuaded by.) Hell, the only reason I became a Red Sox fan is because my dad is a Yankee fan.
Even with these things, I can tell that I’m much more of a Red Sox fan than you. If you were a true Sox fan, you would know that all you are complaining about is meaningless. I’d love to have seen what you would have said or done had you had to live through No No Nannette, or Bucky Dent, or Billy Buckner. You say you struggled and supported the teams of the 1990s when we were nothing but a bunch of low cost players and terrible ownership. If you really did, you would see that this current problem that you have with the Sox is so minimal, considering all the things that we as fans of this franchise have gone through, that you shame the very morals that our fans the best fans in the game. You say how the Red Sox players used to be a bunch of dirt dogs who gave their heart and soul to the team every night. Well, I say what happened to the fans who gave their hearts and souls to this team year in and year out while getting nothing in return? The central core of this team has never been the players. It has always been the fans.
Most fans say that the 2004 championship was the best time in Red Sox history. Well, I think that it was the worst. Not because we won, but because of what it did to our fans. Since then, we as a nation have become a bunch of pompous, arrogant assholes. That championship ruined what made being a part of Red Sox nation so enjoyable in the past. We replaced our hopes and passion with unmeetable demands and selfish ambitions. We seem to demand greatness every inning of every game and when that doesn’t occur, we try and martyrize everyone and everything that we can. Have we forgotten what winning a championship meant so easily? It is not something that should be demanded year to year, but something special that we should be grateful to see occur in our lifetime. Have we become so power hungry that we become Yankee fans, unacceptable of any failure and willing to just buy players at any cost and rub in the faces of other fans that we are superior because of it? We as a fan base have lost the respect we once had in the baseball world. Not because of our success, but because of how we carry ourselves. Luke Scott is dead on with his comments about modern Red Sox fans. So is what Paps said about us not knowing anything about baseball. Our image as a franchise is ruined because of fans with your attitude toward our beloved club. You wonder where all the dirt dogs have went. Have you ever thought that most of them don’t want to have anything to do with us as we are now?
If you are really a true fan who watches the games and follows the team like you say you do, you would be able to understand our situation a bit better. Our starting pitching rotation is missing it’s should be 4 and 5 starters to injury. Josh Beckett has been pitching hurt since the start of the season until he couldn’t take it anymore his last start and needed time off. Clay Buchholz is obviously still hurt, but is playing through it. Our fans mock them for not having good numbers, but if they were to not play through it, we would deem them (like we deemed Ellsbury in ‘09) weak and not committed to the team. Our bullpen is missing its anchor in Andrew Bailey who got hurt in a freak accident by squeezing a shampoo bottle. Our back up closer Bard is trying to fill in for our injured starters (and doing a damn good job mind you) and our other guy Mark Melancon is in the minors dealing with a Rick Ankiel-esque meltdown without the complete loss of the strike zone. Bobby Jenks is dealing with a long time alcohol abuse problems which have dated back to his White Sox days and a freak back surgery accident. Our key long man Alfredo Aceves has become our defacto closer because no one else can do it. Matt Albers and Vicente Padilla have to move up three spots and are being over worked in roles they do not have the talent for. You don’t see them bitching or refusing to do their jobs. If you are looking for some dirt dogs, these are the guys. They are right in front of your eyes, yet you give them the most problems.
Next you have the lineup problems. Carl Crawford, who you say is a failure, is not to blame for his problems. The guy loves this game and devoted his entire heart to trying to get back to form after a disappointing and seemingly careless season filled with injuries and a lack of team support and team unity. The reason he is hurt now is because he pushed himself too hard in trying to atone for his failures last year. Yet we as a nation (I, sadly and also part of this at times) criticize him for this. I personally do it because I’ve counted on him and I’m mad that he is out for most of this season, but it’s unfair of me to place blame on him considering his intentions. It’s just another freak accident. We also lost Jacoby Ellsbury and Ryan Kalish to injury who after the Josh Reddick trade were set to be our opening day starting outfield. Kalish’s injury led us to sign Cody Ross and Ellsbury’s injury (along with Repko’s) led to a trade for Marlon Byrd. Crawford’s injury led to Ryan Sweeney and Run DMc’s platoon. All four of these guys should not be on this team right now, yet they are doing an outstanding job filling in under the unfortunate circumstances. Youkilis is hurt and Punto is a defense only guy, so Will Middlebrooks had to be rushed to the bigs to help fill in his spot in the lineup. Pedroia, Aviles and Ortiz have been everything we expected them to be and more. A-Gon is trying too hard and is putting too much pressure on himself to be the team's everyman.
This situation is one for the ages, as the sheer amount of star power and payroll on the DL is outstanding. Yet despite this, you EXPECT AND DEMAND that the Red Sox play like none of this even happened. And you blame Bobby V because he can’t make average talent players play like the allstars that they are being called on to replace. How the fuck can you justify that? I know injuries are no excuse for a team doing badly, but you must have no fucking room in your large head with your big ass ego to have room for any brains. This is your team. They are playing their hardest. They are hard pressed for talent and stretched beyond belief. If you actually watched the game last night, you would have known that it wasn’t Dan Bard being left in to long that the runs scored, it was the overuse of Matt Albers in the bullpen because no one else has the talent or the confidence to do those jobs. You can’t fault a guy who seemingly pitches everyday for making one mistake.
So I guess this is what I have to say. You say that you don’t care about the fans image, when we as a nation have literally become the most hated fans in baseball because of attitudes like yours. You say you have been a fan for longer than me, and while this is true, I am not only a more devoted fan but one who is of the Old RSN beliefs of not being a self-entitled prick and not giving up on this team no matter how hard it gets or how bad our team is. You say the team doesn’t care about baseball when they are not only shorthanded and injured, but when they care so much about the team to rush their recovery or play injured? You say the team does not care about winning or losing when they are beating themselves up more than any other club right now even with their circumstances. You say I should watch the games, when I’ve watched everyone from start to finish, win or lose. You say I shouldn’t be a puppet to the “experts” in the media when I follow my heart. You say I should listen to the fans who are not even fans at all, but spoiled bitches who must have their championship ring or they will throw a fix. You look too much at the negatives of this team and blindly ignore the positives and the wonders. Where is your praise for guys like Pedroia, Sweeney, Aviles or Ortiz who come up big in the face of adversity? What about guys like Marlon Byrd who is turning his career around, or Scott Atchison who pitches pretty much every single day? Or Felix Dubront who is making league minimum rip and confuse players on the Yankees making 30 times more than him? Lester pitching that game of his life against Jake Peavey? Or our prospects like Will Middlebrooks who is tearing the cover off the ball despite being rushed up due to injuries? It is these stories that should make you proud to be a Red Sox fan. Open your eyes, see the adversity we are going through, and root for the guys who refuse to give up. THIS is what it means to be a Red Sox fan. It is only through the bad times that allow us to realize how special and how meaningful the good times are. Unless this happens, we are no better than the damn Yankees and our championships lose their magic because they are fake.
Be mad or angry all you want. But if you can’t stand by your team and be a true fan like the generations before you, go be a pussy and fucking quit on this team now. I’ll be right here struggling with this team, win or lose, now and forever. And I’ll be all the more better for it.
