You know what really grinds my gears?
Fans who slam the Red Sox. That hate them. They hate the media coverage, they hate the “attitude” of Sox fans and players (never mind the fact they would love to have someone with Youk’s passion on the team). Fans who want to punch a Sox fan [UPDATE: LINK FIXED. WHOOPS.] or people who want the Angels to shut up that fan base.
Even in my most recent piece on The Last Page about Red Sox Nation, I got some very predictable whines about Red Sox Nation. People, we aren’t trying to say we’re better than you or that we have something special we don’t. Yes, we have a fanbase that calls itself Red Sox Nation. Guess what, other teams have fanbases with names! Raider Nation. Yankees Faithful. The Doghouse. Where’s the hate there?
Guess what?
The fans are still the same as 2004. We are still neurotic, Tums-popping, passionate and devoted fans of the game.
The team is still the same as 2004. Did you know that the Red Sox of 2004 at the time (and I doubt that the ChiSox of ’05 or Cardinals of ’06 have passed them since then) had the largest payroll of any World Series winner? (Aside: I found it hilarious that a Yankee fan was one to bring up that point to me initially… talk about the pot calling the kettle black!)
We still have a large payroll. Yeah, it’s larger. Sue us. The Mets’ payroll is also larger, the A’s payroll is also larger. Payrolls except for the Florida Marlins (who have about 3,000 fans at this point – and whaddayaknow, three of them are on MVN!) are larger. So what?
What has changed?
Oh, the media covers us more? Gee, I wonder why. When a team with 86 years of futility finally wins the World Series and then starts putting a product on the field (remember when they didn’t make the playoffs from 2000-2002?) and wins in a huge media market … yeah, they’re going to get attention.
Did the Patriots get national attention when they sucked? Did the Milwaukee Brewers? No and no. The Brewers got more attention then possibly ever before. Let’s go hate on the Bratwursts!
All during the 2004 playoffs, I got constant comments on this very site from people who were rooting for the Red Sox.
The people rooting for the Sox then that left (positive) comments on Fire Brand were primarily fans of: The Red Sox, Yankees, Cardinals, Orioles, Braves, Angels, Dodgers, Mets, Tigers, Devil Rays, Astros, Phillies, Mariners and Athletics.
Why do I think that these comments wouldn’t be left today? Only Red Sox fans would celebrate the Red Sox victory.
Look, I realize that in the eyes of others, there is no “mystique” left to the team. They got the monkey off their back. They’re just another team now. I get that.
But don’t think that just because you rooted for them in 2004 gives you the right to hate the Sox so vociferously now. The fans haven’t suddenly turned into a bunch of people you hate. The team hasn’t turned into a bunch of mega-millionaires. The fans have been the same since Day One, and the team has always been a bunch of mega-millionaires.
It was different with Kevin Millar? We have Kevin Youkilis now. It was different with Bill Mueller? We have Mike Lowell now. It was different with Trot Nixon? We have Dustin Pedroia now. It was different with Orlando Cabrera? We have Julio Lugo now. It was different with Johnny Damon? Minus Damon’s star power, Coco Crisp has a similar personality — and Jacoby Ellsbury is stealing that star power. Manny is still here. Papi is still here. ‘Tek is still here.
We’re still the same team we were in 2004.
We’re still the same fans.
Rationalize it all you want: you’re turning your back on a team you rooted for in 2004.
I’m not telling you to root for the Red Sox in 2007. From a baseball perspective, it would be far more enjoyable to see the Cleveland Indians win it or the Colorado Rockies to win it. No doubt about that (except for Red Sox fans!).
All I’m asking… is to stop the hate.
