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It's that time of year again. That time of year being baseball season. I have dedicated a ridiculous amount of my life to being a sports fan, most importantly, a Red Sox fan. I lived through many of our disappointing seasons (granted, I didn't live through 86 years of them), but I still loved my boys and cheered them on. Part of the reason I started this blog was because of the anger that surged through me at the end of the Sox season last year. I've tried to avoid discussing it because I have been so riled up about it - but, I think it's time.
Last September was the first time I can say I was ever disappointed in the team. For those of you that need a sad reminder of last September, here's the breakdown from Sports Illustrated (the caption for the above picture):
The Red Sox led not just the wild card, not just the division but the entire American League going into September. Boston went 7-20 the rest of the way, seeing the hated Yankees pass them for the East lead and, on the final day of the season, the Rays complete their comeback from nine games down to snatch the wild card. On the final night, the Red Sox lost on an Orioles walk-off in the ninth inning, and the Rays, down 7-0 in the eighth, walked off on an Evan Longoria home run in the 12th to beat the Yankees. The two games finished within minutes of each other. The Red Sox's September collapse, squandering a nine-game lead, is the greatest in MLB history. Only one team, the Twins (6-20), was worse over the final month.
Now obviously, no one but those within the organization really know what happened between Francona and the rest of management, or what was going on in the clubhouse. But clearly, as conveyed by the way September played out, the players did not play the game they're paid a ridiculous amount of money to play.
I am disgusted at the performance of our players last season, with the exception of Ellsbury, Pedroia, and maybe even Lester. I don't have their stats to prove that they kept playing the game...but the rest of the guys? Not so much.
I don't care if you're not scheduled to pitch on a particular night. You're a pitcher. You should be ready to pitch in case you're needed. You should NOT be showing up to games with alcohol on your breath because you have a night off. That's ridiculous. If I had a meeting for work, but I wasn't technically suppose to be at work, and I showed up intoxicated - I'd be looking for a new job.
The entire off season, I was past the point of anger that I was in this whole new level of thinking I could just pretend baseball doesn't exist this season. I will only ever be a Red Sox fan, but they let me down so much last season, that I want an apology (not a personal one, obviously). Those players that were drinking and eating their fried chicken and letting their game go to crap? Their loyal fans deserve an apology for standing by them when they didn't give a damn about us. Bringing it back to a real world level - if you're in a marriage where your spouse doesn't care about how dedicated you are to the marriage, he/she is just going to sit around all day and drink beer and fried chicken...are you going to want to stick around unless they apologize and change? No, I doubt it. At least, I hope you have more respect for yourself than to stick around.
I was pissed when Francona was fired. Granted, he had a job of keeping control of his players and he lost control. But, his players are also grown men. He wasn't paid to be a babysitter. He was paid to be a coach. And a damn fine one, at that. I wonder if John Henry remembered the 86 years of heartbreak before the 2004 and 2007 World Series when he decided to hand Francona his pink slip.
But as much as I want to avoid the game of baseball until Sox fans get the apology they deserve, I have to admit, I think I'm liking this Bobby Valentine. He's laying down the law and he's addressing last seasons issues and he's giving me hope that things will be better. Do I think he should be the one promising things will be better? No. He had nothing to do with the worst collapse in Red Sox history. But, he's giving me something to look forward to.
With the announcement a few weeks back that Wakefield is retiring and now Varitek, I'm longing for the old school team with Nomar, Pedro, Tek, Wake, hell, even Manny and Johnny. They were a team you could cheer for. No matter how ridiculous Manny was/is - he was part of a team I was proud of. I know I'm not going to be able to stay away from the Sox this season like my big mouth declared last fall, but goddamn, I want to be proud of these boys....and right now, I'm still disgusted.
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