Respecting the Red Sox

Once again, Fenway Park was an ugly place to be last night. The ‘boo’ birds were out in full force.  In case you missed it, Josh Beckett was bashed around the park like a Piñata and for once, much maligned new manager Bobby Valentine had a quick hook, coming to get the former Ace of the Sox faster than many expected. Beckett faced a loud, angry wave of negativity as he trudged back to the dugout. Fans made all sorts of faces, gestures and finger signs your momma definitely never taught you.

It looked something like the ugly, angry crowds that ‘grace’ English soccer grounds every weekend, where the fans frequently chant in their thousands that the referee is into self-satisfaction.

Now, it is clear to even someone as optimistic and hopeful as myself that changes are required with the Red Sox. Hopefully level headed, intelligent and logical changes, but changes none the less. If this means packaging up Beckett, Youkilis or another veteran with a prospect or two and going heal-for-leather after ‘King’ Felix Hernandez (This guy dreams of seeing him in a Red Sox uniform) or another ace-type starter, or whatever, change is required.

However, the level of anger and stupidity being displayed by Red Sox fans and writers, in the park and in social media, is nothing short of ignorant. Why so, you ask. Simple, it is very insulting to the players that are literally giving their heart and soul night in and night out for the Red Sox. They do not deserve the pathetic ‘support’ Red Sox fans are showing their team right now. Booing? Are you serious? Do you want your team to lose? Are you rooting for your team to do poorly?

How about the complete Muppet, the absolute clown of a chug monkey, who chose to show up in Fenway with a bag over his head last night? There are so many problems with this. First of all, dude, go watch a different sport. Baseball is not the sport for you. Secondly, the bag-over-the-head gimmick is meant for NFL teams who are 0-14, or NBA teams who are tanking a season to get a high draft pick. It was not meant for a team that has won two World Series in the last eight years.

And no, I reject the sentiment that the guy in the paper bag was funny. He was not funny. He was insulting to Dustin Pedroia, who is playing his soul out every night for the Red Sox. Pedroia would literally do anything to make Boston a better team. He is playing at 100% and is also playing at a very high level technically. He is on top of his game. How dare you put a bag over your head and express intimated disgust at the play of Dustin Pedroia. I would like to see that Muppet with the bag on his head, oh God how ironically funny you are sir, explain himself face to face with Dustin Pedroia.

With the bag still over his head.



What idiots like him are doing is insulting to Pedroia, it is insulting to David Ortiz also, a man who has dedicated himself to being in super athletic shape and bashing the hell out of the baseball at a pace that people are starting to ask, should we give this guy a new, long term contract. Ortiz is a man on a mission, and looks to be at a skill level in 2012 that he just might put the Red Sox on his back and pull them out of this mire all on his own. I would pay a cold hard $100  cash money to see that buffoon with the bag over his head explain himself to Mr David Ortiz.

In person, with the bag over his head.

That idiot, and his idiot friends at the park last night, on Twitter, on all the moronic social media entities you want to name, were insulting to Pedroia, Ortiz and also many other honest, hardworking Red Sox players. Ryan Sweeney is having a great start to his Boston career. Why does he deserve to have abuse hurled at him? Mike Aviles and Will Middlebrooks are exciting additions to the team.

Scott Atchison has played in 14 games and has a sparkling ERA of 1.23, local boy Rich Hill is pitching well as is Matt Albers.

Why do any of those guys deserve the disgraceful disrespect being show to the Red Sox by their fans and attached sports writers? The answer is simple, they don’t.

Look, nobody is saying change isn’t required. Nobody is trying to say that Boston are having a ‘good’ season so far. The fact of the matter is the team needs a bit of a shake-up. However, this does not give Red Sox fans the excuse to act like absolute morons, night in and night out.

Bill Simmons, ‘The Sports Guy’, used to say that once one of your teams have won a title, in any sport, you cannot gripe about them in any shape or form for five years. I guess we have hit that five year threshold, it would certainly appear there were a lot of people at Fenway Park last night ready to cash in on their goodwill chips and let the negative vitriol rain down from on high.

Those who follow the Red Sox are fast getting a reputation of being some of the worst fans in professional sports. Unhappy with that label? Then, do something about it.


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