When one thinks of the Boston Red Sox, they think tradition, the plain old uniforms, Fenway and one of the greatest fan bases the world of sports has ever seen. The Red Sox have been inflicting pain on their fans more often than not, that's just the way the game works. You can't win a World Series every year, you can't win every game, you can't beat the Yankees all the time. But what do you tell a fan base that expects all of these things year in and year out? Call us crazy, but this is what we expect. We may be smart enough baseball fans to know that winning every game is impossible, but winning the World Series and beating the Yankees every game is expected and desired. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm writing today because in an era where the Sox are expected to be atop the division and the baseball world year after year, it is hard to come to the conclusion that this team is in fact changing. Change is inevitable when success is experienced so much in a decade. What we witnessed at the end of last season was the end of an era, an end that is experienced by all champions at one point in time. A newer folk rise up like the Rays and the Rangers and take center stage. The Red Sox have to change their role as a team and understand that they are no longer feared. The stitched letter 'B' on the navy blue hat is no longer feared. The talent may be there on the roster, but talent only gets you so far. We hear constantly about having a swagger about oneself. Well in baseball, an entire team needs to have a swagger. For the Sox its swagger was killed last September. We thought they were back after taking 3 out of 4 from Joe Maddon's Rays, but Texas brought them back to reality.
I look in the dugout and I don't see the same '04, '07 mentality. I don't see any confidence, I see no trust and most of all I see no team. I don't see the bunch of idiots that I saw in those championship years. I can't remember the last time the Red Sox had a manager, player incident but Bobby Valentine changed that with just one answer to a question. They never used to be this fragile. The bottom line is, the Sox are no longer what they used to be. But the best weapon that the Red Sox have is their fans. For 86 years the fans did not give in and we don't plan to now. Through all the tough economic times that this country has seen, the Sox have been able to sell out every home game since May 2003, a feat that is unmatched in sports. It is important that we, THE NATION, stand together because even though our team is no longer feared like it used to be, it is our turn to give back and rally them. In times of rebuilding, it is not impossible to hoist the World Series trophy at the end of the year, but that takes extra effort from the fan base. If the boys trot out there on a warm June evening and they see empty seats, scattered red and blue seats all around, rebuilding becomes simply rebuilding. My Sox are still my pick to win it all because they got me. No they may not know my name, no they may not know what I look like, but I'll fill a seat and I'll watch every game. A rebuilding year is a rebuilding year if you make it one. My job is to keep supplying the beer and fried chicken so my Sox can become elite again.
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