After spending five days in the great city of Boston, watching the Celtics lose a heartbreaker to the Los Angeles Kobe Bryants, er, Lakers, I was afforded the opportunity to see the holiest of hallowed Baseball halls, the beloved, and oft beleagured Fenway Park. Everywhere I turned in the city, I saw a sea of Red Sox caps, Jerseys, T-Shirts, Shorts, Tattoos(!), jackets, strollers, beanies, etc… I admit, I became wrapped up in the idea of being a Red Sox fan, afterall, they are my adopted AL team. Winning atmosphere breeds a winning fan relationship. We as fans want our hometeam to win. Afterall, you all remember the bandwaggon jumpers during the 2005 NLCS. The entire city of Houston were Astros fans for 2 weeks. What’s the difference between them and us? The Red Sox experienced a drought spanning more years than the collective writership of Kategorie H writers have lived. They sold BABE RUTH! TO THE YANKEES! Imagine us shipping Roy Oswalt off to St. Louis for some AA player to be named later. Houston would riot.
The difference is Blind Devotion. Yes the Red Sox win. They have been a winning franchise in a very tough division for the better part of a decade. Theo Epstein is a phenominal GM and their scouting department makes very shrewd moves in the drafting department, having selected no lower than 8th position since 2003. Jacoby Ellsbury, Jonathan Papelbon, Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis… the list goes on. Bostonians LOVE their Red Sox. But what gives the Red Sox an advantage over the Astros (because let’s face it, the only thing these two teams have in common is the S in their names) is their fanbase. So here’s what I took away from being a Red Sox fan for a day.
Fenway Franks are the greatest Hot Dogs I have ever eaten at a ballpark. Fenway smells old and you can’t traverse the park in its entirety. Beer is expensive everywhere you go. The benefits of a closed roof stadium were not lost on my wife and I, who spent 2 hours in the rain. Respect to the Cask and Flagon for having decently priced beer. Booing a guy who helped you win a World Series (first in 80+ years) is definitely en vogue. American League games are WAY slower than National League games.
I have to admit. Wearing my 2007 World Series Jonathan Papelbon jersey (gift from my wife) and recently purchased Red Sox hat ($22) made me feel awfully adulterous. I couldn’t really enjoy the game because I knew my 59/50 Astros Hat and Home Brick Red Lance Berkman jersey were in my closet, secretly plotting my demise. I watched the game, making statements to my wife (who is almost as avid of a baseball fan as myself, I am a lucky dude) like “Pedroia stole 2 bases on that error. No way Carlos, or anyone other than Bourn could have ran that out. See how Youkilis is pulling his hands in to shoot the ball to right? Ethier is coming off an injury, he’s playing the percentages”. Where in Brad Mills, or for that matter, Ed Wade’s books is a statement even relatively close to those?
The Red Sox seemed to feed off of the crowd. When Fenway got loud, hits were produced. Clay Bucholtz got out of nasty, Brett Myers 1st inning sized jams. The crowd seemed to be the 10th man on the field. Where is that at Minute Made? Where is our blind devotion? Where is our, we may be out of it, but these guys represent our team and city EVERYDAY? The Astros are playing like they would rather be somewhere else. I can’t say I really blame them. Ask Roy Oswalt. The whole point of being a “fan” is to support, love, hate, cry and embrace with your team. We are experiencing a ship jumping phenomenon of a higher order this year. Yes the front office has shown ineptitude in signings. Drayton McClane is a notorious Name Collector. But we are making strides. Castro The Astro has FINALLY made his debut. Remember the last #1 pick’s debut that caused such a stir? The guy is the GM of the Rangers. Yeah, That Guy. Roy O is finally looking like he’s gonna get the trade he deserves.
The roundabout point I am trying to make is this: Yes the Astros are making mistakes. So did the Red Sox. Yes the Astros are awful. So were the Sox. We are destined to fail this year. Imagine doing it with guys like Yazstremski or Ted Williams! Give the Astros a break. Give them some love. Support them in the hardest of times. Show your mettle as a fan. Be the 10th man on the field. Eat the Minute Made dogs and drink the $9 beer. Don’t be a bandwaggoner. Love your team as much as you can, because let’s face it, in these dire times, is when they need you the most. Look what it did for the Red Sox.
Article By Phil
Follow him on Twitter @AllPhilla
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