How can I possibly be cranky today? Especially with our beloved hometown Rays having just banished the almighty Red Sox to a winter of what-ifs and might-have-beens. Well, there’s one reason …
I didn’t get to taste the post-game salty tears of Red Sox fan and CL Online Editor Max Linsky*, who recently wrote about his newfound embrace of the Bosox as villains. I must confess, Max — it was rather satisfying watching Youk, Tek and Big Papi get beaten by a younger, hungrier club. Kind of reminds me of 2003. Remember that year, Max? Aaron Boone. Tim Wakefield. Game Seven. Ring any bells? After that glorious night, it seemed the Yanks were destined to roll over the Florida Marlins in a World Series that was shaping up to be an anti-climax to the ALCS. But after falling behind in the series on their home turf, the Marlins decided weren’t buying into that Yankees mystique and used their pitching and speed (and the fact Alfonso Soriano never met an outside pitch he didn’t want to flail away at) to beat the Bronx Bombers three straight, including the final game in the House That Ruth Built. Was I heartbroken? Sure. But at least the Yanks didn’t show any signs of life after game four. Unlike your Bosox of this year, who had the poor form to stage a miraculous comeback at Fenway and then gut out a win at the Trop. In the end, Boston’s demise was all the sweeter because they had given Red Sox Nation hope.
*I’ll admit, Max, my hatred for the Red Sox is thoroughly irrational. Although your team is an AL East rival, Sox fans don’t seem to be any more obnoxious and arrogant than the worst Yankees fans. And I’m sure you and the rest of Red Sox Nation view the Yankees as cold-blooded mercenaries who lack the ragged, "for the love of the game" bullshit charm of that “bunch of idiots” who ended 86 years of futility in 2004. But the thing is, I know my hatred is irrational. And I'm OK with that. So fuck you guys and we'll see you next spring.
This article appears in Oct 15-21, 2008.