Only reputation is alive
I lost faith twice last night.
First, it happened during the Red Sox game, which was so brutally deflating, I was forced to switch over to “Fringe” in the 9 o’clock hour, a viewing that now has me finally convinced the once-hopeful “X-Files” wanna-be will remain about as formulaic as your average 60 minutes with the General Lee. (Joanna Weiss’s phenomenal takedown remains the most accurate depiction of the show to date.)
We once had high hopes for both. Now, it’s clear that each is hanging on merely thanks to past glories. JJ Abrams gave us “Alias,” and he helped bring us the wonder of “Lost” (Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse really have much more to do with it). Yet the stink-fest that was “Six Degrees,” and now this Pacey-fueled mess, have done little to deny an overall anticipation for a project with his name attached.
So too these Red Sox, down 3-1 in the ALCS to the Tampa Bay Rays, who are one win away from their first trip to the World Series. And yet …
There was ’86, you say. Remember ’04. Viva ’07.
Each time, down 3-1 in the ALCS, the Red Sox were given about as much of a shot as everyone seems to be giving them right now. The Rays are younger, hungrier, faster, and, most importantly, healthier than the defending world champs. It is the Red Sox’ starting pitching that took an early field trip to the pumpkin patch, not the fairy tale story that is the Rays. Mike Lowell is done. David Ortiz can’t find the left field wall. Jason Varitek is scuffling in what very well could be his final, pathetic days in a Boston uniform.
But, look at the history, you say. “Right where we want ‘em.”
Er…
Look, we’re not about to sit here and analyze how they did it in ’04, because to do so would take a slide ruler, an astrologist, a 12-pack of your favorite domestic, or whatever other combination of unsystematic items of your choosing. It was a two-week, gloriously bewildering span of which we are never to see the likes of ever again.
Last year it was as simple as this: Josh Beckett took the hill in Game 5.
This year, the reason they won’t win is as simple as this: Josh Beckett will take the hill in Game 6.
Down 3-1 last year to the Cleveland Indians, the Red Sox turned to Beckett, Curt Schilling, and Daisuke Matsuzaka to turn the tide, and even then, many of us had doubts they could pull it off. A year later, they turn to Dice-K (coming off arguably his best game in a Red Sox uniform in Game 1), Beckett (coming off arguably his worst), and Jon Lester. Those are nice names, no? If you haven’t paid any attention for the first four games, you’re probably looking for World Series tickets right now.
But no other team in the LCS has hit worse or pitched worse than the Red Sox, batting just .232 for the series with a -- ready? -- 7.17 ERA. 7.17. Sox pitching has given up twice as many runs (30 to 14) as Tampa pitching through four games, with almost a four-run differential (Rays: 3.32) in ERA. These Rays aren’t just beating their AL East rivals. They’re manhandling them.
Last year, Beckett was unhittable. This time around, he heads into a possible Game 6 start with a 16.62 ERA, topped only by Tim Wakefield’s (described as “ancient” by TBS’s caricature version of a baseball broadcaster Chip Caray) 16.87 ERA after last night’s disaster and Manny Delcarmen’s 22.50 ERA, following one of the worst one-thirds of an inning I can ever remember any pitcher having pitched.
What was just last Friday a wildly anticipated series has morphed into one we can’t wait to see end. Tampa Bay is the better team here, a statement that can hardly be denied, particularly with the Red Sox not getting any help from Lowell, and Beckett and Lester struggling against an offense that has put up nine runs or more three straight games, an ALCS record. And let’s say this since the PR-conscious players can’t: These are unquestionably the worst playoff crowds I have ever seen in Boston baseball history.
End of argument.
It was the second inning of a scoreless game on Monday, and Lester had Carl Crawford at the plate with an 0-2 count, Evan Longoria standing on first. In the past, any crowd at Fenway would be up and at them, rousing to their feet, even in the second frame of a playoff game, rooting for the strikeout. Instead, there was silence. I strained to try and hear some noisemakers in the distance, perhaps. Maybe in the depths of the bleachers where your average fan might have been able to secure a ticket. Nothing.
Fans used to be fired up for a playoff game. Now, in 2008, Fenway is a sorry state of its former self, more than ever filled with corporate America, boldfacers, and “alternative” hats there for the Jordan’s pre-game party and Neil Diamond sing-along. That’s nothing new, of course, but the way we approach buying tickets to the game, almost forced to go through some questionable practices, limits even further the possibility of someone without deep pockets from getting into the game.
But it's even worse than all that. Aside from anything else, Fenway Park has simply become complacent, no longer hungry for the prize, but entitled.
If you weren’t already convinced of it heading into this playoff season, it’s now a thought more prevalent than ever. Fenway Park, as you knew it, is now officially dead. It pains Red Sox fans to say those words, but the ones who deny their existence are only fooling themselves into believing that the feeling and importance that being a Red Sox fan once carried with it are still alive.
The team that plays there, on the other hand, is not dead. Not yet, if only because of its prior reputation of resurgence. But it’s on the clock.
You too, JJ.
Fully realizing I may wind up eating these words, I have to say that the big comeback won't happen this year. In a nod to some of the nauseating signs with a TV network's initials worked in, here is the sign for this season:
Only
Vultures
Eating the
Remains
That is, OVER!
Frankly, I'm surprised and gratified the Red Sox got this far. With Varitek underachieving at the plate, Beckett undergoing his problems, Lowell and Ortiz battling injury, and the inconsistent offense from the rest of the squad, the only reason they made it to the ALCS was the sheer ineptitude of the rest of the league, and particularly the LAA of A. That being said, one must admire the team for not packing it in and going on to next year. I'm sure they will not concede anything to Tampa, but there just isn't enough left.
Before all of the diehards get after me, please realize I would love to see the comeback happen, but I have to be a realist. Thanks, Red Sox, for a fine season. We'll keep a close eye on the "hot stove'" league this winter and be ready to do it all over again.
The Bruins are in Montreal tonight to help the Habs celebrate their home opener - and their 100 year anniversary. Sox "fans" of today could take a lession in passion by watching...
And now that the Boston baseball season is over, why not jump to the ice?
Wilbur's right: the fans have been a disgrace. Booing Tek and Wake? Morons. Go home.
The Sox are obviously better than they have shown. (And the Rays are not this good, despite the blather of Buck and Chip.) Dice-K v. Kazmir is a mismatch. All that's needed for a 7th game is for Beckett to come up big. Why would anyone doubt he can do that?
The Red Sox have come back from being down 3-1 more than any other team---it's in their sox. They can do it.
Good column Eric. Unfortunately there isn't a lot that can be done about the crowds, savvy sports marketers appeal to the lowest common denominator, the casual fan, knowing that the diehards will come along no matter what. The Sox have done just that, piling on songs and other assorted schmaltz and it works, people love hearing the kid from Newton or Wellesley saying "play ball". Tickets are going to be expensive as long as the demand stays so high. As for the team, the Sox have a solid young core and just need to add a few pieces, a little more firepower in the lineup would go a long way in 2009.
I'm sorry, Wilbur, but your complaining about the fans (yet again) rings a bit hollow as you give up on the team yourself (yet again).
If the last four years hasn't given you faith, then just give up altogether because you're a lost cause.
What exactly has there been to cheer about the last 2 nights. Using the football analogy for visiting teams, the Rays took the crowd out of it early.
How can you cheer when the balls keep going and going over the green monster anytime that UPTON, PEÑA and LONGORIA came to bat. You're a fan but you're not stupid, you realize that your pitching is struggling against this guys!!!
Ed S. are you kidding!? Passion to be found by watching a sport that has at best #5 status nationally, behind MLS? I agree with Eric that the atmosphere at Fenway is corporate, due to the tickets being sold to corp's and love the term "boldfacers". But those of us at home, the great unwashed masses, still suffer the acute Red Sox Angina of close games, and the hangovers from the past two games. It is our duty and obligation as Sox fans to keep the faith, and hope for the opportunity to win this series.I like Dice K for the next game, and the Rays starting Kazmir may provide the opportunity we need to get back into this series. Let's hope the Sox can kick this crack in the door wide open.
Wow. Some of these people actually need to be tought how to be a fan.
A clue: it's not by sitting silently in the stands.
I agree that the fans seemed dead but what do you expect when the drama gets taken out of the game so early? I don't recall hearing these thoughts during the Angels series. Were the crowds dead for game 3 and 4 of those series?
I think the bad crowds of this region are in Foxboro. Those fans are like Rocky at the beginning of Rocky III. I can hear Mickey saying "we haven't been hungry since we switched venues"
Yeah, blame the fans...what a bunch of crap. Just more of Wilbur's "'Pink Hat'-us-old-time-real-Red Sox-fans-against-all-those-new-carpetbaggers rant." Francona said it best: When you buy a ticket, you get to voice your opinion. If the Sox, and in particular, Wake and 'Tek, played up to their potential, there wouldn't be any booing. You need to retire this rap Wilbur, it's old and tired. Get over it.
I hate using the past as a basis of what will happen. Saturday (Sunday) could have gone either way. Monday was just a bad outing by Lester, pitching on extra rest. Beckett will be fine for game 7 if the Sox make it that far.
Dice is the perfect pitcher for game 4 because he will not throw a lot of strikes (at least not up in the zone). The mistakes Beckett and Lester made (forget about Wake's knuckler), were keeping their pitches up in the zone. You can fix that.
The Red Sox "O", different story. Ortiz's past performance is what is keeping him in the lineup, with his warning track power and his inability to spray the Monster. Injury or not, he just looks stubborn at the plate. Last night he had several away pitches and he still tried to pull the ball. That is frustrating.
WE were still in it at 5-1 early. The crowd NEEDS to be a bigger factor it's that simple.
Were we making fun of the Rays fans before this series? They look like the Sox fans four yrs ago. The are loud, they stayed until 1:30 am, and they are hungry. Fenway has sounded like a cemetary. That can happen when you are watching ball after ball leave the stadium. Aybar's shot last night, and Baldelli's the night before were BOMBED. The Ray's can't keep hitting like this can they?
The fans are dead because of two things. First, the corporate slugs are not there to enjoy the game but to be seen on their cell phone or sipping wine so they wont make the noise. Second, the team has shown no emotion. It seems to be going through the motions. I agree with the previous posters that we have a decent young core but the pitching needs to show up. Fans pay their hard-earned money to see this team perform and if they fall short, they have the right to boo whoever deserves it.
Maybe, just MAYBE, JWH and Lucky Larry will FINALLY crack down on the "questionable" methods real fans have to go through to get tickets. Oops, nevermind. Bud already sanctioned scalping in the Stubhub deal. The real fan loses once again to corporate greed.
I really hate it when people complain about "fat cat fans" replacing the "real" fans in the stands.
I'm no rich man by any means, and I can barely afford to go to the 2 or 3 games a year that I do happen to attend. But the reality here is that with a payroll of $150 million or more almost every year, the Sox need to charge whatever people are willing to pay to see a game in person.
Imagine the outcry of the "real fans" if Henry, Werner, Lucchino and Co. suddenly decided to go all Haywood Sullivan and Buddy Leroux, circa 1981, on us next winter and cut the payroll by two-thirds!
Would you "real" fans be happier watching a 70-win team with a $50 million (or less) payroll for $15 per ticket than you are watching a two-time championship team that's been in the post-season 5 of the last 6 years at $80 per ticket?
I know I wouldn't be happier under the first scenario.
And besides, even if the stands ARE all filled with "corporate fat cats", does that mean these people aren't good fans at all? Isn't it possible that some, maybe even two-thirds of them, have been big baseball fans since they were kids, long before they got rich, and that they live and die with the Sox too? The last two games at Fenway have been disasters for the home team, and they were both over EARLY--show me ANY home crowd anywhere that stays pumped up after being so totally deflated early in the game.
Stop complaining people.
I'll take a $150 million payroll, perennial post-season appearances, and $50 grandstand seats over a $40 million payroll, perennial 4th place finishes, and $20 grandstand seats any day.
Type your comment here...tony is a genius. Amen bro.
It's now 5:30 pm on Sunday (Oct 19th) and waiting for game 7...HOW DID YOU LIKE GAME 5 any more comments you want to add ERIC! I'LL POST YOU BACK LATER AFTER THE GAME .
This blogger might want to review your comment before posting it.
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