Still love those Sox

It’s almost May. The Red Sox are 13-7. They’re trailing the first place Toronto Blue Jays by one game. Both teams are tied in the loss column. Toronto’s magic number is 141. Boston leads the Chicago White Sox by 2 ½ games in the Wild Card. Boston’s magic number is 140. The Red Sox have won nine of their last 10.

I am so sick of the bandwagon-jumping yahoos who have decided the Red Sox are their team now. It started innocently enough in 2004 when Edgar Renteria bounced a pitch to Keith Foulke. Foulke took a few steps and flipped the ball to Doug Mientkewicz. The Red Sox won the World Series. No one had been able to say that in 86 years.

It happened again in 2007. This time it was the Colorado Rockies instead of the St. Louis Cardinals. The bandwagon was packed to start with. Now it is overflowing with pink hat-donning frontrunners who couldn’t tell Kevin Millar from Kevin Romine. People who didn’t know the Green Monster didn’t always have seats on it. People who thought centerfielder Johnny Damon was wrong to take the money from the New York Yankees but forget how the Red Sox acquired left fielder Manny Ramirez.

The Red Sox have turned into a trendy pick for people who love to follow what’s popular. It’s been this way for years. It’s not like the way it was back then. It’s not like the way it was when the Boston media picked the Red Sox to finish first in the division every year and maybe even pick them to go to the World Series while the rest of the country picked them to finish closer to the middle of the pack.

This team is different, from the front office to the 25th man. This is a franchise that is well-scouted. Prospects don’t get away (Jeff Bagwell). Money is wisely spent (Jack Clark and Matt Young) and, sorry, Nomar Garciaparra, but people want to play here.

I understand people love a winner and this is what happens when a team has two world championships in five playoff appearances in one decade but this is getting ridiculous. Now you can actually pay membership dues to Red Sox Nation? Heck, Hank Steinbrenner, son of Yankee owner George Steinbrenner was offered a membership for FREE and Hank turned it down. Can you believe it? That was actually news.

I’ve been a Red Sox fan for over 20 years. I actually remember when Roger Clemens pitched for Boston and the biggest controversy was him having to carry his own bag instead of what he was allegedly putting into his body. I had no idea who Curt Schilling was when the Red Sox traded him and I didn’t even care because we got Mike Boddicker in return. Those were the days. I could sit down in front of the television and not have to yell at Wally to get out of the way of the game.

That was then. That was when John McNamara couldn’t handle the players and 25 players needed 25 cabs. That was when Joe Morgan used his magic twice in three years to lead the Red Sox to the playoffs against the mighty Oakland A’s. Butch Hobson got ignored by Clemens during Spring Training. Kevin Kennedy had an okay pitching staff. Jimy Williams talked about frog’s booties. Joe Kerrigan gave up the ship and Grady Little… well, you know.

This is now. Tickets cost more. Going to see the Olde Towne Team has always been an event. Now you have streets being shut down to prove it. Fenway Park now sells out for baseball games and concerts.

But I guess that’s the price of winning. In order to have the good, you have to put up with a few of the bad. There will always be a few bad. You’ll always have people talking about the Yankees when they’re five games behind The Red Sox and the Red Sox aren’t even in first place. You’ll have fans wonder about the Tampa Bay Rays and how they got to where they were. (Scouting and drafting. Just like Boston). You’ll always have people railing for players because they’re playing for the Red Sox. When that happens, you can throw the numbers out.

In the meantime, I will watch my team like I have been since I was nine years old. I will enjoy the winning while it lasts and wait for my nephew to be old enough to ask, “Who said, ‘The price goes up every day?’”