It’s mid-June, and the Red Sox have seized the division lead with a recent 12-2 tear, lighting up the A.L. East opponents with offense (an embarrassment of the mediocre Blue Jays), pitching (gems by Beckett at Tampa and New York) and a bit of both (the Yankees sweep). Once the Oakland sweep got underway, it seemed like the Red Sox had finally awakened from an early season hibernation and turned into the behemoth everyone expected. But really, who recognizes the team that agonizingly lost to the Yankees in 2003? Ortiz and Varitek are still there (with Varitek, ever the grizzled but astoundingly overrated face of the Red Sox franchise, finally relegated to occasionally coming off the bench), but the “idiots” of 2004 (Damon, Ramirez, and, to a lesser extent, Millar) have been replaced by a lineup that resembles a classic Yankee-esque big money lineup. Cue the ominous bell tolls.
And to be fair, this isn’t the first time the Red Sox have bought success. Even the 2004 championship came at a hefty price – do you really see the 86 year drought ending without the $160 million venture on Manny? But since then, under Prince Theo, the Red Sox have morphed into a Yankees lookalike, with the middle of their lineup (Gonzalez, Ortiz, Crawford; hell, even throw in Salty) coming from free agency. Is this what we wanted? Sure, during those agonizing years before the 04 championship, it seemed like what any Red Sox fan wanted was to be able to win rings, whatever the cost. But now it seems like what would’ve happened if, after Jedi, Luke had suddenly seized control of the universe and went, hmmm, you know all those things that my dad did that were so awful? Maybe I’ll give them another shot…
The rallying cry for Red Sox fans against the Yankees for millions of years was that they bought their championships, that their money was the only reason that the team was blowing the Red Sox out of the water, that Red Sox fans, having endured heartbreak, were true baseball fans and not fair-weather ones. But now, suddenly young Skywalker is shooting lightning out of his hands and giggling like Palpatine on crack. And sure, maybe his finger lightning bolts (is this Palpatine’s only freaking power? Always wondered this. Is his force just so strong that it flows freely in the form of lightning out of his fingers? You’d think that Vader could’ve found a way around that eventually. The guy’s like, 88000 years old and the only thing he has going for him that he can tase you, bro) are still headed in the right direction, but does it feel the same? Pedroia, Bucholz, Ellsbury, Lester, and Papelbon are keeping this team’s homegrown talent going, but how long will it be before the Red Sox are blowing money like Mike Tyson? Only this time, there might not be a Hangover cameo to pay the bills…
And maybe this is a dramatic overreaction. Maybe they’ll collapse. Maybe they’ll turn into the Red Sox of yore, maybe Theo will stop spending and start cultivating, maybe these free agents will turn out to be busts (Gonzalez certainly doesn’t seem heading down this road) Maybe I’m the only one who lies awake late into the night, pondering the implications of Luke’s brief flirtation with the Dark Side (N.B. – I’m kidding. Maybe). Could Luke turn into a Sith Lord? Like father, like son? Who knows, they didn’t make Return of the Jedi sequels, only prequels (note to George Lucas, because I know you’re reading – don’t think of pulling this shit. If there are suddenly sequels to the original trilogy and Jar Jar’s progeny make a prolonged appearance, I accept all blame). What happens if the Red Sox turn into an Evil Empire? After tasting victory twice, who’s to say that we can’t keep buying out the competition and turn into a wannabe Yankees? Is it worth it to win championships if we become the second-most hated club in the league? I don’t know. But I’ll keep watching. Because it’s so much fun to watch them win.
No comments:
Post a Comment