Today is Saturday February 10, 2001.
And Boston is upside down.
Honestly, it seems like every year for Red Sox fans is “The One”, the year that we finally break the Curse, and end eighty two years of misery. Yes, there have been high points, but this World Series drought is maddening. Maybe we expect too much. We expect our teams to be competitive every year, and to win once in a while. But maybe that’s the problem: We can’t have both.
Generally, in order to win the championship, a team need to go for broke, and risk the future, trading prospects, to get the extra players to win the championship. The Red Sox seem unable to do this. Dan Duquette, while he has not been given fair credit for the fleecings he has committed since he started here, gets only mediocre stopgap players, generally projects like Bernard Gilkey. Of course he gives up marginal talent to get these players, but after one year, these guys are gone again.
In terms of business, I’m sure it is much more profitable to have a perennially competitive team, rather than a team that is amazing some years and then lapses into several years of bottom feeding. But now this has all changed.
This is why I said Boston is upside down. Anyone who read Jerry Callahan’s now famous column in the Boston Herald “The Fellowship of the Miserable” knows what I’m talking about. Boston sports in November and December of 2000 hit rock bottom. The Pats, following their 2-6 finish in 1999, finished below .500. The Red Sox didn’t sign Mike Mussina, and Dan Duquette was being made into a pariah. The Celtics and the Bruins were far below .500 and had virtually no shot of making the playoffs. Add into this the Rick Pitino dilemma and the Pat Burns firing, and you have a Boston sports community dying for the Red Sox season to start.
And then all hell broke loose.
It seemed like a dream to me. I was up late on the Internet, cruising around baseballboards.com and a new post flashed up. The gist of this post was this: Cleveland had upped their offer, Moorad had returned to the Sox for fifteen minutes, and then had returned to the Cleveland office, presumably to sign Ramirez to a long term Cleveland contract.
I shut down my computer in disgust. The Boston offense had lost its one chance to return to respectability. I had lost all faith in Troy O’Leary. Jimmy Williams was listening to Mr. Weebles again. Nomar, Carl, and Pedro were the only guys keeping us afloat.
I went to sleep, tired, frustrated, and truly mad.
It seemed like a dream, my clock radio turning on at 6:00 in the morning, a full hour before it was supposed to. In hindsight this seems like a sign from God that things would get better. I dimly remember rolling over, reading the overly bright red number, and thinking, “Crap. I’m breaking that clock when I wake up.” And I remember hearing Jerry Callahan saying something along the lines of “And we have to applaud Dan Duquette. He proved us all wrong. He got Manny.”
I fell back asleep. I don’t remember dreaming anything until my actual alarm went off a full hour later. Angrily hitting the Snooze button, I heard the radio come on. John Meterpirel came on with “The Flash.” The Sox signed Ramirez. I remember thinking to myself:
This definitely is NOT a dream. I am awake; I have to get to work. And, I’m hearing that the SOX signed RAMIREZ!
Needless to say, any Boston fan knows the rest. The Bruins came back, claimed the 8th playoff spot before the all star break, had three players named to the all star team, and Billy Guerin was named the MVP. Rick Pitino stepped down, O’Brien stepped in, Walker and Pierce woke up, and the Celtics claimed the 8th playoff spot before the all-star break.
And Pitchers and Catchers are reporting soon. Prepare for another Red Sox season, with Pedro, Carl, Nomar, Trot, Dauber, Tek, and the rest of the gang, along with a new star: Manny.
And finally, I have a confession to make. I’ve done it again, after vowing last year not to do it. Folks, I’m back on the bandwagon. I’m on the Celtics, Bruins, and most importantly the Red Sox bandwagon.
While this seems like an odd column to post as my inaugural column here, I think that everyone can relate to this story. While numerous events could transpire to destroy my hopes once again, I, Henry Brennan, hereby declare myself back on the Red Sox Bandwagon.
Again.