An Ode to the '05 Red Sox

Its official, they're dead. Stick a fork in them. No more baseball for over six months. But with this elimination things seemed a bit different. That's true for a few reasons. the first is that there's no more sense of desperation. There's no more thinking, this has to be the year. They've won and we know they could do it again. But I think there are two other reasons why this seems different.

While there were losses after last year, including Pedro, Lowe, and Cabrera, this years team is going to lose a lot more. We've already said goodbye to Bellhorn and Embree. Now we must prepare to probably say good bye to Johnny Damon, Bill Mueller, Mike Timlin, Graffanino (so quick of a stop, but I liked him anyways), and Kevin Millar. We might as well say good bye to Manny, as well, since all signs point to him wanting to get traded out of Boston. He's hiring a new agent and has even talked to members of the White Sox about how he'd like to play for them. While we're at it, we might as well say goodbye to Foulke, since i don't see how he'll want to come back. he was actually at a Bruins game while the sox were playing in Chicago. This elimination has brought on a sort of end to the championship team as we knew it.

But the most disturbing thing about it all is this. They weren't good enough to win. I don't mean talent wise. I mean they weren't likable enough to win. I didn't find myself enamored with the players. I found myself getting sick of Damon's nightly rock star show. I got tired of Millar trying to conjur up phrases to justify his existence to himself. I got sick of Foulke getting mad at fans because he sucked. I'm sure it was him who came out and questioned why Schilling wasn't booed. Hey pal, two words, bloody sock. He likely could have had a successful year this year had he not put himself out on the line like that. So the fans realize that and we've stayed off his back.

Then there is the whole Manny thing. I'm sick of 'manny being manny'. that's cool when your hitting .320 and the team is winning, but there comes a time when you realize that you're not the DH and part of being successful is playing defense and committing yourself to it with each pitch. No pitcher needs to remember to look into left field before each pitch to make sure his left fielder is actually in the field. You also have to realize that you might actually have to play a couple weeks without getting a day off to rest your butt. He makes too much money to act like that. If Manny wants to leave, they'll try to trade him. But at what cost? We saw what pitchers do to Ortiz when Manny's not there. So if there is a trade, the chances that we'd get talent for talent is extremely low. Instead, we'd probably have to take on some other teams financial mistake. I can't wait until Manny gets to Chicago and realizes Ozzie is insane and would actually expect Manny to play on a daily basis and give a hoot in the field.

You see, this team wasn't likeable! But for every diva on the team, there's a guy that is worth rooting for. That's while I still love this team. I love cheering for Trot Nixon. I love cheering for Tim Wakefield. I love cheering for Schilling, even if he is a self promoter. I love cheering for the Big Papi. I love cheering for the Captain. I love cheering for Mirabelli, Papelbon, Kapler, and Billy Ballgame Mueller.

I'll cheer because I know we actually have young and exciting talent. the future is actually right down the road and they're kids you can cheer for. So i like the future if it is lacking those other faces and means Papelbon, Hanley, Pedroia, and Hansen. and we'll get a few good gamers to come in and get the Sox back to a team that is good enough to win. Likable enough to win that is.