I've had enough of young Red Sox fans bemoaning how hard it is to be part of Red Sox Nation. In particular, I'm talking about people my age (31) or younger. These folks are too young to have any real memory of 1978. My first baseball memories are 1979 and the Orioles blowing a three games to one lead over the Pirates in the World Series. But I was six years old and I got over it. A five year old can survive Bucky Dent.
Since 1986, the Red Sox have played in eight postseasons (1986, 1988, 1990, 1995, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004) and have been regularly competitive over the last twenty years. In the same time frame the Yankees have played in only two more postseasons. Granted, these have been in the last ten years and they've won four championships and played in six World Series, but you get my point. The Orioles have played in only two postseasons during this time.
Yes, the Red Sox had horrible losses in 1986 and 2003, but they also had amazing comebacks in 1986 and 1999. Of course, it isn't as simple as this. Boston fans carry the weight of many generations. Boston fans are fatalistic. Boston fans assume the worst. Boston fans can't just appreciate the beautiful tension of postseason baseball, win or lose, for the gift that it is. Every mention of a big game brings a cry for the heart medicine and a box of Kleenex. What is wrong with these people?
I don't mean to sound harsh. I am fascinated by the Red Sox Nation collective psyche. Honestly, I am. This is not a diatribe against everyone's favorite Red Sox ape. He actually agrees with me on most of my thoughts on this New England phenomenen. I'm quite interested to hear his take on this.
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3 comments:
jeremy says:
after living in vermont for several years now i have noticed that this seems to be a new elgland mindset in general. people who live here, including native vermonters, still complain about the long cold winters ahead of them. they assume it's going to be a terrible season, they can't enjoy the snow, they act as if the act of living here is a great weight that they miraculously carry day in and day out. this is not everybody mind you but some are definitely in this boat. why would you continue to live here, or be a red sox fan, if in constantly brings you sadness and grief?
who's up for an inappropriate and possibly offensive comparison? good. the weight of the many generations is a bit more significant i think. it's sort of like the Holocaust for Jews - those that weren't alive for it have still had to live with it hanging over their heads for their whole lives. obviously this is much more trivial (though the Yankees are like the Nazis), but you grow up hearing about it all the time and it sinks into your psyche that gets mixed up with the Puritanical roots of the region so that rooting for the Red Sox (or putting up with the terrible winters) becomes a sort of penance for your sins. it's almost a version of hell: you're sentenced to live out these terrible scenarios over and over again for enternity. the winter is always bleak, the Red Sox always lose in the end.
certainly we as a Nation have had some pretty good success the past 20-30 years, but those years have also produced the most crippling heartbreaks. the arrival of a big game simply reminds you of all the suffering you've been through before and reminds you that until they finally win you're doomed to this fate of feeling unworthy, like a sinner. the great comebacks of '86, '99 and '03 have only been preludes to the heartbreaks that followed and as such they can be remembered only so fondly. the postseason is a double-edged sword, so more frequent trips simply mean more frequent heartache.
but despite all that, no one should bemoan their part in the play. if you don't like it, stop caring. otherwise, pray to the Fates and hope that there's a statute of limitations on suffering (i suppose you argue that "life expectancy" acts as such a statute).
>who's up for an inappropriate and possibly offensive comparison? good. the >weight of the many generations is a bit more significant i think. it's sort of >like the Holocaust for Jews - those that weren't alive for it have still had to live >with it hanging over their heads for their whole lives.
YES! i was thinking of somehow equating red sox fans to jews but i hadn't really formulated my idea so i decided to save it for another time. but i think it is a little different. jews have taken their thousands of years of persecution and turned it into a very dry, very specific kind of humor. red sox fans just turn their pain inward with no sense of humor. or am i wrong on that front? you guys have only had 80 years or so of misery and we've had thousands of years. so maybe you just need more time.
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