Civil unrest in Sox Nation
Fans seeing red over Betts trade should consider seceding
What if they held a baseball season and nobody came?
Or even worse, nobody cared?
The 2020 Red Sox campaign is underway in Fort Myers, Florida, or Lee County to be more specific. Lee County was named in 1887 for the same Robert E. Lee who finished second in his class at West Point and before leading the Army of Northern Virginia against the Union Army of the Potomac.
But neither the ghost of Robert E. Lee nor Robert John Valentine could drag the Red Sox any lower than they are right now in terms of both public perception and passion.
Mookie Betts and David Price were formally introduced by the Dodgers on Wednesday, having been dealt to a major-league team by the would-be WooSox in a Category 5 salary dump.
As the Red Sox return to the Land of Lee, one may ask how many fans will secede from their union with the team financially and emotionally in 2020?
And would it be OK if they did?
My short answers are “a lot” and “yes.”
We’re not talking treason against the United States. But rather the realization that the Red Sox — at least for the time being — are not in it to win it.
The excuse to bail on the Red Sox would be a simple paraphrase of Ronald Reagan: “I didn’t leave the Red Sox, the Red Sox left me.” There’s nothing inherently wrong with walking away after four World Series titles since 2004. After all, far too many of our parents and grandparents lived and died without ever seeing the Red Sox win a damn thing.
There is no “fair-weather fandom” in my DNA.
There is something deliciously satisfying about quitting with money still on the table given that the last Red Sox Rolling Rally took place a mere 470 days ago.
In the here and now, Boston’s American League franchise would be struggling for notice even with Betts and Price. The Fate of Tom
Brady will deprive Red Sox of any media oxygen until it is resolved. The only thing worse than fans being furious about their team’s relegation to the Championship league status would be for millions of Red Sox fans to keep calm and carry on.
Apathy is far more lethal than anger.
The machinations of the NFL draft and Patriots OTAs — especially if the local professional gridders have a new QB — will consume hearts and minds throughout April. Expected deep playoff runs by the Celtics and Bruins will make it easy to pretty much ignore anything baseball-related until Memorial Day.
By that time, you’ll have about 400 hours of binge watching at the ready. The Red Sox are, at their essence, entertainment. The competition they face from the likes of Disney+, Amazon Prime, Hulu and Netflix is just as fierce as any challenge posed by the New York Yankees or Houston Trash Can Bangers. And they never have “bridge years” on Netflix.
Once Patriots training camp begins in July — with or without Brady — baseball season will be finished north and east of Bridgeport.
It is little wonder why MLB has embraced legal sports betting. Anything to keep fans glued to games is desperately needed.
Fort Myers was first built by the federal government to help settlers purge the locals during the Seminoles Wars in the 1850s. It was then used as a Union base and was attacked by the Confederates during the Civil War.
But there seems little fight in the 2020 Red Sox.
The Red Sox had a chance to void the Betts-Trade salary dump and avoid an Old Testament-sized error. But they failed to heed the opportunity of salvation and went through with the deal.
Chaim Bloom offered this Double-Meat Whopper with extra cheese in regard to the Betts-Price trade during his ill-fated press conference Monday: “At the end of the day, we chose to prioritize talent.”
The halfhearted statements issued by Tom Werner and John W. Henry angered fans even more.
Bloom’s doom is living proof that one should be careful for what they wish. Every baseball nerd in the universe has dreamed of being general manager — or whatever the title is these days — of the Boston Red Sox. His reality has been dreadful.
The Red Sox won 84 games and missed the playoffs with Betts and Price last season. They can certainly miss the playoffs without their services this season, as well.
“It’s reasonable to expect that, you know, we’re going to be worse without them,” Bloom added Monday. They’ll be much worse. If anyone cares.