Not Evil Enough
In comments to last night’s post, G-Man and Rico raise issues of vital importance to the Nation. In fact, they are so important that I need to respond with a posting, and not merely another comment. And after all, this is our blog, and we claim the author’s prerogatives.
G-Man suggests that the Sox success of the past few years will cause unbearable pressure for the entire organization – Can they handle it? And from there he suggests that this success will, in the end, make the current version of the Sox just like their hated rivals: “We have met the enemy and he is us.” Rico talks about mirrors, and then claims that Sox fans have become the embodiment of all they used to stand against. To figure out what’s going on, let’s just look at the facts.
While G-Man is partially right, he’s also wrong. The right part is that the Sox recent success will increase expectations among the Nation. Clearly, no one will be happy that we just made the Series; everyone now wants to win the whole thing. But the wrong part is that he fails to see that there remain clear differences between the Sox faithful, and supporters of the evil Yankees. First off, look at what’s happened since 2004. We got swept in the 2005 Division series, and last year didn’t even make it to the post-season. But what was the general reaction? Did we, or management, call for anyone’s head? I don’t recall the owners publicly chewing out anybody for a disappointing finish. Instead, the question was merely, how do we get better? When we lost Damon, it wasn’t because he was blamed for any letdown or failures; management just botched the negotiations. When Trot left, folks were sorry to see him go, but if you recall, he received a wonderful ovation on his first return to Fenway. He was even greeted warmly at the start of the ALCS, until he knocked in the winning run in Game Two. But Trot was old, and hadn’t been healthy, and we needed new blood. So it was about new blood, not bad blood. Or how about Manny, when he didn’t play at the end of 2006? Everyone in New York talked trash on Manny, but the Nation just awaited his return in 2007. Or even Kevin Millar and last night’s first pitch? Last time we had Game Seven, the Yankees brought in Bucky Dent. What was that all about? Yankee thinking figured that Dent’s bad karma would bring about a Sox collapse. Dent brought bad karma all right, but it all ended up in the pinstripe dugout. Last night, by way of contrast, Millar, an active Oriole, came with only good karma. He didn’t even choose sides, noting that he had friends in both dugouts. Now Rico says, it’s all about the love after 2004. But who among the Yankees acts that way?
That’s not all. The second difference here is that after 2004, while the expectations remain high among the Sox faithful, and while a loss in the Series would mean disappointment, it won’t mean despair. Before 2004, season ending losses were crushing: Aaron Boone; Bucky Dent; Bill Buckner. But 2004 erased a lifetime of despair, and now when Sox fans think – wait till next year - that’s what they mean. It’s not a euphemism for: we’re never going to win this thing. Now, next year’s championship is always a possibility. Look at how everyone talked about Dice-K coming into last night’s game. First year in the majors; more games than he ever pitched in Japan; AL hitters are tougher up and down the line-up; and remember the trouble Beckett had adjusting to the AL East last year. In other words, Dice will be better next year. (And by the way, while he wasn’t dominant last night, he was good enough. He and Schilling kept the Indians down, and let the bats take over from there.)
What G-Man and Rico fail to understand is that the difficult part is not how well the Sox will handle success, it’s how well the Yankees will handle adversity. We all know that the measure of a mensch is how well he (or she) performs when things aren’t going well. Sox Nation has had a whole lifetime of hard times upon which to draw. A sweep in the ALDS; a season when we don’t make the playoffs; what’s the big deal? We can come back from that. After all, we went not only 86 years without a title, but over 20 years without an invitation to the dance. Yankees make the playoff every year with Joe Torre, every year, and management has to motivate him to make it to the World Series? Really, these musings of Rico and G-man are a perverse kind of wishful thinking, but in the final analysis, both are wrong. Mike said it best: No one wants to be you.
And lastly, if you don’t believe me, if you need objective proof that everything I’m saying here is true, look no farther than the ALDS series with Cleveland. That was not a ‘swarm of insects’, as Rico called it. It was a plague. Now think about that carefully. The Yankees come to Jacobs Field, and a plague descends on the field in the late innings. Although both teams are exposed to the same visitation, the plague afflicts only one team; and that team is defeated, despite having its previously invincible reliever on the mound. Does that sound like an accident? Not at all. And if you don’t believe me, reread Exodus, Chapters 7 to 12. So answer me this: if the Yankees aren’t evil, why would a plague have been sent to defeat them?
It’s so simple – I don’t know why Yankee fans can’t see all this more clearly. The real reason the Sox will never be the Yankees is that they’re not evil. The Yankees are the evil empire because they are evil. And if that’s a fact, tell me, am I lying?
G-Man suggests that the Sox success of the past few years will cause unbearable pressure for the entire organization – Can they handle it? And from there he suggests that this success will, in the end, make the current version of the Sox just like their hated rivals: “We have met the enemy and he is us.” Rico talks about mirrors, and then claims that Sox fans have become the embodiment of all they used to stand against. To figure out what’s going on, let’s just look at the facts.
While G-Man is partially right, he’s also wrong. The right part is that the Sox recent success will increase expectations among the Nation. Clearly, no one will be happy that we just made the Series; everyone now wants to win the whole thing. But the wrong part is that he fails to see that there remain clear differences between the Sox faithful, and supporters of the evil Yankees. First off, look at what’s happened since 2004. We got swept in the 2005 Division series, and last year didn’t even make it to the post-season. But what was the general reaction? Did we, or management, call for anyone’s head? I don’t recall the owners publicly chewing out anybody for a disappointing finish. Instead, the question was merely, how do we get better? When we lost Damon, it wasn’t because he was blamed for any letdown or failures; management just botched the negotiations. When Trot left, folks were sorry to see him go, but if you recall, he received a wonderful ovation on his first return to Fenway. He was even greeted warmly at the start of the ALCS, until he knocked in the winning run in Game Two. But Trot was old, and hadn’t been healthy, and we needed new blood. So it was about new blood, not bad blood. Or how about Manny, when he didn’t play at the end of 2006? Everyone in New York talked trash on Manny, but the Nation just awaited his return in 2007. Or even Kevin Millar and last night’s first pitch? Last time we had Game Seven, the Yankees brought in Bucky Dent. What was that all about? Yankee thinking figured that Dent’s bad karma would bring about a Sox collapse. Dent brought bad karma all right, but it all ended up in the pinstripe dugout. Last night, by way of contrast, Millar, an active Oriole, came with only good karma. He didn’t even choose sides, noting that he had friends in both dugouts. Now Rico says, it’s all about the love after 2004. But who among the Yankees acts that way?
That’s not all. The second difference here is that after 2004, while the expectations remain high among the Sox faithful, and while a loss in the Series would mean disappointment, it won’t mean despair. Before 2004, season ending losses were crushing: Aaron Boone; Bucky Dent; Bill Buckner. But 2004 erased a lifetime of despair, and now when Sox fans think – wait till next year - that’s what they mean. It’s not a euphemism for: we’re never going to win this thing. Now, next year’s championship is always a possibility. Look at how everyone talked about Dice-K coming into last night’s game. First year in the majors; more games than he ever pitched in Japan; AL hitters are tougher up and down the line-up; and remember the trouble Beckett had adjusting to the AL East last year. In other words, Dice will be better next year. (And by the way, while he wasn’t dominant last night, he was good enough. He and Schilling kept the Indians down, and let the bats take over from there.)
What G-Man and Rico fail to understand is that the difficult part is not how well the Sox will handle success, it’s how well the Yankees will handle adversity. We all know that the measure of a mensch is how well he (or she) performs when things aren’t going well. Sox Nation has had a whole lifetime of hard times upon which to draw. A sweep in the ALDS; a season when we don’t make the playoffs; what’s the big deal? We can come back from that. After all, we went not only 86 years without a title, but over 20 years without an invitation to the dance. Yankees make the playoff every year with Joe Torre, every year, and management has to motivate him to make it to the World Series? Really, these musings of Rico and G-man are a perverse kind of wishful thinking, but in the final analysis, both are wrong. Mike said it best: No one wants to be you.
And lastly, if you don’t believe me, if you need objective proof that everything I’m saying here is true, look no farther than the ALDS series with Cleveland. That was not a ‘swarm of insects’, as Rico called it. It was a plague. Now think about that carefully. The Yankees come to Jacobs Field, and a plague descends on the field in the late innings. Although both teams are exposed to the same visitation, the plague afflicts only one team; and that team is defeated, despite having its previously invincible reliever on the mound. Does that sound like an accident? Not at all. And if you don’t believe me, reread Exodus, Chapters 7 to 12. So answer me this: if the Yankees aren’t evil, why would a plague have been sent to defeat them?
It’s so simple – I don’t know why Yankee fans can’t see all this more clearly. The real reason the Sox will never be the Yankees is that they’re not evil. The Yankees are the evil empire because they are evil. And if that’s a fact, tell me, am I lying?
posted by pops | 5:37 PM
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