Where Have All the Haters Gone?

As the ALCS drew to a conclusion, the activity on this blog reached a frenzied level. All across the northeast, haters were inspired to comment on recent postings, many reaching new and audacious creative heights, and all of them talking relentless shit on the Sox. At one point yesterday, it became almost impossible to keep up with all the comments, as the frequency and length of the haters’ musings grew to previously unimaginable levels. And then suddenly, it all came to a halt. Simultaneously it seemed, all the haters’ voices were stilled; not a one had a single thing to add. What caused this change?

The answer lies in the chronology of events. A careful look at the timing of yesterday’s comments reveals that the last hater’s comment was posted by Unkle Rico, and came on-line at 5:38 pm. That coincided almost precisely with yesterday’s posting, Not Evil Enough. I submit that when Rico put his last comment up, he had not yet read Not Evil Enough. In fact, Rico’s last comment quotes repeatedly from this writer’s brief comment at 4:55 pm, which merely promised a more thoughtful rejoinder to the day’s Yankee postulations. So then the question is, what was it about the last posting that silenced the haters?

It had to be the plague story. It’s one thing for each of us to confront our opponents’ respective opinions, but quite another to face up to the incontrovertible facts. And the plague story is based purely on fact, and not at all on opinion. I mean, we all watched that game. We all saw the bugs crawling all over Carmona. But not one of those ‘insects’ interfered with Carmona's ability to throw strikes. Not in the least. On the other hand, Chamberlain was completely undone. His control disappeared, and the tying run came across the plate. So as much as they’d like to argue, the haters really have nothing to say about the plague. We’ll have to wait for Game One, I suppose, before the dialogue resumes.