First of all, let me congratulate the Boston Red Sox and their fans on their first pennant in nearly twenty years. I could say something about the Yankees failing to win rather than the Red Sox earning their victory, but that would be petty and uncalled for. You won fair and square, but here's the bad news: You're going to wish you hadn't. Nothing would have made your life easier than Mariano Rivera doing his job in Game 4 and sending you guys home to finally get haircuts.
Allow me to elaborate: first, a word on fandom in general, specifically Yankees fandom vs. Red Sox fandom. There's been a lot of talk the past year about the woes of Boston fans, whether it is the fabled "curse" or Boston's poor record on racial diversity or the Yankees' ever-increasing payroll. HBO made a little special about it, and ESPN is always airing something or other on the subject. One of the charges that are frequently leveled against Yankee fans is that "it's easy to be a Yankee fan because they always win." Conversely, it's "hard work to be a Red Sox fan," and that "builds character" or something to that effect. I'm here to tell you that's a load of crap.
Being a Yankee fan is a tireless, 24/7/365 job, and it's not easy at all. Whether it's July 1st or January 1st, you're always wondering about this year's starting rotation or the second baseman or George Steinbrenner's mood. Speaking of Mr. Steinbrenner, the reason he spends hundreds of millions of dollars a year is because he's got hundreds of millions of fans to entertain. After winning four World Series in five years (1996, 1998- 2000), our bandwagon is worldwide. Why do you think the Yankees wore their home uniforms when they opened "on the road" in Japan this spring? It's because every Hideki Matsui fan wanted to see those famous pinstripes.
Winning is like a drug; it can be highly addictive. Is it "easy" to be a crack addict? No, because no matter how much crack you smoke, you always need more, and you can't just stop or you'd get seriously ill. It requires a very delicate mental balance to enjoy frequent sports success without succumbing to dependency. Boston fans already have a taste of this because the Patriots are the Yankees of the NFL right now. Check that; the Patriots are better than the Yankees because they really do win all the time while the Yankees merely win more than they lose. When the Patriots eventually lose a game (maybe next year), you'll see what it's like every year in New York when the Yankees don't win the World Series.
But I digress; this is an explanation as to why the Red Sox are in big trouble. Simply put, if the Red Sox win the World Series, than all the things that make the Red Sox and their fans "special" will be gone. Boston will become just another baseball town with a long history and the occasional championship, another Detroit or Pittsburgh. Everyone will start buying Red Sox merchandise (they've already started) and all the bars the long-timers enjoy will be full of bandwagon-jumpers. People will finally notice that the White Sox fans have suffered since 1917, and while Red Sox have won four (now five) pennants since their last title, the White Sox have won two.
Let's make it even clearer by expanding on a 2002 comment made by Red Sox President Larry Lucchino, regarding the Yankees as an "evil empire." The hilarious FOX Corporation used this as a ploy to advertise their new Star Wars DVD box set, showing clips of the "special edition" trilogy before each ALCS game. While I loathe advertising I do appreciate a good analogy, especially since Pedro Martinez made that crack a few weeks back about the Yankees being his "daddies." So what happens at the end of Return of the Jedi? Luke finally overwhelms his daddy, Darth Vader, and chops off his hand. Vader collapses, Luke prepares to strike him dead, and the Emperor says, "Good! Your hate has made you powerful. Now, fulfill your destiny and take your father's place at my side!" The Red Sox finally overwhelmed the Yankees and they collapsed. They must now decide whether to take the Yankees' place by the throne of Emperor Bud Selig. In the movie, Luke vows never to follow in his father's footsteps, preferring to face oblivion. Will the Red Sox make such a choice?
Hopefully you see the conundrum: the Red Sox have hit themselves into a corner, so to speak. They can defeat the Cardinals, complete the circle and join the "dark side," or lose again so that their millions of fans can go on "building character." That's why I'm rooting for the Red Sox for a change. I hate them so much I've decided this the only way to end their insignificant rebellion.
© Copyright 2004 Daniel Feit.