Red Sox fandom in the post-"curse" era

Actually, it was the Red Sox that made the trade for Eric Gagne when the Yankees refused to give up their minor league talent for the opportunity to win 5-games (which we have learned would have been blown).

I am also curious about how many Red Sox players are homegrown as opposed to the Yankees. I don't know the exact number, but I have a feeling that the Yankees have the edge in this category, which is what belies the idea that the Red Sox aren't the Yankees.

 

A friend of mine, when I met him in 1994, listed his favorite teams as: New Orleans Saints, Charlotte Hornets and Atlanta Braves. He was a SoCal native who apparently became a sports fan in 1991 or so.

A guy I used to work with a long time ago listed his favorite NFL team as Dallas, his favorite college football team as Miami. He was also a SoCal native.

I didn't understand it in either case. I just think it's disingenuous to arbitrarily choose a team, whatever the reason, based on dislike of your local teams, or the fact that other team is winning big. Or whatever reason. You can simply hop off that bandwagon at any time, since you have no true shackled loyalty to it.

Which is probably why Red Sox fans, who pride themselves on their passion and knowledge of the game (and I haven't met an ignorant BoSox fan yet) were resistant to writing irish joining them (especially when Texas has a pair of MLB teams), and why they dislike the bandwagon. Being a Red Sox fan used to be all about heartbreak and waiting for the other show to drop, which is why this time is so special for them.

At least, that's this outsider's view of it. Could be wrong, but I know I'll just be happy for them from afar. And I'll wait for my team to pull its head out and win something meaningful.

 

Not sure how many home grown guys the Yankees have....but the Sox have Pedrioa, Ellsbury, Pap, Lester, Youk, Delcarmen......

 

That's a big change from 2004, when Trot Nixon was basically it for them, after the Yanks had won their titles largely on the strength of their homegrown players (and stopped winning titles when they started buying the likes of Mussina, Giambi, etc.).

The Red Sox' farm system had a lot to do with this title.

 

More. Much more.

 

Is that the entire list?

From the Yankees, you would have (listing all that played some role this season):
Older homegrown players
Jeter
Rivera
Posada
Cano (not older but more than 2 seasons)
Andy Pettitte (even though he did leave for a few years)

Younger homegrown players
Andy Phillips
Melky Cabrera
Chien-Ming Wang
Phil Hughes
Joba Chamberlain

Homegrown players that weren’t as significant but made a start or two to help save the season
Tyler Clippard
Matt DeSalvo
Sean Henn
Ian Kennedy
Shelley Duncan

 

That's true. And understandable.

Of course, the flip side to that is that it's perfectly reasonable for a kid to go to college in a city far away from his home and expect to be able to cheer for the local baseball team without discovering that it's some freaky cult that you have to be born into. Even the Freemasons and Opus Dei are still accepting new members.

 

What color hats do Opus Dei wear, again?

 

Girls wearing pink caps are hated more than college kids affecting a neo-redneck look? How very strange.

 

Chartreuse?

 

Navy. Predictably, they dress like the Yankees.

 

Yeah, but the souvenir sweatbands are uncomfortable.