Monday, July 06, 2009
That Thing That Makes Me Mad Again
Monday night, one of the most beloved Red Sox of all time returns to Fenway Park. Nomar Garciaparra will be welcomed "home" with extended ovations, some of which I'll be a art of.
How easy was that fact to say? I thought maybe this one would finally be the one where everyone just says that, knowing it's the truth. Nope. Dave O'Brien's the culprit this time. Recently he brought up the topic by saying, "I'll be verrry interested to see the reception he gets." Fortunately Joe was next to him and gave the clear impression that it would be a positive one. But again, what is it that makes people not think beloved Red Sox will be treated with anything but open arms? As long as they didn't commit any huge sins--the main one being "playing for the fucking Yankees"--what reason would we have to do anything but cheer?
I go back to my old Dunbar analogy, but I'll change it up a little: Imagine you haven't seen your grandma in five years because she's been off in a third world country helping poor children. When she then says she's back and will be attending your holiday dinner, do you "wonder" how she'll be "received"? Of course not. She's your goddamn grandma. The only reason she wouldn't be welcomed with love is if she started schtupping the old man across the street from her--the one who's Ponzi scheme destroyed your family's fortune--and missing your holiday dinners to cook a huge meal for that other family and knit sweaters and bake cookies for them instead of you.
Nomar never baked cookies for the rival family. Neither did Dave Roberts, Gabe Kapler, Derek Lowe, Trot Nixon, Pedro Martinez, etc. It's very simple.
How easy was that fact to say? I thought maybe this one would finally be the one where everyone just says that, knowing it's the truth. Nope. Dave O'Brien's the culprit this time. Recently he brought up the topic by saying, "I'll be verrry interested to see the reception he gets." Fortunately Joe was next to him and gave the clear impression that it would be a positive one. But again, what is it that makes people not think beloved Red Sox will be treated with anything but open arms? As long as they didn't commit any huge sins--the main one being "playing for the fucking Yankees"--what reason would we have to do anything but cheer?
I go back to my old Dunbar analogy, but I'll change it up a little: Imagine you haven't seen your grandma in five years because she's been off in a third world country helping poor children. When she then says she's back and will be attending your holiday dinner, do you "wonder" how she'll be "received"? Of course not. She's your goddamn grandma. The only reason she wouldn't be welcomed with love is if she started schtupping the old man across the street from her--the one who's Ponzi scheme destroyed your family's fortune--and missing your holiday dinners to cook a huge meal for that other family and knit sweaters and bake cookies for them instead of you.
Nomar never baked cookies for the rival family. Neither did Dave Roberts, Gabe Kapler, Derek Lowe, Trot Nixon, Pedro Martinez, etc. It's very simple.
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Nicely put.
I've always had a soft spot for Nomar, although my favorite Sock, by FAR, to leave lately is Manny. I'll always have a man-love thing for him, no matter where he ends up. Unless of course.......no that wouldn't happen (pleeeze)
BTW - my 16-18 team, who won their first 12 last year and took the district title, finally got their first win of this year. Lost the first 5. Ah, how quickly things change at this level. Well, actually for a lot of teams, even at the ML level. It's really nice to consistently be at or near the top these days. I've actually gotten used to it, and maybe even take it a little for granted. Shame on me. How long did we struggle to even get a sniff of a W-S berth? Decades.
Yeah, I'm up late. Been happening a lot lately.
Oh well, sleep is overrated.
But I do think I'll try to get some now :)
I've always had a soft spot for Nomar, although my favorite Sock, by FAR, to leave lately is Manny. I'll always have a man-love thing for him, no matter where he ends up. Unless of course.......no that wouldn't happen (pleeeze)
BTW - my 16-18 team, who won their first 12 last year and took the district title, finally got their first win of this year. Lost the first 5. Ah, how quickly things change at this level. Well, actually for a lot of teams, even at the ML level. It's really nice to consistently be at or near the top these days. I've actually gotten used to it, and maybe even take it a little for granted. Shame on me. How long did we struggle to even get a sniff of a W-S berth? Decades.
Yeah, I'm up late. Been happening a lot lately.
Oh well, sleep is overrated.
But I do think I'll try to get some now :)
Unfortunately, I don't think it's quite that clear cut this time. Before I comment further, a disclaimer: I remain a huge Nomar fan, if I were there personally tonight I'd give him a huge standing O, and I do in fact expect him to get a very nice ovation.
Ok, with that said....I think there's a small but vocal minority in Boston who still feel he quit on the team right before he was traded, and point to the July 1st Jeter/Pokey game at the old Toilet as proof. I have no idea what really happened that day, and I don't really care anyway, but I do think it was fairly clear that Nomar wasn't very happy being in Boston anymore by that point. I was still very unhappy when he was traded and thought it was a poor deal, but in hindsight it probably was for the best. It doesn't change my overall feelings about the guy though...he was an incredible player for the Sox who unfortunately got dragged down all too quickly by injuries, and I continue to root for him.
I doubt that small minority will actually show up this week, and if they do they'll probably be drowned out by the cheers, but that may have been what O'Brien was thinking of.
I don't think that Nomar pulling his groin repeatedly in Chicago, LA and Oakland the last five years is quite the same as helping poor children in 3rd world countries though. :)
Ok, with that said....I think there's a small but vocal minority in Boston who still feel he quit on the team right before he was traded, and point to the July 1st Jeter/Pokey game at the old Toilet as proof. I have no idea what really happened that day, and I don't really care anyway, but I do think it was fairly clear that Nomar wasn't very happy being in Boston anymore by that point. I was still very unhappy when he was traded and thought it was a poor deal, but in hindsight it probably was for the best. It doesn't change my overall feelings about the guy though...he was an incredible player for the Sox who unfortunately got dragged down all too quickly by injuries, and I continue to root for him.
I doubt that small minority will actually show up this week, and if they do they'll probably be drowned out by the cheers, but that may have been what O'Brien was thinking of.
I don't think that Nomar pulling his groin repeatedly in Chicago, LA and Oakland the last five years is quite the same as helping poor children in 3rd world countries though. :)
Well I had to have the grandma not be around so I had to put her out of the country doing something else to have it be analagous to "being on another team that it's okay to be on."
I just don't see his parting being anything that people would hold onto with any kind of seething hatred. Even if I had been totally mad at him at the time, well, that was a long time ago and it would have been for only a very short time out of an 8-year stretch of being one of my favorite players of all-time. And he was the favorite or at least top 3 of probably 99 percent of Sox fans. So, I don't see why anyone would choose this time to say "I hated that .05 percent of you, boooo!"
I just don't see his parting being anything that people would hold onto with any kind of seething hatred. Even if I had been totally mad at him at the time, well, that was a long time ago and it would have been for only a very short time out of an 8-year stretch of being one of my favorite players of all-time. And he was the favorite or at least top 3 of probably 99 percent of Sox fans. So, I don't see why anyone would choose this time to say "I hated that .05 percent of you, boooo!"
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