Note: I’ve invited Gilroy Dispatch education reporter Kristen
Munson, the newspaper’s resident Bostonian and Red Sox expert, to
take part in this column, for obvious reasons.
Note: I’ve invited Gilroy Dispatch education reporter Kristen Munson, the newspaper’s resident Bostonian and Red Sox expert, to take part in this column, for obvious reasons.
To: Kristen Munson
From: Ana Patejdl
Re: Red Sox Nation on the West Coast
It’s official. The Red Sox Nation is everywhere.
Fenway Park and McAfee Coliseum in Oakland are 3,104 miles apart. And yet, outside the park before Monday’s game between the A’s and the Sox, I could have sworn I was in Boston. Kristen, you bet me a Coliseum dog that “your people” would be out in full-force. I took you up on it, and when we got to the park, it was painfully obvious that I was going to leave $4.75 poorer.
Though ESPN would like you to think the Red Sox (OK, and the Yankees) are the center of the Major League Baseball universe, I wanted to see for myself whether I should believe this.
Once inside the Coliseum, I knew I’d get an even truer gauge of Boston fans’ presence. Sure enough, they were there. The park was pretty evenly split between green and red. But I had a tough time finding truly stand-out A’s fans. On several occasions, I thought I saw some fully decked out in green, but then they turned around to reveal “Event Services” on their backs.
As a Cubs fan and (former) frequenter of Wrigleyville, I feel I “get” the tradition of a storied franchise like the Sox, and therefore, have the best understanding an outsider of the Nation could have about the love that goes on between the people of Boston and their Sox.
Still, I wasn’t expecting there to be that much BoSox love at the Coliseum. I had several well-developed reasons: 1. It was a Monday night game. 2. It was the Coliseum. 3. It’s the A’s. See? I promised well-developed.
I now understand, what I didn’t factor into my theory were the intangibles that make the Nation what it is.
So Kristen, I have to ask, what exactly is it that possesses Red Sox Nation to be so loyal, more so than any other American sport fan base out there? And why are you people everywhere?
But before you answer, there’s one more thing. A’s fans, you should be ashamed of yourselves. How dare you allow Sox fans to dominate your park? Actually, more bothersome was the fact that you let the Boston fans come in, get comfortable in their seats and the cold weather and cheer like they were at Fenway. It wasn’t until after your A’s won the game that you all got the courage to start talkin’ some smack to the Nation and defending your team. So weak.
To: Ana Patejdl
From: Kristen Munson
Re: Red Sox Nation on the West Coast
First off: My Coliseum dog was tasty. I had faith that my people would come out en masse. But to be honest, Fenway Franks are the best. Just the smell alone was enough to make me eat beef again after a 15-year hiatus. I have had many a Dodger dog. I have experienced the hot dogs at Ameriquest Field. Those were truly shocking. You would think in Texas, they would have gotten the beef frank down. But only in Boston …
I will let you in on the secrets of Red Sox Nation. No. 1, you cannot break us. It took us 86 years to win another World Series. And every year we believed it would happen. When it didn’t – it was the work of destiny, not a curse.
The only team cursed is the Cubbies.
Red Sox Nation breeds followers. People follow the Yankees because they like feel like winners. But it takes a person of true character to be a Sox fan. We were losers for 86 years straight, but we never folded. My grandfather was 84 when they won last year. He only wished he was young enough to flip cars afterwards. Last season, many fans, cut deep from 1975, from 1986, opened their closets and dug out that signature blue and red cap, dusted it off, and knew: This is the year.
Why? Because Red Sox fans have heart. You’ve seen the footage of Curt Schilling’s bloody sock. We beat the most winning franchise in baseball history with that alone in the ALCS last fall. We came back three games to none. No other team has every done that.
And we knew we would.
Monday night, A’s fans turned out because they wanted to see the Sox lose. Not the A’s win. They wanted Johnny Damon to go 0 for 5. They wanted Francona to be tossed early on. They prayed Keith Foulke would shatter like the bat that hit him in the eighth inning. That is not a true fan. A true fan believes their team will come back when they are down three games to none in the ALCS.
Red Sox Nation came to the Coliseum to reconnect with a little bit of sacred history, with family. I am over 3,000 miles away from mine. But when I walk into any stadium and see the Sox take the field I know that Manny, Big Papi, Timmy Wakefield, Tek, Trot, Johnny, Doug, Kevin Youkilis, Schilling, Mike Timlin, Arroyo, Bill Mueller, Kevin Millah, and my personal favorite, Mark Bellhorn, will take me home.
