So here’s what I will admit: I get why fans of other teams don’t like the Red Sox (and their fans). I do. You can’t turn on a national game, most of the time, without one of the teams playing being the Red Sox. During the season, you can’t put on ESPN or MLBN without being reminded that the Red Sox are struggling or succeeding, repeatedly. Ken Burns devoted a third of his newest documentary about baseball just to the Red Sox and ESPN decided everyone needed to understand what Red Sox fans went through in 2004 during those “Four Days in October”. (I had one fan email me to tell me he would have understood if those four days covered the World Series but not the ALCS because “Nobody but New York and Boston fans cares about your rivalry”.) Since 2001, the Red Sox have been in the post-season six times. Were I not a Red Sox fan, I’d be sick to death of them too.
I admit all of this because, really, I used to have no issues with the Phillies. There was no one I the team I disliked (Once Brett Myers left) and based on my own interactions with Phillies fans in their park, I didn’t have the strong animosity toward the fans that so many others do. After this past week, I’ll say this: If I never watch another Phillies game again it might be too damn soon.
The idea of another Phillies/Yankees World Series makes me sad. Because, as they say, I’ll be rooting for the meteor. I honestly won’t care one way or the other who wins. I always want the Yankees to lose, but in this scenario I’d want the Phillies to lose as well. What to do? What to do?
Much to my surprise, my only hope might be the San Francisco Giants. While the Atlanta Braves are making it interesting, the Giants have been impressing me. I have no doubt that whichever team faces the Phillies is going to have a tough time of it, but I’m an optimist and as the prophet Kevin Garnett has taught us, “Anything is possible”.
Reds get swept, Twins get swept, Giants are a game away from winning (but not sweeping) and the Rays and Rangers are bringing us an exciting game five tonight. Here’s hoping the damn cowbells get silenced by Mr. Cliff Lee. I’ll be watching. It might be with the sound muted, but I’ll definitely be watching.
Edited to add: I won’t be watching tonight since, as Brian points out in the comments “Game five is Tuesday fyi not tonight“. So I get one more day to wait for the silencing of the bells. (We DO get Derek Lowe pitching against Madison Bumgarner tonight, though!)
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