I think you should wait for it

In the fourth inning, David Ortiz struck out for the second time of the night and fans at Fenway Park started booing him.  I honestly can’t remember the last time I got so mad over something so stupid the fans did.  I don’t care if he strikes out for the rest of the season.  I don’t care if his average and OBP get into negative numbers.  As much as I’m against booing your players, any of  your players, just on general principle, the idea that ANYONE who identifies as a Boston Red Sox fan would even THINK about booing Big Papi makes me see flames.  If you have so little appreciation for what that man has done for this organization and this fan base that you could so easily humiliate or hurt him by booing him….you have no business calling yourself a fan or stepping foot into Fenway Park.  It’s disgusting that there were enough idiots there last night booing him in the fourth that you could hear them on NESN (and at the park…folks I know who were there heard it too…this wasn’t remote or just a handful of fools).

It was pointed out to me last night that Ted Williams was booed at Fenway as well.  It was also pointed out that part of the reason was because Ted Williams could be a bit of a <I’d rather not write the word on my blog.  Let’s just say he wasn’t warm and fuzzy to folks>.  If we want to use this comparison, as amazing as a player as Williams was (and there is NO denying his God-given talents and how much he meant to the Red Sox and the fans) the one thing no one has ever said about Big Papi is that he is a mean or bad person.  So let’s do the tally:  He’s a good person, he adores the fans, he is a huge part of the reason the Sox have 2 World Championship titles in the 2000’s…and you think it’s a good idea to boo him because either he’s just struggling to begin the year (hello JD Drew) or his skills are diminishing with age?

What in the hell are people thinking?

Don’t tell me you’re frustrated…no one is more frustrated than Papi.  Support the man and his struggles instead of pointing out the obvious in the most obnoxious way possible.  There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that were I sitting in Fenway last night I would have gotten into the face of one of the jackass booers and, eventually, gotten myself booted from the park.

(I feel like I should take a moment to say that I’m one of the most even-tempered, quiet people you’ll ever meet.  Seriously, I am.  I’m low-key and mellow about 99% of the time.  It takes a lot to make me mad and I’m not one of those loud, obnoxious people you wouldn’t want to sit with at a game.  This is probably why when I’m at a game my hackles get up so quickly.  Having fun is one thing, being a jackass is another.  Being a jackass who thinks it is fun to boo players on your own team will make me use my outside voice on you.)

Jason Varitek calmed me down a bit with his home run in the fifth.  Three homers in two games.  I like this whole “resting Tek for a week and he’ll keep hitting home runs” philosophy!  :)  I also like Tek catching for Beckett.  (And while they did steal on him, none of his throws to second made it to center field…so there’s that.)

When Papi came up in the sixth with Youk on first, NESN picked up the “Pa-pi” chants.  This, at least, gave me the feeling that there were fans at Fenway who didn’t like the booing last time around and decided to counter it with some positive reinforcement.  Go figure, while the fans were chanting for him, Papi hit a double.  Which leads me to the second time that night I might have been kicked out of Fenway – because I’m pretty sure calling Tim Bogar a @&#%! is cause for ejection from the park under the rules of the Fenway Nine.  Rightfully so.  But good God in heaven what was he thinking sending Youk home with no score and no outs?  Thanks to Rob Bradford, we don’t have to wonder:

(What did you see?) “The ball hit down the line, wet grass, mud, right against the wall. I felt like they had to make two perfect throws to throw him out and they didn’t make two perfect throws but it was pretty close though. I obviously understand with no outs getting thrown out at the plate, but I thought there was a chance to take the lead.”

(Thoughts about holding the runner with nobody out) “I think it’s obvious in normal baseball that’s what you do. I just felt like it was an opportunity to score a run right there, especially with the conditions of the field. It was a play they had to make perfectly, and he was thrown out. That’s the way it goes.”

“That’s the way it goes.”  You know, honestly, this is exactly what I want the third base coach to say.  Actually what I want him to say is “Screw everyone for second guessing me at my job.  You think it’s so easy, YOU come out here and do it!”   The idea, though, that he isn’t publicly beating himself up over something every other human being who witnessed the game thinks they could have done differently and with much better results says something about his ability to deal with the insanity that is the Boston Red Sox fans and media.  So while I don’t agree with the call and absolutely believe the game would have ended with a 2-1 score instead of a tie, I have to respect Tim Bogar and his facing the media last night and defending his waving Youk home.

Speaking of the tie…good freaking Lord are you kidding me?  I know how hard it was raining.  I know the field was a mess.  I get that the umps can’t control what the score is when they decide it’s really best for everyone to suspend the game.  But how is it that everyone in Fenway came up with the same two issues?  1) It wasn’t raining any harder at the bottom of the ninth than it was at the top – so why decide to stop in the bottom instead of the top? and 2)  Once the tarp was brought out, why not acknowledge that the rain wasn’t going to stop or even let up just a little and call the damn game and let people go home?  It was an hour before they called the game.  An hour of my reading tweets from folks at the park saying there was no way the game was getting played, yet people who might not get back to Fenway this year or who have never been to Fenway or who just really believed there was a chance the game would get finished, stuck it out in the rain for an hour only to be told to go home.  And there was no closure.  You couldn’t lament your team losing another game and  you couldn’t bask in the glory of the first win of the homestand.  No resolution here, folks!  Have a good night and drive safely!

We got some great pitching last night.  The Rays one run was unearned.  This is important to hold on to going forward.  Hopefully the rain isn’t so terrible tonight that we don’t get the last half of the ninth and then tonight’s game in.  (That’s the other thing, and I totally understand it because you can’t let 39,000 people in the park for the end of one game and get them out in time to let the next 39,000 people in for the next, but can you imagine putting yourself through that entire game last night…in the cold and rain…and then not being able to see the completion of it in person?)

Two quick notes about how GOOD fans can be too.  Since my entry on Kyle Snyder and his surgery, I’ve received a lot of email from folks wishing him well.  It was great to get all the good wishes for Kyle.  You can never spread around enough good karma – so thanks for that everyone!  Also, a lot of folks have been finding my blog while searching “Heidi Watney concussion” and since I mentioned this on Twitter a few people have emailed me expressing concern for her and asking if I know what’s going on.  I don’t.  But I think it’s nice to acknowledge that there are a lot of people out there concerned for her well-being.  NESN’s official line is she is “under the weather” (she’s missed every game from last Friday to last night so far).  I’ve heard rumors but nothing confirmed.  Regardless of my feelings about her ability to do her job, I genuinely hope Heidi is all right and gets healthy soon.  (I won’t say I hope she’s back on NESN soon because, honestly, if we have to have sideline reporters, I’m enjoying Jade McCarthy and Kathryn Tappen.  But I don’t wish any bad health issues on Heidi.  I’m not completely evil!)