Prior to the Red Sox winning it all in 2004, Red Sox fans were, for the most part, looked upon with a little sadness and some respect by the fans of the rest of Major League Baseball. But any sympathies fans might have had for Sox fans disappeared when they became “Red Sox Nation†and the team won the World Series in both 2004 and 2007. Happy and proud Red Sox fans, it turns out, are not popular in MLB.
Since 1967, there was a fan base that stood behind its team no matter what the outcome. Before the “Impossible Dream Team†in ’67, the Fenway Faithful weren’t always that faithful and to this day the team and baseball historians credit manager Dick Williams and his team for bringing Red Sox fans back to the team. The 1970s and 1980s had their share of good times for Red Sox fans but there were also plenty of bad times. While they had Carlton Fisk’s home run in game six of the 1975 World Series, the Red Sox ended up losing the series. In 1978, the Red Sox had a 14-game lead in the division July and struggled the rest of the season so much that the division winner was decided by a one-game playoff game in October against the New York Yankees (the infamous “Bucky Effing Dent†game), which they lost. And, of course, there was the 1986 World Series against the New York Mets, most notable for a ball going through first baseman Bill Bucker’s legs in Game Six (followed by a Game Seven that many people forget existed in which the Red Sox lost 8-5).
2004 changed the culture of being a Red Sox fan and other fans took notice. Red Sox fans weren’t ashamed of their team and came to believe the team could accomplish anything, much to the consternation of the other fans. So when the Red Sox blew a nine-game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays in September this year, giving the Rays the Wild Card and sending the Red Sox home for the season, it was called the worst collapse in regular season history…and fans of the other 29 teams in MLB ate it up.   Red Sox fans had, in the eyes of many, become arrogant, entitled and annoying and the collapse gave all their critics the opportunity to take out the struggles of the team on the fans who support them.
Maybe it isn’t the worst thing to happen to Red Sox fans? Maybe the notion of “Red Sox Nation†can be tossed out and fans can just go back to being fans? This off-season will bring a number of changes to the team (it has already begun with manager Terry Francona leaving the day after the season ended) and it seems that Red Sox fans might have to learn what it is to just be fans and not a “nation.”
(Originally published on Examiner.com)