It's too high to get over (yeah, yeah)
Red Sox fans have an undeniable spring in their step as they await Game 1 of the World Series in the greatest ballpark in the world …
Bill:
So the denial and rationalization has already started.
Pinto has a merry musing
asserting "Yankees will always have Bucky Dent" as "those things don't go away"
Doug:
Ah, for fuck's sake. Recent history always trumps the older stuff. Take Michael Jackson. What pops into your mind when you first think of him? The fucking moonwalking megastar singing Billy Jean or the fucking noseless freak who wanna be startin' something with little boy peepees?
Bill:
No shit. And it isn't just that Bucky Dent is washed up as a barb to Sox fans, the Yankees now have to deal with that shocking image of A-Rod bitch slapping Arroyo. Total fucking anti-mystique.
Bill:
Can you say irony? Turns out the greatest fucking thing to happen to the Red Sox was
not
getting A-Chop.
Doug:
Yeah, lets look at the history. Seattle has A-Rod and they suck. Send his sorry ass packing and they win 100 games. Texas gets A-Rod and they become the worst team in the AL. Rangers fly his purple lips to NY and immediately have one of their best seasons in years.
Bill:
Right. Then the so-called greatest franchise in all of sports gets A-Rod and they proceed to play out the greatest choke in the history of the game punctuated by that flailing white gloved sissiness and underlined by the screaming Jeter trying to convince the world A-Rod was really safe. My God that's fucking embarrassing.
Doug:
OK. This Spankees talk is starting to bore me. Yesterday's news and all that.
Bill:
Right you are, dude. Bring on La Russa and his Poo Holes!
"[T}he fucking noseless freak who wanna be startin' something with little boy peepees?" and "La Russa and his Poo Holes". Holy shit, my balls have fallen off from the laughter.
Posted by: da kine | 2004.10.22 at 07:08 AM
Thanks for the link!
Actually, if Boston had A-Rod, the Yankees would not have made the wild card, and this great comeback would not have happened. So yes, be grateful Theo couldn't make the deal. :-)
Posted by: David Pinto | 2004.10.22 at 09:13 AM
Let the MFY have the past.
We have the future.
P.S. Does anyone have Michael Kay's phone number?
Posted by: Allan | 2004.10.22 at 10:18 AM
But wait, there's more. Did I not read over at nytimes.com that many of the Yankee "faithful" (cough, cough) left early? Did not even that noted philosopher Yogi Berra, the very man who coined "It ain't over until it's over!" leave during the 7th inning?
How often have I, a Red Sox fan, stared the executioner in the eye, cursing him with my last breath as the bullet crashed into my heart? But the Yankee "fans" haven't the character to stick with their team until the end? FAH! They should be the ones that Gayrod bitch-slapped.
Posted by: Ron Fox | 2004.10.22 at 10:33 AM
I love it! When I read that Yogi Bera left the game early I almost peed my pants laughing. What kind of a fan is that? HA! I can't tell you how many times I've stayed at Fenway watching the game, cheering til I couldn't speak, even when the Sox were so far behind there was no chance. Who has the real fans?
But that Yanks are behind us now. Times to focus in the Cards. GO RED SOX!
Posted by: Jennifer | 2004.10.22 at 11:54 AM
An Open Letter to the Red Sox faithful, The Curse of the Garciaparra
Congratulations,
Yesterday was a glorious day, perhaps the most important day of your lives...or at least of the rest of your lives.
In a way you are all Born Again Red Sox fans. The long dark struggle is over. The age of enlightenment is at hand. You can no longer cry "Down with the Evil Empire!" You can no longer play the part of the tortured soul; baseball's Job eternally tested by Abner Doubleday. You can no longer say to a Yankee fan, "But you don't know how it feels to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory...to have a trip to the World Series be within one swing of the bat" (Tony Clark, Game 6).
I disavow the whole notion of Red Sox nation...it's no more cohesive than America itself. It is a nation divided; made up of bandwagoners, flip-floppers (oh, how the nation's citizens expatriated by the 6th inning of Game 3 this year, only to re-emigrate after Saint Curt's Game 6 performance), fair-weather fans (by Game 5 how many in Red Sox nation had believed in Mark Bellhorn or Derek Lowe?), rioters, looters, miscreants, but you true believer, you are among the Nation's faithful, and for that I commend you for all your years of devotion despite the Red Sox's continual inept brilliance. You truly deserved Wednesday night and I have no doubt you savored every hairy minute of it.
I am sincerely happy and hope this newfound glory endures for many moons. I have already accepted the fact that it will be a long, cold winter in the Bronx (and in Tampa).
Though we have been diametrically opposed on the diamond, I have always also felt a karmic kinship to Boston's true believers baseball-wise.
I came of age during the Mattingly era...I spent my whole adolescence, high school and college years rooting for a team with not one appearance in the postseason. As bleak as those years were, I never questioned my faith in the team...whether Game 7 signals a return to the lean years during my youth or a mere blip in the last decades' worth of contention among the elite in the MLB, like you have done your whole lives, I will still have faith and still have an undying love for the Yankees.
I guess we Yankee fans can all finally say with great conviction, "Wait till next year!"
Wednesday night was not painful, 1995 and 2001, especially 2001 were far worse than this.
If the Yankees, so vilified by Red Sox fans the world over, are truly a cancer, then I am happy to report that the recent 4 game diagnosis proves that it is in remission. Somewhere between the 1996 team and this year's team is the right combination of talent, heart and $...the 2004 model certainly lived and died by its payroll...but next year will be a different story.
Yes, the Yankees had a payroll of $58M more than the Red Sox this year, but before you are quick to point the finger at us and declare foul, realize that to do so, would be the proverbial pot calling the kettle black while throwing stones in a glass house. You, yourselves are guilty of the same offense. You see, know matter who won the NLCS last night, your beloved under-dirt dogs would have a $50M payroll advantage going into the World Series. Hypocrisy is a bitch, ain't it.
When it comes down to it, the Red Sox are pretty much just like the Yankees (save for the long hair, beards, gerry curls, corn rows, pine tar crusted helmets, baggy uniforms, & midgets). Be prepared, for this year in the World Series, you ARE the Yankees.
If you had to go against the Houston Astros, the story would be that they have NEVER won a World Series. The fact that Boston has more $ and have already won 5 makes you guys look greedy.
Now, since you will meet the St. Louis Cardinals, I think I have a good idea where you can redirect your hatred of the Yankees. In your last 4 World Series appearances, they beat you TWICE, both times in game 7. The Yankees may have fully proved that they are indeed Pedro's Daddy Wednesday night, but a quick examination of World Series history indicates that the Red Sox's Daddy is a little red bird.
1967 St. Louis 4, Boston 3
1946 St. Louis 4, Boston 3
All in all I wish you luck. The Red Sox have stepped through the looking glass and the world will never be the same. The Expectation of Success is stressful enough, failure is downright painful...you can never go home again to your house of beautiful losers. You're just like the Yankees now, nothing short of a World Series win this year, and next year, and next year, and next year, etc. will suffice.
Before I say goodbye for now, I'll leave you all with a few questions to ponder that I came up with while looking back at Boston's rich history in the World Series; you guys were the first champions after all, way back in 1903, and ironically were regarded as evil, perpetual winners up to 1918.
Who will be this year's pitching liability ala Calvin Schiraldi in '86?
Who will pull this year's defensive boner ala Bill Buckner in '86 and Johnny Pesky in '46?
Who will be this year's unstoppable slugger ala Enos Slaughter in '46 and Joe Morgan in ‘75?
Who will be this year's dominant starting pitcher ala Bob Gibson in '67 and Babe Ruth in 1916 & 1918?
Who will have a career defining moment ala Carlton Fisk in ’75?
Good luck with Frankenschilling. Good luck with Manny Ortiz. And win or lose over the next few weeks, good luck with the riots.
In Ruth We Trust,
Joel Goodson
Lifelong Yankee Fan
Posted by: Joel | 2004.10.22 at 12:52 PM
Joel, I believe I speak for just about everyone here in saying that I read about two sentences of your Iraqi Information Ministry-esque bulletin and then stopped. I was distracted by a few dust particles floating by, and then I watched my fingernails grow for a solid two minutes. Then I thought about how damn wonderful squirrels are, and how much fun I have in watching them gambol about on my lawn...so carefree. So innocent.
Wait...were you talking?
Bottom line, Joel: We don't care. You lost. And you will NEVER hear the end of it, and not just from people in Boston. You people have given us a lifetime of grief, and now it's over. We're not listening to you anymore. Sorry. Now tuck your Daily News under the armpit of your shiny Yankees jacket and fuck off.
So, if you're coming back here looking for rebuttals to something you said that no one cares about, don't bother.
You're dead to us now. Have a nice life.
Posted by: Joe Torre's Nostril | 2004.10.22 at 02:26 PM
Holy crap that was a long post. Good luck in the essay writing contest. I got bored and stopped reading after the 3rd paragraph... Hope it made you feel better at least.
You guys just don't get it, the more you write this kind of b.s., the more we just sit back and laugh (at you).
Posted by: mr blackandwhite | 2004.10.22 at 02:37 PM
The comic above is hilarious, and I am a life-long (since birth in 1971) Yankees fan. Purple lips - ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! I have to agree that A-Rod's slap was completely lame. And sincere congrats to all Red Sox fans, your team completely deserves to be where they are. You kicked the Yankees ass, and were quite impressive in the process. Of course, I am rooting for the Cards, but I can totally appreciate your team, and your loyalty to your team. I have quite a few friends (and family members) who root for the Sox, and I am actually happy for them. Not happy enough to hope the Sox win the WS, but you get the picture....
I am in agreement with Joel however, that losing the 2001 WS was far worse, I think mostly b/c it was somewhat unexpected. With this series, I just knew that it was going to go the Sox's way after they won Game 4, so I guess I had time to get used to the concept of failure. The feeling of resignment I had during Game 7 last year with Pedro pitching and the Yanks down by what, 5 runs (or was it only 3?) in the 8th inning, was worse (although the Yankees won that game, obviously). I was literally sick to my stomach with the notion that the Red Sox would win the ALCS last year. This year wasn't nearly as bad, and I think it's because they fought their butts off to do what no team has ever done before in the history of baseball, and b/c I am a true baseball fan, I really can respect that accomplishment. It is pretty cool.
Posted by: Ashley | 2004.10.22 at 02:49 PM
I love Joe Torre's Nostril. Love.
Posted by: JB | 2004.10.22 at 03:18 PM
So, am I the only one who thinks Sox fans should be scouring E-Bay for used "Who's Your Daddy?" t-shirts? Since that phrase has officially entered the record books as the Sports Taunt With The Shortest Shelf Life In The History Of The World, there should be plenty of those beauties on the market. Most with the price tags still on them...
Seriously, grab those shirts while you can, people. They will be worth lots of money someday, for the same reason that an original copy of the "Dewey Defeats Truman" newspaper is worth a mint.
Posted by: Aaron | 2004.10.22 at 05:00 PM
Actually, I think that Pedro had the last laugh. So, he gave up 2 runs. So what. He handled them in his last start. He went in on 2 days rest in relief to do one thing; get from Lowe to Timlin without giving away the store. And he did. If at that point the Red Sox had traded 2 runs for 3 outs the rest of the game, they still win. I think Pedro should get one of those T-Shirts and wear it every time he goes to Yankee Stadium. At least, presuming he isn't wearing pinstripes when he goes (perish the thought).
Posted by: Ron Fox | 2004.10.22 at 06:37 PM
I agree with everything you said. That's precisely WHY I think Sox fans would want those shirts, as an ironic comment on Yankees fans and their arrogance. And like I said, after the glorious events of Wednesday night, there should be plenty of them available, dirt cheap....but thirty years from now, they'll be worth big bucks.
And if not, they'll still have great sentimental value; something you can pull out of your closet to show the grandkids, as you tell them the story of 2004, the year Yankee Mystique was destroyed forever. :)
Posted by: Aaron | 2004.10.22 at 07:08 PM
Joel,
Sometimes, ya just gotta say "What the fuck?!".
Posted by: Joe | 2004.10.23 at 02:05 AM
What he heck was that essay about?
Do you write for John Kerry?
All that nonsense just to vent on this site? Joel, in the middle of your PATHETIC, "give me my Yankee pacifier and the 2000 World Series highlights dvd", you fail to realize that the BOSOX won the ALCS not the NLCS. Calm down, put down your life-size A-rod stuff doll and step bck from the ledge.
Suck it up.
Posted by: Mazz | 2004.10.23 at 09:47 AM
I have heard the same sort of lame-ass crap from CT and NY transplants here in Mass. All I have to say is STFU, I am trying to watch my team, A TEAM THAT IS ACTUALLY IN THE WS. You Spankees fans watch whoever you like...make whatever excuses you like..we just don't give a rat's ass. WE WON, you lost, WE'RE IN IT, your not. Have some self-respect for Christ's sake.
Posted by: Follower of Tito | 2004.10.23 at 03:10 PM
Can any one tell me why Foulke has a Texas flag on his glove??
Posted by: luis | 2004.10.24 at 10:13 AM
Wow, that Joel dude is in severe denial. Has to pen War and Peace to convince his bruised and battered ego that he’s OK. Well, Joel, I have news for you. Your Yankees just completed the biggest choke job in the history of sports. C-H-O-K-E. That’s right, learn it quick. The quicker you learn to accept reality, the sooner you can recover and get over your denial.
Ok, yeah I know your essay was written as therapy for yourself, and as such was filled with fantasy, but here’s the truth: The Yankees are a class unto themselves in terms of outspending their opponents and using $$$$$ as a competitive advantage. In 2002 and 2003, they spent THREE TIMES that of the Angels and Marlins (and lost nevertheless, lol). That’s 300% more, Joel. Not the 54% more that the Sox will spend versus the Cardinals. THREE HUNDRED percent!! So, Joel, rest assured, your Yankees remain the undisputed champs of payroll disparity. How sad.
Posted by: Barrett | 2004.10.24 at 04:37 PM
one time at band camp I stuck a flute in my A-rod
Posted by: djspoz | 2004.11.02 at 12:36 AM