But I wrote back then, if I may quote myself, "One day soon this orgy of relief and joy, these tears shed for relatives who lived and died without seeing this moment, it's all going to seem a little silly ... Don't be surprised if a decade or so from now the Red Sox are looked upon as Evil Empire II, the Yankees North."
A decade? It seems to me it's already happened in two years. It's how I feel about them, with their huge fan base, their cash register of a stadium, their massive payroll, their all-around junior Yankeeness. And judging from the message boards and radio shows I've seen and heard and my own in box, I'm nowhere close to being the only one.
It doesn't take long to go from David to Goliath. I should have known that. You know how the Atlanta Braves seem like imperial overlords in the National League? They already seemed that way in 1993, when they fought off the San Francisco Giants in a division race and then were upset by the Philadelphia Phillies in the playoffs.
This was two years after they'd been an out-of-nowhere, worst-to-first World Series team following two decades of nearly constant losing. Two years. That's what it takes to cement a reputation, I guess.
But speaking of the Braves, which I just was doing so I could make this smoove transition, they've finally stumbled this year and will miss the playoffs for the first time since 1990. Why isn't that as much fun as the pratfall of the Sox, and have I mentioned that the Sox are 8-21 in August, 18-29 since the All-Star break?
It probably is if you're a Mets fan, and your team is finally eligible to win something other than a wild card. But I'm not feeling any great national dancing on the grave of the Braves.
There's more to it than just being overdogs. It's fun to watch the Red Sox lose because the Boston media is brutal toward them when they're winning, and it turns downright savage when they start losing, and by losing I mean two or three games in a week.
Six in a row -- I mention that? -- and it's a veritable orgy of negativity in Beantown. Nothing short of perfection pleases the Boston commentariat, and in the last 88 years the Red Sox have been perfect for all of two weeks, in October 2004.
It's also fun because of Red Sox Nation. I know there are Red Sox fans who read this column -- there's even one who sometimes edits it -- and I love you all. [Thanks but no thanks, fathead. -- Ed.] Heck, my mom's a Red Sox fan and I love her. But, now that they've got their World Series win, it's just a downright gas to see Red Sox fans disappointed.
There's this unique quality to Red Sox fandom that got built up in all those years of futility. The Chicago Cubs and White Sox have had similar fruitless runs, but they're different. They're sad sacks.
The Cubs and White Sox routinely go half centuries without winning a pennant. The Red Sox haven't gone consecutive decades without one since the '30s. Being so close so relatively often and never getting there has created a mystique. Red Sox fandom has its own literature. It's practically a religion.
That was mildly annoying when the team hadn't won in a long lifetime. Now, with a 2-year-old World Series trophy and the expectation that another should be forthcoming before Manny Ramirez gets old in a few years, it's downright irritating.
Now that the Sox no longer deserve our sympathy, they're just another big-market, high-budget team whose fans have a sense of entitlement. They've been done in by a hideous and unfortunate series of injuries and medical conditions, which aren't to be crowed over but which are a part of most teams' seasons most years.
Every once in a while, a team that's good enough to win stays healthy enough to win. That happened to the Red Sox in 2004 and the White Sox in 2005. Good for them!
But now the Toronto Blue Jays, who have swallowed up ground on the Red Sox since the All-Star break by going what in normal times would be a dismal 20-26, are talking about whipping Boston in their four-game series at the Fens this weekend and eventually finishing in second place in the American League East, a position owned by the Red Sox since 1998.
Knock the Red Sox out of second place? The insolence!
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Day off Friday [PERMALINK]
This column will take a break Friday and return Tuesday after the holiday. Enjoy the long weekend.
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About the writer
King Kaufman is a senior writer for Salon. Visit his column archive. You can e-mail him at king at salon dot com or visit his MySpace page.
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