The Red Sox lost to the Twins, 9-4, yesterday and no doubt some of the
fellas will be glad to hit the road tonight in Kansas City. Fenway can be
a rough place to play, even when you have the third-best record in the
majors - which is what the Sox had before yesterday's loss.
Maybe it's because of the highest prices in baseball. Maybe it's
because of a bloodthirsty print media and the miserable fellowship of
sports talk radio. Or maybe an 85-year championship drought creatics a
natural cynicism in the fandom. Whatever the cause, the Sox often are
openly mocked by their fans when they don't win.
Yesterday's loss dropped the Sox to 11-4 at home this year, a pretty
good percentage. And yet the losses seem to take on added emphasis in the
crowd. There were several instances during which the bulk of the 32,887
either booed the homeboys or insulted them with mock cheers.
It was a somewhat embarrassing loss. The Sox held a 4-0 lead in
the sixth, yet were routed. Minnesota batted around in consecutive
innings, scoring four in the sixth and five in the seventh. Once again,
the Boston bullpen was an open sore. It was a 4-4 game when Mike ''Live
Free or Die'' Timlin relieved Tim Wakefield and before Timlin got his
second out, it was 6-4. It was one of those Mendoza, Embree, Howry
implosions for which the Sox pen has become famous this year.
Naturally, Timlin was booed when he left.
Next came the mock cheering. In some ways, this is more of a diss than
a simple boo. Mock cheering is downright scornful. It's like being told
you're fat and ugly. Fat hurts enough. Why add insult to insult?
The first mock cheer came when Jason Shiell stopped the run of five
consecutive baserunners, getting Todd Sears to hit into a fielder's
choice. It happened again when Shiell got Luis Rivas on a grounder for the
second out of the (five-run, two-error, one-wild pitch) inning.
There was more. David Ortiz was booed when he lost a popup in the sun
(the ball landed in foul territory). And in the bottom of the eighth, the
crowd went absolutely wild when Carl Beane announced, ''Now batting for
Jeremy Giambi ... ''
You barely could hear pinch hitter Jason Varitek's name. It didn't
matter. All that mattered to the fans was that Giambi (.125) wasn't
going to bat. Craig Grebeck would have been a happy alternative for
the restless fandom.
''You can't change some things,'' shrugged Varitek. ''Jeremy's going to
figure it out and be OK. David's going to figure it out, too. It's the way
it is here. I don't know how to comment other than that. It ain't going to
change. Well, it will change one day [when they win the World Series].
That will change it, maybe for a year.
''But having been here six years, I know that's just the way it is. I
can't speak for other people, but I love playing here. There's both sides
to it, you know? I enjoy the extremes.''
Kevin Millar, who has been here only a month, said, ''That's just the
way fans are. They're having fun and it doesn't really affect us. Fans
like to see the good. It doesn't bother me. They'll root you on here, too.
That's why they're the best fans in baseball.''
Tim Wakefield, yesterday's starter and who has been in Boston longer
than any active Sox player, said, ''You [media] contribute to it. They
take what you write down as gospel [not what my e-mailers report, Tim].
But overall, I guess they are as competitive as we are and want us to do
well. They are as frustrated as us and it's been that way here a long
time.''
Citing the media's responsibility certainly makes sense, as does the
championship drought. But it feels like the raging bullpen is what's got
the Nation in knots. Though the Sox are a gaudy 20-11, it feels like
they'd be 26-5 if not for the guys in Gasoline Alley.
''Boston fans have always been restless,'' said Timlin, who like Embree
and Howry before him, has not been afraid to face the firing squad of
microphones. ''Even when I came here with the Blue Jays I knew they wanted
to win. They're just competitive people. They just want you to keep
trying. They want results on the field. They can blame us [bullpen] all
they want, but this is a team game.''
Tonight the Red Sox play in Kansas City. Far from the mad crowd on
Yawkey Way.
By Dan Shaughnessy of The Boston Globe Staff.
This story ran on page D51 of the Boston Globe on
5/5/2003.
Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.