Disgraceful and Ungrateful
Posted by pauliesplatform on June 19, 2010
Today I am embarrassed to be a Boston Red Sox fan. The display put on last night by the supposed “most knowledgable fans in baseball” toward Manny Ramirez was an absolute joke.
Manny returned to Fenway Park for the first time since his controversial exit from Boston in July 2008 and the best “Red Sox Nation” could do to thank him for helping bring two World Series home was boo him?
Are these people sitting in Fenway last night serious? This is a disgrace. I don’t care what Manny did on the “business” side of the game toward the end of his time in Boston. Yes, he forced a trade. But that’s part of the game and all players are the same in that vein. Business always comes first. Any sane fan knows that and should accept it.
For his on-field contributions, Manny should never be booed. Without his work, it’s 91 years and counting to another championship. And that’s what last night’s return should have been about- a tribute to Manny’s play, the World Series wins and standing ovations to honor it.
Instead, most Red Sox fans took the “I am going to feel morally superior” route and booed him because they didn’t like his attitude. You know what I say to those fans? Fuck you and crawl back in your shell and never go to Fenway Park again. The team doesn’t need fans like you.
Some would say that Johnny Damon got booed when he returned, despite his contributions, because he didn’t want to be in Boston so Manny should get the same treatment. Huh?????
That is a totally different situation. Johnny Damon played out his contract and then put himself on the free agent market, as was his right. Johnny got booed because he publicly stated during the process he would never sign with the Yankees and then he turned around and did just that as soon as they offered him more money. That’s called being a traitor and turncoat who doesn’t keep his word. Plus he went to the Yankees which in the world of Sox fans is the ultimate sin. Damon deserved to be booed for that. His on-field contributions were never a question. His Game 7 grand slam is what put the Red Sox in the 2004 World Series.
The way I see it, Damon would have been okay with Fenway fans except for two things: he put his foot in his mouth and signed with the only team that would cause him to be booed. And those were the only two things he could possibly do to get the reception he got.
But back to Manny. He deserved the hero’s welcome that Pedro and Nomar got in their returns to Fenway. Pedro was the King of Fenway upon his return with the Mets. The difference between him and Damon? He didn’t state that he wouldn’t sign with the Yankees and he ultimately didn’t. He signed with the Mets instead, which was totally fine.
It’s an embarrassment that the boos for Manny grew with each at-bat. How soon people forget how things were before Manny got here.
Baseball is a game and when a hero returns he should be treated accordingly in relation to what he accomplished on the field. Nobody did more for the Sox in the last 10 years than Manny.
Sadly, the fans sitting in Fenway last night forgot that and instead acted like the ungrateful, selfish beings that they are. They criticize Yankees fans as being arrogant and entitled? In this case Sox fans are no better. They showed last night how stupid and petty they can be as well.
