April 13, 2005
Enough already? Yeah right.
Today I found myself looking through some sites and went to ESPN. (By the way, ESPN has changed its appearance.) Anyway, I found the little tidbit on "Page 2" interesting. David Schoenfield offers 86 reasons to hate the Red Sox. I feel compelled to rebut his words.
In all honesty some of the things he writes are pretty funny. Some are creative and poignant. But some make my blood boil.
Let's start with No. 7 the $123 million payroll. If Mr. Schoenfield wants to blame anyone for the huge payroll, start with the Yankees. Their record $208 million, ruins it for everyone. The Yankees market is the largest in baseball and stretches into New England (the heart of Red Sox Nation). Besides the Red Sox actually cut their budget while New York's increased. Even the N.Y. Mets have been forced to increase its payroll past the $100 million marker.
No. 10 really gets me angry. Comparing Ted Williams "The Splendid Splinter" to Barry Bonds is just wrong. Yes, they both had issues with the media, but that is about it. "The Greatest Hitter to Ever Live" also was a war veteran, a championship fly-fisherman and a dedicated supporter of the Jimmy Fund. All brilliant qualities in any man. Mr. Williams did his thing without any "help" and Bonds never hit .400 even with all those walks. I'll also mention, Mr. Schoenfield is not old enough to remember or comment on Teddy Ballgame. Then in No. 45 he has the gaul to put fans down for booing Ted Williams. What's your argument again?
No. 16 "Hating Bill Buckner..." I unlike most Sox fans, I do not agree with this sentiment. I do not fault him for that infamous blunder. Truth is we had another game to play and didn't show up for it.
"No. 24 Theo Epstein's genius" It's funny Mr. Schoenfield is critical of a large payroll but when the GM tries to fix it, it's wrong. Yes, placing Manny on waivers was a good move. Cutting the budget may have gotten us Carlos Beltran, Magglio Ordonez, more pitching or (cough) A-Rod. At the very least, one could argue, the move motivated the slugger to hit over 40 home runs for the first time since coming to Boston.
No. 26 Jim Rice does deserve to go into the Hall of Fame. During a 10-year span (from 1975 to 1985) he led ALL major leaguers in home runs, rbis, runs and slugging percentage. I rest my case.
No. 48 through No. 59 - all those books. Apparently Mr. Schoenfield is against people making money off the Red Sox success. What does he do again?
No. 60 I'm confused, why would Tom Brady be on the list?
And finally No. 86. Funny stuff, who cares about the other Sox, even Chicago would rather watch a Cubs game.
I know I took this a little seriously, but it's been 86 years. Let Red Sox fans enjoy it...while we can.
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It bothers me when the press reports that teams like the Jay, Twins, and A's can't keep pace the big budget payrolls of Yankees and Sox..
Let me get this straight the Yankee payroll is 85 mil higher than sox(that's Arod, RJ, Sheffield money) and Sox are considered in the same spending league?
Whatever two premium pitching free agents or position players that come on the market each year the Yankees will always be able to take two immediately.
Posted by Tony
April 13, 2005 11:20 AM
Sure we love the Sox. Sure we do. But baseball is structured in a way severely diminishes the accomplishment of the World Series win last fall. If a team with a payroll in the middle third or (cough,cough) bottom third ever wins it all, that will be giant. Without a salary cap, however, it is akin to winning a duck-hunting contest with two or three times as many shells as a majority of the other hunters.
This, of course, makes the Patriots' accomplishment all the more remarkable: Almost the exact same payroll resources as all other teams, and they win it all not once, but three times.
Posted by
HatApril 13, 2005 12:21 PM
Hey Hat -
Some questions: Why have the Yankees failed to win a World Championship since 2000 though they have had the largest payroll each of those years?
Would you place the Arizona, Marlins and/or Angels World Series championships ahead of the Red Sox accomplishment?
Would you agree based on divisional threat and market proximity the Red Sox are forced to up the payroll in order to compete with the Yankees?
You can not compare an NFL championship with that of baseball. The salary structure is indeed completely different. The average baseball salary, according to Fox Sports at http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/3535562, is 2.6 million, in the NFL it is 1.33 million. That's not necessarily terrible. The problem: The Yankees have 3 of the top 5 highest salaries, 10 out of the top 50 players, while the Red Sox only have two (Schilling and Manny).
Posted by
Ed WalshApril 13, 2005 03:00 PM
I couldn't be happier that the Sox won the Series and defeated the Empire. However, the writer has a point.
There are more than 2 teams in MLB, and most people who live west of the Hudson River couldn't give a >bleep< about either the Sox or the Yankees or the rivalry.
If the Boy Genius was the GM of, say, the Kansas City Royals, where do you think they would've finished last year? Give any punk a $100M+ payroll and you've got a at least a fair chance of winning it all.
Great point about the Fisk HR - who cares! Why doesn't anyone ever talk about Game 7?!? They lost!
The 'Yankees Suck' cheer and merchandise is completely podunk, backwater, sophomoric drivel. It's got to just go away.
I couldn't believe the Yankees series last year; great drama, better baseball. So glad to see the Sox win.
The only way to better it this year: The yankees finish 37 games back, the Sox 1/2 game better, and the Minnesota Twins battle the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Fall Classic.
Posted by
GrantApril 13, 2005 06:25 PM
Thank you for the support, Grant. And exactly so, regarding the Royals.
Ed, you wrote nothing to refute my argument. Yes, Arizona, California and Florida accomplished the same result with less resources: that is a greater accomplishment. That the Yankees are well above the Sox in payroll I agree adds to the degree of their accomplishment, but it does not compare to one team essentially even in payroll to all others and winning it all nonetheless.
Bottom line: in baseball, w/out a cap, you can spend what you want. If you are a top 3 team in spending, anything less than a top three team on the field is a failure. Yankees losing in the ALCS w/ the most expensive team was rightfully considered a failure. Sox winning it all with the second-most expensive team is really a relatively minor acheivement.
In football, with the cap, anything above being 8-8 is a success. A championship is enormous. Three championships is just about unthinkable.
Posted by Hat
April 15, 2005 09:04 AM
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