Red Sox Rundown

Before the Red Sox blew their exhibition game against Boston College open in the fifth inning (of seven) this afternoon, the BC Eagles actually led the Sox, 1-0, for a short time. The Sox were hitless and panic was already starting to arise from the far corners of Red Sox Nation.

It’s a bad omen! The Sox bats can’t even hit college pitching! Baldelli’s a bust! And so on and so forth. Most of the Nation, to their credit, did remain calm, as, gratefully, did the Red Sox. The Sox beat the BC Eagles, 7-1, improving their all-time record against the team to 19-0. Whew. Then the Sox went on to lose their first official Spring Training game, 5-2, to an actual major league team, the Minnesota Twins.

Here are two comments I’ve found regarding the BC game, the first, I presume, by Chicken Little, and the second by Pollyanna.

“Get ready for a rough year, folks.”

“Junichi Tazawa will be an ace!”

and so on. Either the sky is falling or it’s a beautiful day to be alive, but we’re not sure which. A rough year after a 7-1 split squad victory? Junichi Tazawa an ace after throwing four pitches?

Every year around this time, when the Sox falter somehow in Spring Training, some of the diehards start biting their fingernails.  Even worse for their fingernails, Francona and the gang seem unphased by the Spring Training record and focus only on (gasp) the regular season. How dare they?

Then, when the Sox go on a long two-game winning streak in March, other fans declare that “This is the year!” (hint: this statement lost its effectiveness in 2004) and start making World Series plans. We’re a changeable little group, aren’t we?

I’m certainly not immune to panicking when no panic is necessary. Just ask my husband, who has the misfortune of being an Orioles fan. He lacks all sympathy when I bemoan the Sox’ annual August losing streak while his team is desperately searching for a tee-ball league to join. I’m also prone to over-optimism; I’m invariably disappointed when the Sox lose their first game of the season. There goes 162-0. If you don’t vary between these two extremes on a near-daily basis, you weren’t a Red Sox fan before 2004.

But how important are these Spring Training games, really? The 2008 AL Champion Tampa Bay Rays, for example, finished first in the Grapefruit League, sporting a record of 18-8. Pretty good omen, eh? But, lest you forget, those Rays did not win the World Series - the Phillies did. And they were 12-18 in the GFL last spring, third from the basement. The lowly Washington Nationals finished the spring with an identical record. How did other World Series champions fare? The 2007 Red Sox were 15-12, good for fifth among Grapefruit teams. The 2006 champion Cardinals were 15-14, the AL Champion Tigers (how the mighty have fallen!) were 18-15. Not bad. In 2005, though, the eventual World Series victors the White Sox finished 14-18 in spring games and won the World Series, while the NL Champion Astros were a mediocre 14-14.

So what can we read from the stats? Absolutely nothing. Turns out Francona was right, the games really don’t seem to be an omen of anything, except possibly how many beers were sold at the concession stand. And even that I’m not sure of.

So why do we do this to ourselves? I think it’s in our blood. I’m a Red Sox fan and I’m the child of Sox fans. They told me not to become a Red Sox fan in the same way a father would tell a daughter not to fall in love with the guy with the motorcycle who’s had six girlfriends in the past five minutes. I believe my mother crying over the 1986 World Series must be ingrained in me somewhere, although I was far too young to remember it. As Red Sox fans, we’re accustomed to collapses, and they must be spectacular collapses. And we haven’t had one in a while. Sorry, but 2008’s loss to the Rays just wasn’t painful enough to qualify. We somehow believe one is coming, and it’s gonna be one for the ages.

Did we forget? These aren’t our parents’ Red Sox. The boys of Beantown have won two - two! - World Series victories in the past five years, while many of our grandparents lived and died without seeing the Old Towne Team bring the trophy home.

So with that in perspective, maybe one Spring Training loss isn’t so bad after all.

As long as it’s not to BC.