Brothers and sisters of Red Sox Nation, it is time. And someone’s got to say it. So I come before you today to bury a particularly notable version of our beloved team. Let those of us willing to mark the occasion now pause, bow our heads, and solemnly recognize that the Decade of the Sox (circa 2003-2012) is officially and irrevocably over. It was an extraordinary run, giving diehards and new fans alike the thrills and heartbreaks of a lifetime. But like everything good in life it had to come to an end. And now it has. Rest in peace.
If it started on that October night in 2003 when hapless manager Grady Little left Pedro Martinez in too long against the New York Yankees it surely ended on an April afternoon at Fenway Park, yesterday, when beleaguered Bobby Valentine’s squad, now 4-10 on the new season after imploding last year, blew a 9-0 lead after six innings in a 15-9 loss to the Yankees. The Yankees. The damn Yankees are always and forever the antagonists in any Red Sox story worth knowing, are they not? ...
Ah, but there is no need to be caustic about the passing of this glorious era in the team’s long history. There is no need to be sentimental, either. It was great while it lasted and it delivered unto the fervent Red Sox Nation two world championships, hard-won prizes it hadn’t savored in 86 years. I watched in disbelief in 2004. I was there in person in 2007. ...
Think of all the pink baseball caps that were sold. And all the Fenway tours that were filled. And all the bricks and bats and dirt and balls which were bought by fans all across the world. Think of all the Red Sox teddy bears, and onesies, and bankies that were ordered by parents for their children. Think of Fever Pitch, for goodness sakes, the Nation’s cinematic anthem by the Farrelly brothers. Betcha we won’t be seeing Drew Barrymore running across the outfield at Fenway Park ever again. And if she does perhaps Valentine can ask her to pitch.
The Red Sox will be good again one day, soon I hope, but for now we are left with a fragile, unlikeable team laden with underachieving prima donnas. A team that cannot pitch, that can only occasionally hit, and that saves its worst moments for the most crucial moments of the game. A team surrounded by questions. ...
Bobby Valentine said Saturday night, in the wake of the epic loss, that he believed the Sox have hit bottom. Maybe yes and maybe no. Maybe tonight their fifth starter, the one who should be their closer, will get rocked by the Yankees. Or maybe the Sox will win. Maybe they’ll win 85 or 90 games this year. Maybe not. Whatever this team does, whatever it is or may become, it will be of the new era that dawns today, the first day of the rest of the organization’s life. Denial. Anger. Bargaining. Depression. Acceptance. Here, the five stages of grief come down to two sentences: The Sox are dead. Long live the Sox.
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1. The Mohole* of David Wells (* - Piehole)I'd probably go with the Cardinals as owning that time period: they were in more WS than the Red Sox were (albeit one of those WS was a loss to BOS), they had the league's best player, they won the time period's best WS. I'd go with the Cardinals. Especially when AFMS (Adjusted For Market Size).
QFT.
If this is a reference to the World Series scene, then she actually ran across the outfield at Busch Stadium. No, she won't do that again.
Whereas the Red Sox won 4 World Series in the 1910s; the Cardinals won 3 World Series in the 1940s; and the Yankees, well, where to begin?
They aren't close to NY or Boston, but I always see St. Louis get treated as this small market because the town is as populous as Cleveland or Pittsburgh, but really the Cardinals market size is larger than that.
The 1976-83 Phillies give the current Phillies generation a run for its money, but yeah, this has been the best Phillies' era ever.
I came here to post that same snark, but realize you took a bullet for me, thanks.
In the film she runs across Fenway in game four to get to Jimmy Fallon. (Don't know if they actually used Fenway). It's in Busch that Fallon and Barrymore celebrate on the field.
A friend of mine here in the UK is an avid fan (of the Reds) but has only followed baseball for 4-5 years. When I told him the Phillies weren't historically a great team he was shocked.
They did. I was at the game they filmed it against the Angels in early September that they won (I wonder how this would have worked if they tried it last September). Poor Drew sprinted in while we all screamed and yelled at whatever Farrelly was directing the thing that day. She went all the way from centerfield, running around Johnny Damon in the process, then all the way to the seats at the end of the Red Sox dugout.
Then Farrelly said "Great, let's do it again."
And poor Drew had to go out behind second base and starting from there sprint in again. She did it about 3-4 more times and by the end I thought she was going to need the EMTs to come onto the field.
I thought the original actually got good press.*
Now, I KNOW I'm alone in thinking this, but I thought the Fallon-Barrymore film was good. The scene where Fallon is an ####### and causes the breakup..goes over to apologize expecting to find her moping, but finds she's having a party? Been there done that.
* Which reminds me of when Bill Simmons tried to equate the Sox with an EPL team and chose Arsenal. Reeeee-diculous. Even before Wenger, Arsenal has won championships. Pre-2004 they are Newcastle...post...Man City maybe?
And at 4:20 the key scene. Firth is crushed because Arsenal lost an easy game, and the girl thinks he's crushed because he missed out on a job interview.
On the plus side, at least TFA avoids the slavish devotion to defining a decade as beginning in a year that ends in a zero.
I agree, I love that movie. Probably watch it once a year.
I thought it was the Red Sox decade, if for not other reason than the media hype surrounding the team. The Cards were perhaps more successful on the field, but when people look back at this era of baseball, the Red Sox will be the first team they think of.
Maybe he thinks they had Alex Gonzalez and Alex Gonzalez?
I love the UK version - LOVE IT!!
"Who you please , please , please just ####### fuck off - you have arrived during the worst 30 seconds of my life" speech is one of my favourites
Also a fan of "Bull Durham," "Bang the Drum Slowly," "A League of Their Own," the original "Bad News Bears," "Cobb," "For Love of the Game," and (despite its inaccuracies) "Eight Men Out." Have not seen "Moneyball" or "Fear Strikes Out" or "The Jackie Robinson Story" or "Major League" yet. "The Natural" and "The Babe" and "The Rookie" and "Damn Yankees" aren't quite in the top category for me, but were at least worth seeing. Not a fan of "Field of Dreams."
I couldn't get into "Cobb" and walked out on "The Babe".
I think he intended to include Jed Lowrie but deleted him and didn't notice.
In "A League of Their Own" When Lori Petty is ripping around second in slow motion and blows through the stop sign at third, that's my all-time fave cinematic baseball scene.
Either that or when Joe E. Brown drives an ambulance through the outfield wall and parks it on the pitching mound, then comes in in relief to win the pennant.
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