Unanimous Red Sox Hate?

[Tyrus4189Cobb]

I'm starting its own thread so I can avoid hijacking another. Here is how everything played out in the "2012 a good year for baseball? thread:

Matthew C. posts

And I have to admit, I have loved watching the Red Sox be so bad.

To which I respond

I live in Dunkin' Donuts Land and it's interesting to hear others opinion of the Sox. My support for them has personally diminished ever since around 2007. I would rally in a heartbeat if they changed some of their ways. Maybe my reasons are different than yours. Why do you (and the rest of baseball) dislike the Red Sox? I'm curious.

His reasoning

Imagine two siblings. An older sibling who gets all the attention, wins all of the awards, and is the favorite of everybody, and a younger, lets say, not as accomplished sibling. Imagine the younger sibling whining and boo-hooing for decades about being picked on and how hard he has it and how much he hates his older brother and how much everybody is out to get him, etc. Then one day, the younger brother finally beats the older brother in a few competitions for the first time and suddenly turns into the most arrogant, prideful, in-your-face, unbearable person ever, becoming entitled and falsely empowered.

That is how I see the Reds Sox. I would rather the Yankees win 1,000x over the Red Sox. It is the difference between earned arrogance and phony arrogance.

Of course , just like I am talking about on the Wild Card thread, that is a gross generalization of the team and fanbase. I know most Sox fans are great and have had no problems with the classy Sox fans I have encountered here on BBF.

And 9RoyHobbsRF adds

I used to like the Red Sox 35 plus years ago, with Fenway and Tiant and rookies Lynn and Rice and the great Fisk etc, I loved their uniform colors and even had a Red Sox hat, the red hat with the navy bill and the cool "B"

but when they decided to create the evil empire 2 and just try to outspend every one else also and only won tainted ped infested championships and became media darlings and were always on tv and updates on espn etc I also began to really dislike them, and players like Schilling and Manny and the rest were easy to dislike

Schilling and Clemens are 2 of my all time top 5 most hated players

Hiring Bobby Valentine was the perfect idiotic move and I saw this disaster coming although of course injuries also played a big part

I do not consider their 2 championships legit just like many don't consider Bonds or McGwire or Sosa HR records to be legit

So how do we feel about the Red Sox? Since the 2011 collapse, I've I haven't heard anyone show much love. Not that I blame anyone.

[SamtheBravesFan]

I'm indifferent towards the Red Sox, generally, and don't understand why "big spenders" are hated, but I sympathize with them from last year considering the same thing happened to my favorite team.

[9RoyHobbsRF]

I'm indifferent towards the Red Sox, generally, and don't understand why "big spenders" are hated, but I sympathize with them from last year considering the same thing happened to my favorite team.

it is not just the so called "investing" in your team, it is over signing and over paying players and when they don't work out, over sign and over pay even more

[Pere]

I don't hate the Red Sox. I like their history, their ballpark, and the fact that they're such a strongly regional team ("when the Red Sox win, all of New England feels better").

Still, I count the "glamour team...crash and burn" as generally a positive for a baseball season. It's interesting to see a big dog stumble, if it's not your dog. It's true that Red Sox fans, as a group average, got a little more obnoxious once they had a modern ring to their name. Sox-Yankees is indeed overplayed (on ESPN again tonight, while the higher-leverage West game is not), to the point where, ironically, some of the widespread loathing for the Yankees attaches to the Red Sox.

[EdTarbusz]

I can describe my dislike of the Red Sox in three words: Red Sox Nation.

[Tenorman]

I don't "hate" the Red Sox. As a Maritimer, I grew up rooting for them, until the Jays came along in '77. I felt bad for them in '86 and was very happy for them in 2004, finally putting the Curse to bed. I was rather ambivalent about 2007 but lately, I have found myself feeling sorry for their fans. They have always had a great fan base all over New England and the Maritime provinces, but '04 and '07 brought a lot of bandwagon jumpers, and it seemed that a little success turned them into the Yankees 2.0. I think there was a feeling of entitlement from those 2 WS wins and the obscene amount of money they were now spending.

[SamtheBravesFan]

it is not just the so called "investing" in your team, it is over signing and over paying players and when they don't work out, over sign and over pay even more

Yeah, that's fine. If they can do it, let them. I could care less.

[KevinWI]

The only reason I take the occasional glee in seeing the Red Sox do poorly is because ESPN was so heavily in the bag for them, especially from 2004-2008.

But, I've had MLB Network now for the past two years so really don't see much Red Sox bias anymore.

Also, a lot of obnoxious Cubs fans tell me that the "Red Sox are their AL team", I guess because they're both old teams with old stadiums and (until 2004) both had long histories of disappointment. But, I won't hold that against the BoSox.

[GiambiJuice]

I can describe my dislike of the Red Sox in three words: Red Sox Nation.

Well put. It's their fans that I dislike more than the team itself.

As far as the team is concerned, they've had a lot of unlikeable players over the last decade or so from this Yankee fans perspective. I've always liked and admired Manny Ramirez and consider him to be at least an equal of Pujols and Thomas on pure hitting ability from the right-hand side. Never had a problem with guys like Wakefield, Damon, and Lowe, but I could never stand Schilling, Pedro the headhunter, Pedroia, Youkilis, Ortiz, Papelbon, and Millar. Schilling for obvious reasons. Ortiz because he's the definition of a phony who has somehow skated by without much scrutiny from media types despite being a proven cheater. Millar is just a clown, Pedroia has a napoleon complex and just seems like a douche, etc...

With that being said, I know the Yankees have had a lot of unlikable guys too. But at least the Yankees don't play the victim card like the Sox do. Calling the Yankees the 'evil empire' at a time when Boston's payroll was the second-highest in MLB was kind of weak.

[Tyrus4189Cobb]

It can be a blessing to have a burn season. Hopefully 2012 will give the Red Sox the needed reality check. Until then, I have no allegiance towards a team (haven't since 2008). Every team has it's jerks. For me it's Pedroia, and formerly Papelbon. Things will be brighter once he leaves.

[GiambiJuice]

It can be a blessing to have a burn season. Hopefully 2012 will give the Red Sox the needed reality check. Until then, I have no allegiance towards a team (haven't since 2008). Every team has it's jerks. For me it's Pedroia, and formerly Papelbon. Things will be brighter once he leaves.

Thanks for reminding me about Papelbon. It was great when he complained about Mariano Rivera being picked to close the All-Star game instead of him. Watching him blow game #162 against the Orioles last season was one of the highlights of 2011 for me. Couldn't have happened to a bigger jerk.

[O'sFan1997]

I think it's their fans for many. Nice job winning those two championships in 2004 and 2007 but that doesn't erase the fact that for nearly 90 years you went without a WS championship. Their true fans though like the fans of most teams are ones I can respect though because they actually can remember things like '75, '86, etc. Plus the Red Sox had and have guys that are easy to hate. I probably hate the Yankees more of the two but I was glad to see the Orioles knock them out of the playoffs last year and then pretty much defacto clinch against them this year. I see Papelbon's been brought up. The guy is everything I dislike in a closer. He showboats like crazy. I hate the Yankees too as I've said but I always liked and respected Rivera because he's one of if not the best ever out there and he's a professional.

[dominik]

I don't hate the Red Sox. I like their history, their ballpark, and the fact that they're such a strongly regional team ("when the Red Sox win, all of New England feels better").

Still, I count the "glamour team...crash and burn" as generally a positive for a baseball season. It's interesting to see a big dog stumble, if it's not your dog. It's true that Red Sox fans, as a group average, got a little more obnoxious once they had a modern ring to their name. Sox-Yankees is indeed overplayed (on ESPN again tonight, while the higher-leverage West game is not), to the point where, ironically, some of the widespread loathing for the Yankees attaches to the Red Sox.

well I actually prefer a big spender over teams who don't spend anything and sell any good player in order to make money. at least they field a good team (usually).

I do enjoy teams like the nats and rays who build a good team from their farm without tons of money but I absolutely despise owners who just want to field the cheapest team to safe costs and make profit.

[LI METS FAN]

you just described the Oakland A's (cheapest team to save costs) and they have the fifth best record in MLB and second best in the AL.

[Bothrops Atrox]

well I actually prefer a big spender over teams who don't spend anything and sell any good player in order to make money. at least they field a good team (usually).

I do enjoy teams like the nats and rays who build a good team from their farm without tons of money but I absolutely despise owners who just want to field the cheapest team to safe costs and make profit.

Right - I'd rather my team spend than not, so why would I hypocritically call out another team that spends a lot?