The Red Sox enter today tied with the Blue Jays for first place in the American League East with a 76-59 record. With 27 games to go in the season, every game is a crucial. After the Red Sox play the Padres this week, all of their remaining 23 games will be against AL East opponents. This sure is shaping up to be an exciting stretch run for the Sox!
This is what the Red Sox loyal fans all asked for after finishing in last place in 2014 and 2015. There were no meaningful games in August the past two years, never mind September. Going to Fenway Park wasn’t as much about baseball as it was just a fan experience. Over time, the die hard fans have lost out to the fans who are just there for the Fenway experience.
Gone have been the days of standing up and cheering when the Red Sox pitcher has two strikes on the batter with two outs…
Gone have been the days when a player gets a standing ovation in his last at bat after a four hit or multiple home run game…
Gone have been the days where the majority of fans are in tune with the game and care about the Red Sox actually playing winning baseball…
Gone have been the days where the fans got upset with a managerial decision or poor call by an umpire impacted the Red Sox…
Instead, Fenway Park has been a place where the wave has been the priority. You don’t hear the crowd more engaged than they are in the middle of the eighth inning when “Sweet Caroline” is played. Last Saturday Night, during the Red Sox – Royals game, this was played and virtually the entire crowd was up singing. However, in the top of the ninth, the majority of fans were unaware that Dustin Pedroia had eleven straight hits and was one hit shy of tying an MLB record. Pedroia was five for five in the game with a chance to make history. Very few people stood up and cheered. It was treated like any other at bat by at least 90% of the crowd. In the same game, the wave was attempted to be started in the first inning. Priorities… The 2014 and 2015 Fenway crowd was still prevailing…
The Red Sox have ten home game left this season. That’s right, 10 games! It’s time for the die hard Red Sox fans to prevail and make Fenway Park a tough place for the visiting teams to play. Granted, it will never be the same as it was pre-2004. Three World Series in a ten year span has made the sense of urgency in Red Sox Nation disappear. But, those die hards are still out there. We’re going to see more of them in September and hopefully into October.
The Red Sox winning another World Series still means a lot to a lot of fans. It’s time to make BASEBALL the main priority at Fenway Park again. It’s time to stand up and cheer the Boston Red Sox, not a Neil Diamond song.