"All you have to do is succeed utterly."

[Alyssa]

Tuesday was, to my mind, the first full-fledged day of low-skies-shirt-sticking-to-your-back summer here in D.C. And because of that, when I sat down to watch the Red Sox game last night, I cranked up the AC, broke out the salted peanuts and opened up Once More Around the Park, which, even though Roger Angell sides with the Mets over the Sox in 1986 in "Not So, Boston," is one of the finest collections of baseball writing ever published. (A Great and Glorious Game is a close second.)

Warning to all, ye who enter here: I am an unrepentant baseball sentimentalist and Red Sox fan. Deal with it.

I took particular pleasure in settling down to the game last night because, two months into this season, I'm convinced that this is a pivotal year for baseball. Tom Verducci's assessment of the season so far kind of captures what's going on: the owners are happy, the Rays are scrapping for first, etc. But I think he doesn't spend quite enough time on the most important part of this season: as in the workforce as a whole, the next generation is asserting itself in baseball.

I am young enough to remember when even minor league prospects seemed impossibly grown-up. Whoever it was who wore #34 for the then-Expos farm team the Vermont Lake Monsters in 1994, thank you for putting up with my nine-year-old self and signing my hat at least twice that summer. My first year as a Sox fan was Tim Wakefield's first, magical summer in Boston.

And now, guys my age are spinning no-hitters. The Red Sox-Yankees rivalry is now dominated by a debate over two packages of young pitchers. Jonathan Papelbon, at 27, is the duck-barbecuing, crazy-dancing elder of the bunch. I could have babysat Justin Upton, one of the most electrifying young players coming up in the game today. My sources are telling me that if they were my age, they'd be writing mash notes to Jacoby Ellsbury. (As the always excellent Basegirl puts it: "THANKS ANYWAY, MINNESOTA BUT WE'LL KEEP THESE GUYS IF THAT'S COOL.")

In some ways, I'm not ready for the transition. It breaks my heart that Ken Griffey, Jr.'s home run trek has been blunted by Barry Bonds' record and the passage of time, and that the sportin' news, as Annie Savoy would put it, has largely turned its attention elsewhere. I saw Curt Schilling in the second game of the World Series from FREEZING standing room only seats last year, and I'm not prepared to wave my final goodbye to the big lunk yet.

But so it goes. Baseball is a young man's game, and I'm inspired by the young men who are taking their place in it. The next, oh, ten years are going to be a lot of fun.

Comments

Don't talk about rope in the house of the hanged man, and since I'm a Tiger fan, don't mention baseball in my presence.

Sigh.

Posted by rea | May 28, 2008 10:12 AM

Angell is great, but #1 for me will always be _The Glory of Their Times_ -- and if you don't consider that baseball "writing," then _The Great American Novel_ takes first place. The Giamatti book sounds terrific, though -- thanks for alerting me to its existence.

Posted by JSE | May 28, 2008 10:15 AM

The trouble with the Red Sox is that they are basically Yankees wannabes. They are John McCain desperately trying to be George Bush. The differences between the two are far outweighed by their similarities.

Posted by Spike | May 28, 2008 10:16 AM

Does Yglesias know you're writing about baseball here?

Posted by jhupp | May 28, 2008 10:17 AM

As a Sox fan of the same 1995 vintage, I'll warmly receive any stories of the bizarre divisional championship season

The trouble with the Red Sox is that they are basically Yankees wannabes. They are John McCain desperately trying to be George Bush. The differences between the two are far outweighed by their similarities.i>

Why would the Sox wannabe in last place, with no titles in the last 8 years? If anything, the Sox used the Moneyball tenets of efficiency and OBP to beat the Yanks useless throw-money-at-old-free agent-sluggers mentality

Posted by Andrew | May 28, 2008 10:29 AM

Permission to write about baseball was the only thing I asked for when I signed up for this gig, jhupp. :)

Posted by Alyssa | May 28, 2008 10:42 AM

>Why would the Sox wannabe in last place, with no titles in the last 8 years?

I don't know, but it amazes me how fans of the two teams are basically indistinguishable. It used to be that Yankees fans were palpably more obnoxious. In the last few years, not so much...

Posted by Spike | May 28, 2008 10:44 AM

I prefer Angell's '67 Sox piece, but my favorite observation he ever made was that Orel Hershiser was the only player ever to have two consecutive pronouns in his last name.

Posted by Delicious Pundit | May 28, 2008 10:54 AM

What channel was the Red Sox game on last night?

Posted by Bulworth | May 28, 2008 10:58 AM

And now, guys my age are spinning no-hitters.

It gets worse, Alyssa, and not far down the road. Here's a conversation my wife and I had last night:

Me: [bitter Cub fan lament about how old and washed up Jim Edmonds is.]

My wife: "How old is he?"

Me: "37."

My wife: "He's only four years older than you."

When I started following baseball in the early 1980s, which doesn't seem like that long ago, the Cubs' washed-up guys like Larry Bowa and Jay Johnstone were a few years older than my parents. Now, a guy born in 1970 is an "old guy." Ugh.

Posted by John M | May 28, 2008 11:10 AM

The "Yankees wannabes" bit cracks me up. The Yankees may pad their resume with more championships, but no Yankees fan is ever going to experience the euphoria that Sox fans felt in 2004, after the greatest comeback in baseball history, at the expense of the Evil Empire.

Posted by The Golux | May 28, 2008 11:10 AM

...no Yankees fan is ever going to experience the euphoria that Sox fans felt in 2004, after the greatest comeback in baseball history...

Yeah, see, its that "my team is the most storied franchise in the history of baseball" attitude which Sox fans have picked up from Yankees fans which makes them indistinguishable. The 1918-2003 era Red Sox fans had a humility which made them likable. Now thats gone, and they have become what they profess to hate.

Posted by Spike | May 28, 2008 11:18 AM

Air conditioning? Way to do your part on the whole AGW front.

Posted by Judd | May 28, 2008 11:20 AM

So Alysaa, you're a liberal Red Sox fan? What, are you trying to be perfect?

"I don't know, but it amazes me how fans of the two teams are basically indistinguishable. It used to be that Yankees fans were palpably more obnoxious. In the last few years, not so much...

Posted by Spike | May 28, 2008 10:44 AM"

Dude, they call us Massholes for a reason. We take pride in having the most obnoxious sports fans in America. You need English football hooligans to make us look fucking civilized. What are you, fucking wetarded?

Posted by Reality Man | May 28, 2008 11:52 AM

Spike, here's the traditional difference between Red Sox and Yankees fans:

Yankee fans believe that they have a property claim on winning the World Series: they honestly believe that it belongs to them and their team, and their outrage at anyone else winning it is like the outrage you might feel if you came home one night and found someone else living in your house. "Who the hell are you and what do you think you're doing here? This attitude leads them to believe that it's only right -- not fair, but right -- for them to defend their property by buying all the good players, or even commandeering them, if necessary (just listen to them discuss stretch-run pickups -- they think other teams should practically give them good players).

Red Sox fans, on the other hand, have always asserted a sort of moral/ethical claim on the World Series: being the Best, Most Decidated and Knowledgeable and Longest-Suffering Fans, they simply deserve to see the Sox win a championship. Other fans don't deserve it as much, because they're not as virtuous as Sox fans. Every year in which they failed to break the Curse was another year of profound Injustice, and as we know injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

I think the Red Sox fans are becoming more Yankee-like recently, given their inability to play long-suffering martyrs. I think their sense of moral rectitude is shifting into a kind of "only we can defeat the Great Evil in the Bronx and redeem all of Baseball!"-ism. But fans of both teams are all pretty insufferable.

Thank god we swept 'em this weekend!

Posted by Pesto | May 28, 2008 11:53 AM

Rather astute observations, Pesto.

Posted by Spike | May 28, 2008 12:01 PM

Yeah, here here to Pesto. I was gonna get snarky but you did it much more elegantly and effectively than I would have.

Reality Man,

Dude, they call us Massholes for a reason. We take pride in having the most obnoxious sports fans in America. You need English football hooligans to make us look fucking civilized.

I couldn't agree with the massholes tag more. And yeah, Boston fans are definitely the most obnoxious fans. But if you really want to get uncivilized and hardass, as close to English football as possible, you gotta drive south past the evil empire. To get all middle school on you, if we really were like the football fans across the pond, the Philly hooligans would win those mob brawls in a cakewalk every time :)

Posted by Matt | May 28, 2008 12:18 PM

I admit Philly does give us a run for our money. A stadium full of Philly fans would probably boo both the Pope and the Dalai Lama. If only we could find a way to crossbreed a Philly fan with a Boston fan into the ultimate sports motherfucking asshole.

Posted by Reality Man | May 28, 2008 12:25 PM

How great, baseball discussion on MY!

The Sox need bullpen help. But thank God (meaning, Theo) for the starting rotation depth.

Posted by Trieu | May 28, 2008 12:27 PM

Ah, Pesto, nicely said! Good to see a fellow A's fan hereabouts. You ever visit AN?

And count me among the illiterate Philistines who consider Roger Angell to be horribly overrated.

Posted by The Confidence Man | May 28, 2008 12:51 PM

Alyssa,

I'm a bit older than you, and I remember Roger Angell's essay when it first came out in The New Yorker. And the image that has stood out in my mind for lo these 20-odd years is Angell, who was probably in his 60s at the time, jumping up and down on the bed during the Mets-Astros playoffs. That's one of many reasons I have loved reading him--he is an unabashed fan of the game.

Posted by Bob | May 28, 2008 1:11 PM

Alyssa,

I'm a bit older than you, and I remember Roger Angell's essay when it first came out in The New Yorker. And the image that has stood out in my mind for lo these 20-odd years is Angell, who was probably in his 60s at the time, jumping up and down on the bed during the Mets-Astros playoffs. That's one of many reasons I have loved reading him--he is an unabashed fan of the game.

Posted by Bob | May 28, 2008 1:13 PM

First off let me clarify my status. Grew up in Boston and hated the Red Sox (and all other local teams.) Rooted for the Mets in 86 just to piss off all my friends. Moved away to college and nostalgia for Boston started to kick in. Became a really avid Sox fan in 2003 when they came SO close. Always hated Yankee fans (except my grandfather.)

I've noticed several things happen with regards to Boston fans. They were always obnoxious. But no more so than Cowboys fans, Raider fans, Philly fans, and Laker fans (I live in LA.) As a consequence of the Red Sox winning again: 1. some fans have gotten notably more obnoxious (the Pats success was a catalyst too), 2. a whole bunch of bandwagon jumpers have spawned and added to the overall obnoxious pool, 3. Sox fans like myself have actually probably become LESS obnoxious because a great weight has been lifted and the whole state of the Universe has changed. The Yankees were humiliated in a way that was worse than the Sox ever were, and the Sox were the best team in baseball both years that they won the Series. Also, they finally learned how to run a team (admittedly by stealing cues from the Yanks.) 4. Yankees fans have become more obnoxious now, because although they still have the most titles, who knows whe they will get the next one, and Boston is still (one of) the team to beat now and look good for at least a couple more years. I don't hate the Yankees fans the way I used to. I can almost pity them because they are realizing that the days of their empire are numbered. Team quality is tough to maintain for any substantial period nowadays with free-agency and multi-horse relief squads (far more room for variance.) The dynastic potential for ANY team doesn't seem very likely to be very likely in the future. If a team gets a couple titles in a ten year stretch, that will probably be the best case scenario. And thogh the Rays love that, it is something that fills Yankee fans with dread and longing for the good old days. That is all.

Fans are assholes everywhere. Get over it.

Posted by Uncle Ebeneezer | May 28, 2008 1:15 PM

ConfidenceMan, yes, I've been reading and commenting on AN for 4 years -- but not under the pseudonym Pesto.

Posted by Pesto | May 28, 2008 1:19 PM

Red Sox fans aren't more obnoxious than they were. There are simply more of them right now. And the number of idiots goes up. Like Bulls fans in the 90s (god, I hated the Bulls because of their fans). Now I don't seem to run into as many Bulls fans and I don't hate the team anymore.

We can all tell stories about some fan base that got under our skin: I lived in Atlanta during the 90s and Braves fans there were insufferable; they acted entitled in the exact same way Yankees fans do - despite the notable lack of World Series hardware and the inability to sell out playoff games (I would go down to the stadium at game time in October and get tickets half-off).

Posted by Martial | May 28, 2008 3:08 PM

Pesto ...

@('.')@

Posted by The Confidence Man | May 28, 2008 3:23 PM

If you think baseball players are young nowadays, try following college basketball. Now that the NBA has a rule requiring players to wait a year after high school before they enter the league, NCAA players are washed up before they reach upperclassman status.
And to think I once almost peed myself when Matt Muelbach came to speak to my 2nd grade Hebrew school class. Now Arizona's best players could potentially be pulling a "Hey, mister..." on me outside of a liquor store. Gah!

Posted by Dave | May 28, 2008 3:48 PM

This Dodger fan says Pesto is pretty much spot-on in his analysis. I remember rooting for the Red Sox in 2004 because (a) I, like all upstanding Americans, wanted to see the Yankees lose, and (b) they had waited so long, they were the underdogs, etc. From that point on, wow, no sympathy from me whatsoever. If I had a chance to see a Yankees-Red Sox game live, I don't know what I'd do, because I'd want both teams to lose. The only way I'd root for them now would be if they were playing the Cuban national team. Or maybe the Giants, but on the other hand I feel like the Giants-Dodgers rivalry would be healthier if San Francisco had more than, say, zero World Championships.

As for the AL East, go Rays!

And as for the Dodgers, I have a funny feeling that some time late in September I'll heave that familiar sigh of disappointment. Usually good enough to compete, but in the last 20 years never run competently enough to actually have a team with a real hope of competing for the World Series.

Posted by Adam Villani | May 28, 2008 4:49 PM

I wrote, in re the Dodgers: Usually good enough to compete

What I meant was usually good enough to compete for the NL West title, or usually good enough to be above average (which is roughly the same thing).

Posted by Adam Villani | May 28, 2008 4:54 PM

ConfidenceMan, I thought I heard someone flinging poo and singing Dylan around here!

Posted by Pesto | May 28, 2008 8:54 PM