Why Do I Do This to Myself?

When I was younger I never had a favorite baseball team, I loved players I remember watching the home run chase of 1998 between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa and in 1999 watching Pedro Martinez strike out five in the All-Star game. My favorite players as a kid were Pedro Martinez, Barry Bonds, Mike Mussina, Cal Ripken Jr., and I liked the big three of the A’s Barry Zito, Tim Hudson, and Mark Mulder. As I got older I had one grandfather from Massachusetts and another from Michigan which led me to choose teams and I became a Boston Red Sox and a Detroit Tigers fan, I leaned more so to the Red Sox because that was my dad’s fathers and I’s thing whereas my mom’s dad who is from Detroit our thing became hockey and football. I still root for the Tigers even more so my first game was the Red Sox against the Tigers in 1999. In 2002 I was at Derek Lowe’s no-hitter against the Rays even better part of the story is my dad bought me a Derek Lowe player shirt before the game little did we know what was ahead that day. Needless to say, I love baseball I love watching the game but I love the Red Sox, I watch or listen to every single game if I can’t I DVR it so I don’t miss a moment. Over the last few seasons, I find myself asking like I’m sure most fans do “Why do I do this to myself”. Then I remember I do this because it makes the moments like 2004, 2007, 2013, and 2018 worth it. Even that 2021 season despite the roller coaster was worth it even if it didn’t mean a ring.

This past off-season we heard “full throttle” and at the time we all thought they needed a bat and an arm or two for the rotation then nothing happened then the season started and the Red Sox came home 7-3 and things felt different. Then the injuries hit already down Lucas Giolito, then Nick Pivetta, Brayan Bello, and Garrett Whitlock all hit the IL. Trevor Story went down for the year, we tried to fill that void with options that didn’t work until it was turned to Ceddanne Rafaela which was called for by fans countless times. Then Triston Casas went down and things just stalled out. The one thing after saying we need pitching this staff adding in Cooper Criswell with Tanner Houck and Kutter Crawford have been one of the best pitching staffs in all of baseball to everyone’s surprise.

Now the Red Sox have lost four straight after last night and have lost their second consecutive series. The Cardinals are a team that is at the bottom of their division and a team that you should be beating. After last night’s game, I found myself asking why do I do this to myself watching every game, wearing Red Sox apparel all the time, I have a son why am I subjecting him to this disappointment then I remember the moments that I went through from sharing 2004 and 2007 with my grandfather before he passed away then 2013 for the city after what happened and finally 2018 when I got to really feel it being with my friends for every game, drinking champagne when they beat the Dodgers in game five to win the World Series, having taken the next day off from work and celebrating with my best friend. That’s why I love this team, times are tough right now for the Red Sox and I know fans are discouraged by the lack of spending from ownership but remember why you love this team and what it does for you. That’s why we tune in nightly. I’ll end this with two quotes that tie in perfectly.