Dear Roger: Eat Sh!t and Die

[Clay Dreslough]

Excuse my French, but I'm getting sick and tired of hearing Red Sox fans say "I hate Roger Clemens, but if he put on a Red Sox uniform again, I'd root for him".

They seem to have forgotten the true meaning of "Red Sox Fan".

I don't care if the Red Sox finish third next year. As long as the Yankees finish fourth.

We root for Red Sox because they are the embodiment of all that is right and pure and good in this world. They fight evil at least 19 times each year. Sometimes as many as 26.

They lose more often than they should. But that's because good guys (almost always) finish last. That's the way life is. Dick Cheney is running the world and the Lord of Darkness himself has more than $200 million to spend on deflated roid-muppets.

But we stick with the Red Sox. The team itself is our childlike innocence -- the irrational idea that you keep pulling for the good guys, even when it looks hopeless.

Most of the idealistic baby boomer hippies are now wealthy Republicans, living in Darien watching the YES Network. But we are STILL Red Sox fans!

Roger Clemens can never be a part of that. He never was a part of that. Even at 15, I knew that Roger didn't belong in the same clubhouse with Rice, Buckner, Armas, Barrett and Gedman. Roger Clemens couldn't hold Dave Henderson's jockstrap.

In the afterlife -- which we all know looks like an Iowa cornfield -- Roger gets picked last. After Spike Owen. After Oil Can Boyd. Because no one wants to play with him.

If Roger comes back to the Red Sox, I will root for him to get shelled in every start. Two innings. Nine hits. Eight runs. Every game.

And then I will root for MY TEAM to find a way to come back. Like a three-game deficit in the ALCS, the Sox will chip away, one inning at a time. Roger gets 32 no-decisions. Guillermo Mota goes 32-0.

If Manny leaves and Roger comes back, I will spend all year rooting for Pedro and Manny, Mike Timlin and Mark Bellhorn, Derek Lowe and Bill Mueller -- regardless of what shirts they are wearing. I just feel bad for Big Papi.

[robinhoodnik]

I always felt that the real heavy in the Clemens departure was Duquette. He of the "twilight of his career" speech, the man who let Mo Vaughn walk, the same person who could convince Pedro to come but couldn't convince anyone to stay. Dan who was so tight fisted that Boston's top draft picks would not sign with the team. He was the continuation of what turned out to be 86 years of futility. Now our team has finally won it all but then again a lot of long time fans cannot or will not pay the exhorbitant fees demanded by the new ownership group. Were we better off before the ownership shift? Maybe, because we still had the rough edged not quite prime time team that we all loved to watch. Now we have a winner but the cost has been a pre-packaged, overpriced, overhyped, mega-mart version of baseball.

[boomboom]

why do people hate Roger...even as a kid, i knew the reason why he went to Toronto was because of Managment... I think that Red Sox fans (or just clay ) think it was Rogers fault he left...it wasnt...I really do hope he doesnt re"sign" with the red sox...I hope he does go to the Yankees and win one more championship...I hate the Red Sox just as much as I hate the Yankees.....freaken Red Sox fans before 2004, felt like it was an eternty since they won there last championship...what about the patriots, celtics....to the bruins...and just one team didnt win during all this time....if i were a red sox fan, i would hate the team...and love the yankees...at least the yankees do what they need to do to win....winning the most championships in the MLB...

Being from Seattle, I hate Boston, there complaining...Seattle only has the 1979 champion sonics...(more recently WNBA STORM) but not counting that....Boston has 3 teams that have done very well...and Boston hasnt done that bad either...i hated being a Mariner Fan in the 80's and early 90's, I still rooted for them..but losing took a toll...ROger would be welcome on my Beloved Mariners...Simply the best active pitcher in Baseball.

[Clay Dreslough]

Here's a response from a friend of mine:

In so many words, I agree with Clay. Clemens never struck me as the
kind of character that fit into my idealized Red Sox persona. Clemens
always seemed to be angry in the same way (if not as explosive) as Carl
Evertt. I don't think anyone would describe Carl Evertt as their
prototypical Red Sox. The Sox should be populated by odd ball
characters who can be annoying and temperamental but never caustic.
That this idealized team tends to fall short is part of our reality -
the bad guys do win most of the time. They have more money and are
driven by the shallow motivation that winning is everything. They place
performance before the person and while this does generate "winning"
teams, it's not what we publicly espouse to teach our sons and daughters
about the meaning of competition, sportsmanship and through these
mechanisms life. Hence, the underdog win is much more sweet. The
rarity of David beating Goliath is more satisfying than commonality of
Goliath beating David.

[robinhoodnik]

I never hated Roger. I'd love to see him come back and end it in Boston. The only times I wasn't fond of him were when he pitched against us in a Yankees uniform. That's just a natural reaction though. I hoped and prayed for him to strike out 29 every time he faced us with Toronto just to wipe the smug look off of Duquette's face. I'd want Roger back here under any circumstances.

[michaelg123789]

Clay, do you care to weigh in on this topic?

[boomboom]

Here's a response from a friend of mine:

In so many words, I agree with Clay. Clemens never struck me as the
kind of character that fit into my idealized Red Sox persona. Clemens
always seemed to be angry in the same way (if not as explosive) as Carl
Evertt. I don't think anyone would describe Carl Evertt as their
prototypical Red Sox. The Sox should be populated by odd ball
characters who can be annoying and temperamental but never caustic.
That this idealized team tends to fall short is part of our reality -
the bad guys do win most of the time. They have more money and are
driven by the shallow motivation that winning is everything. They place
performance before the person and while this does generate "winning"
teams, it's not what we publicly espouse to teach our sons and daughters
about the meaning of competition, sportsmanship and through these
mechanisms life. Hence, the underdog win is much more sweet. The
rarity of David beating Goliath is more satisfying than commonality of
Goliath beating David.

and this is coming from a Boston fan whos teams have won how many championships in the last 50 years (Celtics, Bruins, Patriots and Sox)?

it doesnt make any sense....I think Boston fans are brainwashed to think they are the underdogs yet in many other sports they have dominated...They are just like New York......Go to a place where championships are rare...Dare you to move to Seattle, Where we havent won a championship in any sport (4main ones MLB, NFL, NBA, or NHL) in 25 years.....then you can say you like being the underdog...where you have Excellent teams but never outstanding teams that make it all the way....Sure the Seahawks are good this year, they were just as good in 1984..and there (then) star running back went down with an injury in the preseason and still won 12 games....The Sonics were Excellent and the best they got was in 1996 when they Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton led them against the bulls....or the Seattle Mariners of this Generation from 2000-2003 for 4 years the Mariners were the best team in the regular season. yet, We didnt win a championship....

I am just tired of the Boston Red Sox...they are overhyped and I hope they lose every game next year....and yes, I hate the Yankees too...probably even more.

[Clay Dreslough]

Being from Seattle, I hate Boston, there complaining

I'm not complaining. I LOVE being a Boston sports fan. The Pats of the 80s and 90s were GREAT FUN, even though they never won a Super Bowl. They still had some exciting games. And the Sox of the 70s, 80s and 90s were also a blast to watch -- without winning it all.

When I watched the 2003 ALCS, I figured it was the best 7-game series in the history of sport. Even though we lost. I recognize drama when I see it. Of course, the 2003 ALCS now ranks 2nd on my list...



As for Roger, I hated him even when he was with the Red Sox. It's only after he left that he really started to show his abrasive personality to the whole world.

Clay

[SFSteveG]

Nice one on the "priceless" play Clay.

[Clay Dreslough]

Nice one on the "priceless" play Clay.

I feel like I shouldn't get political on these boards. I wouldn't want someone to think that I'm going to ignore their bug reports just cuz they have a George Bush (or Curt Schilling) photo in their sig.

I voted for GWB in 2000, and consider myself a moderate with libertarian tendencies. But this is probably the worst presidency in the last 100 years.

Clay

[SFSteveG]

I feel like I shouldn't get political on these boards. I wouldn't want someone to think that I'm going to ignore their bug reports just cuz they have a George Bush (or Curt Schilling) photo in their sig.

I voted for GWB in 2000, and consider myself a moderate with libertarian tendencies. But this is probably the worst presidency in the last 100 years.

Clay

I was going to try and argur the 100 years thing but all the guys who came to mind as being really sh!tty are 1800's

[robinhoodnik]

I'm not so sure that the alternatives would have been any more palatable. Especially Kerry. It scares me to think that he came very close to being the leader of the free world.

[robinhoodnik]

I consider myself a right leaning moderate. I actually wrote in Ralph Nader last time. It took some convincing of myself (It was either Bush or write in Nader) but I couldn't vote Bush. I did however vote mostly Republican on the rest of the ballot. I went Nader purely because he seems to be pretty honest. I thought that would be a nice change if 51% of the other voters lost their minds too and voted for him.

[SFSteveG]

I'd rather just see a super rich guy win it. Ross Perot would have been great. It just would have shown that something new, no matter what it was, wouldn't be that bad.

[cshiel63]

You RedSux fans are a funny bunch.

You whine for a Hundred years(actually 86) about how you can't win a World Series because of the :Evil" Yankees. Then you actually GET LUCKY and win one andr you still ain''t happy.

Well alls I can say is have fun watching Damon win wwith the Yankees while the RedSux finish last.


GO YANKEES!!!.