04/25/24
November 05, 2013
Red Sox Write Love Letter to Cardinals: The Boston Red Sox have bought a full-page ad in St. Louis praising the Cardinals, their fans, the Red Sox and their fans. "We're both home to the most loyal fans in the game," states the ad. "We look forward to seeing you again next August. Let's hope that it's just a prelude to meeting again in October."
What a lot of condescending pish. Disregarding the semantically null use of "both" and "most" in the same sentence (he said doing no such thing), this is just cringemakingly horrific. I'm trying to work out if it would have been OK for the losing team to do this, but I'm coming down on the side of it being crass no matter who does it. Winning team does it, sounds condescending; losing team does it, sounds like they don't care. Either way, it's dreadful.
I'm trying to imagine another sport where it might possibly work. In golf, you get people who didn't win saying nice things about people who did all the time; and you get winners saying nice things about guys who nearly won but didn't. But even there, in the one part of the game when it is a real head-to-head like the World Series (i.e., the Ryder Cup), this would not fly.
posted by JJ at 12:56 PM on November 05, 2013
I'm trying to imagine another sport where it might possibly work.
A seriously intense rivalry between teams from the same city?
Mets vs Yankees?
ManU vs ManCity?
posted by grum@work at 01:03 PM on November 05, 2013
What a lot of condescending pish.
Remember that in American team sports, the championship trophy is typically given first to the gazillionaire owner, not the team captain. A bit like horse racing.
So this is the gazillionaire ownership group of the Red Sox being nice with the gazillionaire ownership group of the Cardinals, just so they can have something to chat about at the gazillionaire owners' banquet.
posted by etagloh at 01:22 PM on November 05, 2013
Most loyal? They forgot about the Cubbies ... their fans have had to be loyal to endure the many years of agony.
posted by jjzucal at 01:47 PM on November 05, 2013
I wonder how Red Sox fans would've reacted if the Mets wrote them a love letter in 1986.
posted by rcade at 01:51 PM on November 05, 2013
I guess I'll be in the minority here, but I think it's a classy move. And the St Louis fans have enough class to appreciate the gesture.
Don't want it to become a thing.
Looks like it is. Didn't it start with the Blackhawks to the Bruins, post Stanley Cup?
posted by smithnyiu at 03:35 PM on November 05, 2013
I don't get the hate - complimenting another city on their fans and their team is something people do in interviews all the time. The Red Sox ownership respect the Cardinals. They like playing them.
I wonder how Red Sox fans would've reacted if the Mets wrote them a love letter in 1986.
Obviously context matters - would Red Sox fans react the same way to Buckner today, given they've won 3 world series' recently? Of course not. St. Louis isn't in a decades long drought of winning.
posted by dfleming at 03:35 PM on November 05, 2013
Yeah, this is just good sportsmanship. As the BestFansStLouis twitter feed showed, people can get pretty het up during a World Series, so its nice to remember it is just a sport (and both franchises have won recently enough that neither could have been that miffed about losing).
posted by hincandenza at 04:11 PM on November 05, 2013
They like playing them.
The ad suggests they like playing them more than any other team. That's either phony or weird. Why should the Red Sox care which National League team they face in a hypothetical future World Series?
posted by rcade at 04:55 PM on November 05, 2013
The ad suggests they like playing them more than any other team.
Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of this. And if you're going to do it, the whole "hope to see you next October" seems weird. Leave that off, don't talk about your own team.
As the BestFansStLouis twitter feed showed
I'm pretty sure what that account shows is that every team has fans that are just horrible people, and are not representative of the fan base as a whole.
would Red Sox fans react the same way to Buckner today, given they've won 3 world series' recently?
And this is a good example. I'm sure Buckner received a lot of grief, but what most people forget is that he received a standing ovation at Fenway when introduced the next season.
posted by justgary at 05:41 PM on November 05, 2013
I didn't realize that Buckner got that ovation the next season. The media sure loved telling the story of him as the goat.
posted by rcade at 06:18 PM on November 05, 2013
As a Red Sox fan, I hope to see the Cardinals again next year, too, so they can lose a third time.
posted by feloniousmonk at 06:52 PM on November 05, 2013
Why should the Red Sox care which National League team they face in a hypothetical future World Series?
I've played a lot of sports in my time, and I can tell you regularly there are teams I really love playing - whether they're evenly matched, good sports, or just fun to be around. There are also teams I hate - cheaters, people who constantly nag on officials, or who are just not fun to be around.
Ditto for places - some fans are horribly disrespectful to opposing players, while others really just love the game. So I don't think it's wholly unreasonable to think after a pretty great series to think that you'd love to do that again.
posted by dfleming at 07:28 PM on November 05, 2013
I didn't realize that Buckner got that ovation the next season. The media sure loved telling the story of him as the goat.
I think the media wanted it to be a story, at least bigger than it was, so they ran with it. Fit in nicely with the 'curse'. Not only did Buckner receive ovations on opening day in 87, and a standing ovation when he returned to Boston for his last year in 90, but at the city hall rally 2 days after the game 7 defeat.
Here's an article about the rally the Red Sox held after the WS loss in 1986.
The Hub Hails Its Hobbling Hero
Even though Bill Buckner let Game 6 slip through his injured legs, the fans in Boston showed last week how much they admired his courageous play in the World Series
Buckner had asked not to speak at the rally at City Hall Plaza, and so he stood at the end of the stage. But when he heard the ringing one-minute ovation that followed his name, Buckner stepped forward and thanked the crowd.
"That was the most incredible experience of my career," he said to Jody as they drove to Worcester, past a THANKS, RED SOX sign on the Mass Pike and a HOMETOWN OF HERO MARTY BARRETT sign at the city limits of Southborough. When the Buckners stopped at traffic lights in Worcester, people in other cars beeped their horns and waved at them.
posted by justgary at 08:26 PM on November 05, 2013
So when do we all sit in a circle and start to sing "Kum-Ba-Yah"?
posted by NerfballPro at 09:51 AM on November 06, 2013
The Red Sox ownership should send St. Louis a participation trophy.
posted by rcade at 10:00 AM on November 06, 2013
sharing is caring, everybody wins, girls can be Boy Scouts, my child is gifted....
We beat you but we feel a little sorry- another example of the chick-i-fication of the USA.
And don't bully me.
posted by Leominster at 11:31 AM on November 06, 2013
This thing ain't over.
Samuel Adams vs. the lead Clydesdale
Texas Death Style
Two Out of Three Falls
Falls Count Anywhere
No Evening Gowns
posted by beaverboard at 11:59 AM on November 06, 2013
A seriously intense rivalry between teams from the same city? Mets vs Yankees? ManU vs ManCity?
Ha ha ha ha ha ha... good one. That wouldn't happen.
What might be OK is the mayor of said city applauding the spirit in which both teams had contested something, but not the winner saying it about both teams.
posted by JJ at 12:12 PM on November 06, 2013
Agreed JJ ... Remember when City put up a billboard "welcoming" Tevez to Manchester? Good stuff.
posted by Ricardo at 01:43 PM on November 06, 2013
I've played a lot of sports in my time, and I can tell you regularly there are teams I really love playing
Sure, but does that apply to pro sports where the team might be 50% different next year? As a stand-alone gesture it might be "Ok but weird", but with the Red Sox, this has the treacle stains of the hands of Dr. Charles Steinberg all over it. He is in charge of all the ring ceremonies, etc. and feels the need to turn them all into something that makes an Esther Williams musical look understated.
posted by yerfatma at 02:16 PM on November 06, 2013
The letter to St. Louis is marginally better than one which might say something like, "Hey you bunch of losers from the city that makes that crappy beer, how do you like having your faces being planted in the dirt by a real team? You bunch of wimps thought your glorious young pitchers would throw their fast ball past everyone in a Red Sox uni. The only thing those pitches went past was your fielders and the fences. We tried to keep you guys in the series, but even that wasn't enough to keep you around for 7. What a joke you fans are. You actually congratulated us for pounding on your team. Damn pussies!"
I do believe it is really better to be somewhat gracious in victory, and I do not find it condescending. Even though the series was decided in 6 games, it really was a lot closer than it looked. Ask any Boston fan how long he held his breath until Tazawa induced a ground ball to end the 7th.
posted by Howard_T at 03:04 PM on November 06, 2013
Hate this. Don't want it to become a thing. It's weird for the Red Sox to root for a rematch with a team they just beat.