The Nation does not believe
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Oct 16, 2008 
Print This Post
| 
Email This Post
There’s a ticket agency next to the parking lot I use near Fenway Park and just for kicks I stopped in to ask about today’s game.
Get this: They expect to sell tickets at face value or below by 7:45 p.m. tonight. The nice woman behind the counter said that ticket sales have been slow for the ALCS. Other than the premium seats, they have had trouble finding takers.
Red Sox Nation, it seems, is not quite as fired up about their squad as they once were. Maybe it’s the economy. Maybe the fans are spoiled after 2004 and 2007. But for whatever the reason, good seats at decent prices were readily available.
Meanwhile the tarp is down here at Fenway and there is a slight drizzle. Back later with the lineups.
“Maybe it’s the economy.”
Baseball better be prepared for slower ticket sales next year as many people will no longer be charging their credit cards hundreds of dollars for tix as people will not be able to afford the prices and there will be tighter credit in general.
I know it is not looking good for the Sox, but as a renown Yankee said….it ain’t over till its over!
lol. the credit crisis has nothing to do with actual credit cards.
the slowing economy might hurt ticket revenue, but its not because credit crisis = tighter credit cards = less discretionary spending. lol
It soon will be fritz, it soon will be.
its frits, and you don’t understand the credit crisis.
Pete – That was a good observation.
Economy? It didn’t bother them for the first few games.
I think Walksuzaka gets hit hard tonight. This guy has rolled the dice all season with men on base, I say his luck runs out along with Boston’s tonight.
Not expecting any big miracles out of Kazmir either though, he doesn’t look like the guy who started the season so strongly.
the only thing better than the watching Yankees in Post Season is watching the Red Sawx get totally drubbed by the young Rays.
Say what you want about how nicely Jason Bay fits on their ballclub, this Team is nowhere in the Post Season without Manny Ramirez!
LET’S GO RAYS!
Pete, are you going to cover the world series for the paper as well? or just the ALCS? will you fly to tampa if there’s another ALCS game there?
Somehow I doubt this is the apathy that perpetual winning can create, for example like Atlanta.
This could be the thought process that while the Sox are a very good team, with Beckett hurt, the back of the pen smarting, a lineup with no Manny & Lowell, a hurt Drew and Ortiz, Ellsbury and Varitek not doing anything so far, maybe it’s just not the year.
Who knows? I’m just a Yankee fan wishing it was us fighting for our 2008 lives instead of watching someone else do it.
I think it’s mostly the economy.
Aren’t about 90% of Fenway seats “premium”?
I’d guess those few available seats are the absolute worst obstructed-view seats and those out past the foul poles, and they’re reserved for out-of-towners, say, fans from anywhere south of the Massachusetts state line who want to stick it to a tired-out, injured, faltering Red Sox team.
If there are any of THOSE people at the game tonight, don’t complain later about your seats.
Living and working in Mass I talk to Red Sox fans everyday. This year is definitely different from any year since ’03 in that a LOT of fans don’t have confidence in this year’s team’s ability to pull it out.
A lot of them see Ortiz’s wrist injury and compare it to Nomar. Many of them even talk like Ortiz’s best days are behind him.Same for Wakefield.
Also, most are convinced Varitek is done. The boos Varitek is getting in Fenway is a sure sign they’ve turned on him.
Economy eschonomy. It didn’t just start to tank in the last two days!!!
“Economy? It didn’t bother them for the first few games.”
That would be correct. What you are seeing is a fan base that has wisely seen the handwriting on the wall or is so disgusted with what it has seen that it sees no point in spending money to watch half a game! (Isn’t that about the time they’ve been heading for the exits?)
I have already said that watching this reminds me of watching the Angels play the Yanks in the playoffs, though we put up a much better fight than the Sux have. After all, we were one collision away from winning the damned series. This is a sheer embarassment.
These aren’t your father’s Rays, and the Sux short run is ovah. That is why they could never be annointed a dynasty. Cuz they’re not!
Can the old and tired Sux try to make a come back? Sure they can try. But as far as I’m concerned, the humiliation is already there. They are not going to look like the Rays no matter what, no how. And they’re not going to look like the Phils. Those two teams are teeming with energy and enthusiasm – and talent. The Sux just look old.
Oh well.
Also, most are convinced Varitek is done. The boos Varitek is getting in Fenway is a sure sign they’ve turned on him.
tonight might be Varitek’s last game as a Sox. its funny how the fans are giving him the “ARod treatment in Yankee Stadium”.
Drive 4-5, the booed F’Ortiz the other night also. Did you see the look on his face?
so Ortiz and Variterk is getting the “ARod treatment in Yankee Stadium”…lol wow!!!
Potch, I think it is actually a relief to see us not “fighting for our lives”. One season out of the postseason will do us a lot more good than harm. A wake up call is a very valuable thing.
Since the Yankees were basically fighting an uphill battle most of the season, it should have been quite easy to adjust to the reality at the end. Even I, optimist extraordinaire, adjusted well when it was over, since getting into the postseason was a long shot. I kid you not when I say that I am enjoying this postseason much more than I would have thought possible. From my perspective, what better than to see the Sux (and yes the Dodgers) take it on the chin. But at least the Sux for lord sake!
My favorite moments have been hanging out with jen, brandon, doreen, tom, and all others who have danced with joy watching the Phils and Rays dominate.
GO RAYS!!!
And Ed, too!
The only thing that jumps out at me is the fact that Fenway is a sandbox compared to most other baseball parks. Their seating capacity is a little over 38,000. If they cannot sell out the ‘beloved’ Fenway Park seats during an ALCS, what is that saying about the supposed ‘faithful’?
Matsuzaka will not get away with walking the bases loaded every other inning again. If they stay patient tonight, Dice K will provide the run support for the Rays.
Go Rays!
Remember that Jason Varitek was listed on the “early” version of the Mitchell report, but then no where to be found when it came to the actual version. I firmly believe that Red Sox front office employee George Mitchell removed him, protecting his “captain” from embarrassment.
Maybe his body is breaking down, as his batting average declines and his arm is even weaker than it was. The dopey “C” on his jersey stands for “cheater.”
trisha -
you just made me blush. lol
“This year is definitely different from any year since ‘03 in that a LOT of fans don’t have confidence in this year’s team’s ability to pull it out.”
this is a shame. it’s more fun when they get their drunken hopes up
hmm
must be manny!
make manny a yankee 09!
I can see the Sox trying to make it interesting, but the Rays are too complete of a team IMO for a comeback to take place. They’ve done it before though, so I guess it’s only fair to not count them out.
miranda really is an arizona freak….3 for 3 today with a double… .632 avg and a wimpy OPS of just 1.808 : ) in 19 abs
I’m not shocked about the lack of interest with these so called die hard fans in this crap they call red sox nation. A good friend of mine, who happened to be a Red Sox fan had tickets to all of the Red Sox home games in the 2004 playoffs through his college buddy who was working in the front office of a MLB team (and now is currently the GM), sold me his two tickets for Game 4 of the ALCS because he felt the series was over. Also, he offerred the tickets to a bunch of Red Sox die hard fans and they all passed on the tickets.
During the worst of times is when you see the true colors of a person.
RalphieD,
You think the D-backs would like to trade Upton to the Yanks for Miranda?
the perfect ending for tonight: Rocco Baldelli HR into the citgo sign, making it explode, showering sparks onto the field as he trots around the bases.
one can dream!
“trisha – RAYS IN 3! (yes I know it’s a 7 game series…)
October 16th, 2008 at 4:54 pm
Drive 4-5, the booed F’Ortiz the other night also. Did you see the look on his face?”
This isn’t true. Youkilis was up next and the Boston fans were doing their Youk chant. Ortiz looked ill because he stinks without his magic shakes.
The fans might not like what they are seeing from the team, but they only seem to boo when the whole team is walking off the field rather than individual players.
I’m disappointed Rocco didnt get the start in right field. I’m not second guessing Maddon. He knows his team.
Speaking of second guessing, Red Sox fans around here talk like swapping Kazmir and Shields tonight is overmanaging and opens the door for a Boston comeback.
My opinion is that the move can be justified in looking at Shield’s home/away splits ( 9 -2 2.94 ERA at home/5-6 4.82 away) and that Kazmir has pitched well in Fenway prior to this season.
Also, I think this game has as much to do with the Rays approach against DiceK as it does with their starting pitcher.
Ortiz was right, in Game 1 the Rays looked tentative and impatient. I dont think that’s true now, that’s for sure.
If the Rays get DiceK’s pitch count where it usually is, 100 pitches before the end of the 6th,and Kazmir just pitches competitively for 5 innings the Rays will win. There is no one in the Boston bullpen outside of Papelbum that the Rays dont feel confident in hitting.
It sounds like a combination of if you can’t be sure of a good time, why spend the money? This team is not the same team as last season and certainly not the same team as 2004. The “Idiots” have left the building, Manny is hitting homers in LA LA land, and their heroes from yesteryear are not at the top of the their game (Ortiz, Lowell and Beckett).
However, Matsuzaka is pitching tonight and he has defied the odds (walking the ballpark and striking out the rest) the entire season. Tonight is their best chance for a victory, in m opinion. It’s a shame if they’ve given up.
I certainly don’t like the Red Sox or the whole RS Nation stuff, but this is the NLCS and only two teams get to be there. And every game is a fresh start.
It’s got to be the fun/money ratio.
frits = ditz
its no surprise about the lack of interest, sox fans are bandwagoners
LOL @ frits
http://www.nypost.com/seven/09.....127207.htm
“When the mortgage meltdown hit, [banks] turned to credit cards to make up for their slacking profits,” Dennis Moroney, research director at TowerGroup, told the magazine.
Some analysts believe a wave of credit-card defaults is coming since strapped consumers have turned to the cards to cover their expenses.
Delusional Sux fans are sneaking back into the woodwork as well they should. Too many hotshots talking stupidity such as dynasties. Maybe it’s a reality check that 2004 and 2007 were fleeting moments.
It seems the Sox have run head first into a hurricane before and have come out the other end. I will not count them out until I see Tampa players jumping up and down on the field.
haha…. B is for Bandwagon
Sawx management did not handle Manny well (actually their actions precipitated his off the wall actions in July) and is paying the price.
thats cause you don’t ride a bandwagon when the wagon is moving slow.
The Red Sox have the worst fans of any team, including the Rays and Marlins. They do not deserve a championship ballclub.