Along for the Ride with Chris Ryan
For a welcome respite from a strange and horrific week in Boston sports look to Fenway Park.
I began covering the big four teams in January of 2002 and since then the Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics and Bruins have combined for seven championships and eleven trips to the finals.
The success is unprecedented and so has been the decline.
First, the Patriots brand has forever been tarnished by the alleged brutal actions of star player Aaron Hernandez. How he was not fully vetted before receiving a $12.5 million dollar signing bonus last summer is beyond me. The fact that it occured after Hernandez may have been involved in a double murder is embarrassing for a organization that allegedly holds itself to a higher standard.
Second, the Boston Bruins had a fabulous and exciting run to the Stanley Cup Finals. They combined with the Blackhawks to play exciting hockey and helped the average sports fan put the lockout further in the rearview mirror. However, things did not end well. They gave up two goals in 17 seconds and turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 loss in Game 6 with less than a minute to play. The loss left the players stunned and fans to watch the Blackhawks receive the Stanley Cup on the Bruins home ice.
There are also changes on the way for the Bruins as two key fixtures of their 2011 Stanley Cup winning team will be moving on in playoff hero Nathan Horton and alternate captain Andrew Ference will both depart via free agency.
“It was a a group where you could look across the room and know the other guy was going to work just as hard as you,” said Ference.
Third, the Boston Celtics officially ended their time as a championship contender by trading away Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. It was incredibly fun to cover the Celtics for the last six years. In a era where stars move all around there was also something special about Pierce having played all 15-years of his career in Boston finishing second to only John Havilcek in scoring. That run is over.
However, there is some light at the end of the sports tunnel. The Boston Red Sox are really good. So good in fact that they are tied for the most wins in baseball and have the best record in the American League going into play on Saturday.
They’ve also completely turned around their image.
Gone are the privaleged divas, and welcomed are the grinders. Gone is the nutty egomaniacal manager and welcomed is the former pitching coach who knows how to communicate and get the most out of his players.
“We’ve got guys who just enjoy playing the game, playing it hard and playing it the right way” said outfielder Daniel Nava. “The front office did a really good job of assembling this team.”
That wouldn’t have been said in years past where the clubhouse vibe was dominated by Josh Beckett, Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford who weren’t exactly gamers.
They of course were magically dealt last August to the LA Dodgers (last place in the AL West with a 36-43 mark).
That gave the Sox some financial wiggle room and they turned that into Shane Victorino, Mike Napoli, Jonny Gomes, Ryan Dempster and David Ross.
Those are quality players, hard-workers and high-character people.
Napoli’s deal nearly didn’t happen after concerns regarding a hip condition. A initial contract believed to be for three-years, $39 million dollars was parred down to a one-year pact for $5 million.
Napoli has been without question the Sox best off-season aquisition. He is 8th in the American League with 54 RBI.
“I expected (playing in Boston) to be pretty good,” said Napoli. “Living it out though…it’s electric everynight. They packed the stands in Texas and Anaheim every night, but here they’re into the game every single night. They know baseball.”
Indeed they do. Last year they knew they were getting cheated. Players were out of shape, guys weren’t grinding out at-bats and this year they like what they see at Fenway.
With all the negativity surrounding Boston’s other teams, Fenway is certainly the place to be.
