Red Sox Nation 2018 Seems a Long Time Ago

As I was hanging a new calendar in my kitchen yesterday I realized almost half a decade has passed since the last Red Sox team held up “ The Commissioner's Trophy” . Raffy Devers is the last position man standing off that great 108 win team.

Long gone is the greatest outfield I've ever seen - ( Yes I was alive for Yaz, Lynn, Evens and Rice, Lynn and Evans ) I’ll take Mookie - JBJ and Benintendi thank you very much. While the former with multiple shots never got it done the latter never let an opportunity slip through their legs.. Rings count people. Even with the return of Jackie last year it seems a millennia ago that these three roamed the most hallowed outfields in MLB history.

Xander Bogaerts is now also wearing a different uniform. Off to join Don Orcillo in the land of the Friers. Brock Holt is retired, Christian Vazquez is a Twin. Sandy Leone well Sandy got really into the 60’s and no one has heard from him since. I did hear of a Mitch Morland sighting in Oakland but we are talking northern California so it was probably Bigfoot. The Rangers Nate Eovaldi was the number five pitcher on that 58 win starting staff, led by 17 game winner Pretty Ricky Porcello; Now all that remains from 2018 is the Ghost of Chris Sale.

The 2018 Red Sox are a team so far flung from this 2023 incarnation it's not even funny. The nightmare my mother had when “ Free Agency “ began in earnest in 1975 (RIP Curt Flood) has come to fruition. Since that day in November 2018 we have heard Sam Kennedy - Chaim Bloom and John Henry talk out of both sides of their mouths. “ Can't Sign Mookie if we want to pay Xander and Raffy, Can’t sign Bogaerts if we want to pay Raffy. Can’t block the prospects path… On and On. Since the hiring of the Blooming Onion Red Sox nation have been fed a diet of prospects with no prospects, traded for fourth outfielders who play150 games a year, free agents who can't physically play the position you brought them here to play. And gloveless overpaid imports who have played in countries whose highest level of baseball compares to our AA. Not to mention a starting staff that looks like the last eleven minutes of an episode of MacGyver .

I hope you're happy John Henry. I hope you’re proud of what your greed has done. This was a franchise that was set to compete for championships for years to come. This was a franchise teams like the Mets, Dodgers and Padres are trying to buy. It was homegrown and belove’ed. A team like this comes along once in a lifetime.. Why did you have to kill it ? You have the third most valuable franchise in baseball. you carry ZERO debt. The fanbase fills your seats and there are busloads of swag-acholic grandmothers who fill your team shop. there is no reason money should ever be a reason.

As always you can follow / give me grief on Twitter @Tmurph207