Boston Bandwagon Broken?

Just when I was stewing about the fact that Tropicana Field was full of red – lo and behold – Fenway Park had Tampa Bay Rays fans! Bwahaha. I’ve read several blogs recently that basically called the Rays fans a bunch of backward folk. Having gone to college in Tampa, I can say that this is not always the case. Most of those nuts you see out there have migrated from other places (I’ll spare you the details on the exact locations, but you know what I’m talking about if you’ve been there). Newsflash: Florida natives are actually normal people. They get a bad rap just like we do here in Los Angeles. Go ahead, ask 95% of those nutty residents where they are from…not originally the Tampa Bay area. Conversely, there are many transplants that are normal, upstanding citizens as well so I don’t want you to get the totally wrong idea.

At any rate, I’ve complained that Tampa residents need to stand up and claim their Rays –regardless of where they are from. I didn’t stop being a Dodgers fan when I was in Tampa, but I certainly never disrespected the home stadium of where I was living by wearing the opposing team jersey if they came in to town. Of course, I had the luxury of that not happening too often since the Rays are in the AL.

But alas, back to my original point…there were several people at Fenway Park wearing Rays garb. How does that feel Boston Red Sox fans? You look at those folks with disgust, don’t you? Ha! Now you know how the rest of the baseball world feels when you grace us with your presence in our home stadiums.

Oh, and I just have to point out how you all Red Sox "faithful" started to bail out in the 8th inning after Rocco Baldelli of the Tampa Bay Rays belted out that three run homer over the Green Monster. I don’t EVER want to hear you try to talk about Los Angeles Dodgers fans leaving early from games ever again. The Red Sox “faithful” were leaving the stadium in droves. So much for in it until the end, eh? By the way, those folks you see arriving late and leaving early to Chavez Ravine are generally posers there to stargaze. Sure, some fans can’t get there in time since we have no public transportation and traffic can be a challenge. For the most part, diehards get there and take the abuse until the game is over. Yeah, if you wait until all of the bandwagoners have left there is no problem leaving the parking lot.

Alright, I’ve gotten off point several times here – the intent was to point out that the Boston Red Sox bandwagon must be broken since I saw Tampa Bay Rays fans in the stands. I was just as amused by that and the home team fans leaving early as I was with the Red Sox loss. No, I’m not talking trash guaranteeing a Rays win of the ALDS. I would hate to jinx them like that. For now, I’ll remain cautiously optimistic and dream of a Dodgers – Rays World Series. Deal with it.