November 18, 2011

Reputation Of Red Sox Fans As Intelligent Takes A Hit

Red Sox fans are often referred to as some of the smartest fans in baseball.

I suspect that may be solely because they know (generally) when to cheer without prompting from the jumbotron messageboard. You would be hard pressed to make the case for superior intelligence, however, from online polls. ... But maybe the smart fans avoid those.

Boston Globe:

ESPNBoston:

I agree with John Tomase: Bobby V. simply cannot be the choice of baseball ops.

13 comments:

9casey said...

Allan, you have mentioned the Gump thing and he may not believe the same theories of Cherington by why else are you set against Bobby V.?


Most of baseball now plays to the "rules" of moneyball. Its just that sometimes the big market team last longer doing it becuase of the resources they have.

I also think the owners think Bobby V will be colorful and in the end this is a business and the face of this team like I said earlier is getting very vanilla..

laura k said...

Baseball gods, please spare me stupidity disguised in a colourful package.

9C, vanilla? Do you really care about that? The Red Sox should be in the business of winning, not colourful gimmicks. (Or Baskin-Robbins.)

allan said...

I don't know how often SoSock is around, but I'll just say that Baskin is all right!

why else are you set against Bobby V.?

I have heard him talk about baseball.


(I will try to find (or someone can direct me to) a discussion of his managing style, and comment on that.)

9casey said...

laura k said...

9C, vanilla? Do you really care about that? The Red Sox should be in the business of winning, not colourful gimmicks. (Or Baskin-Robbins.)



I agree , but do really think John Henry is going do die while owning this team , i don't think so.

And they also haven't won in a while this isnt our fathers Red Sox, this team is expected to win a world series every year at least compete for one, and they haven't done that in awhile.

These owners a building a brand they need that brand to succeed at the ticket office , at the souvenir store and on TV, and on the field.

laura k said...

These owners a building a brand they need that brand to succeed at the ticket office , at the souvenir store and on TV, and on the field.

Winning on the field will bring the other two. And without that, no amount of gimmickry and colour will sustain ticket and merch sales. Gimmicks might create a bump of sales for a moment, but without winning, it won't last.

laura k said...

If the best that can be said for Bobby Valentine is that he is colourful... we are in deep doo-doo.

Conor Duffy said...

Hey guys,

I legitimately don't know what's so wrong with Bobby V managing the Sox? Could somebody explain to me why.

9casey said...

allan said...


I have heard him talk about baseball



Do you think Tito was a great speaker of the game?

laura k said...

Casey, he means content, not speaking style. (As you probably know.)

Conor, when I saw your question, this is the first thing that came to mind. Only one example, of course, but it was typical and totally unsurprising coming from Valentine.

1999 NLCS Walk-Off Walk

[Sox fans looking at that list may be pleased to see the #1 pick. Sox involved in both #1 and #2, with very different results!]

BZ said...

BV has demonstrated much intelligent insight of the game during his stint as a TV analyst. Our very smart, but ego-in-check Tito is gone and BV would bring considerable controversy to the Sox. But I'd rather controversy than a milquetoast manager that tolerated underachievement. The pot needed stirring in September - you can be sure that BV would have stirred it. Hire BV along with a top pitching coach (Dave Duncan type) and sign Big Pappi, Mark Buehrle and Heath Bell, and we'll be back in the thick of things.

allan said...

Do you think Tito was a great speaker of the game?

Yes.

laura k said...

BV has demonstrated much intelligent insight of the game during his stint as a TV analyst.

Quite a comedian, this BZ!

Jeff Faria said...

In terms of this being evidence against 'intelligent baseball fans' in Boston, you should note that it's a skewed sample. You took that poll from Pete Abraham's blog. The thin-skinned, witless Abraham has been driving intelligent readers away from that blog ever since the Globe brought him on board. What's left over there are mainly the yahoos willing to tell Abraham what a great job he's doing, and how anyone who disagrees with him has one deep-seated personal problem or another.

In fact, never mind the fan response. It's a dumb poll to start with, so of course it's going to attract dumb responses. As an analyst, Abraham's worthless. (He's then one who had Ellsbury traded eight ways to Sunday allll last winter, remember?)

You can't go by 'Extra Bases' as a barometer of the state of Red Sox fandom. It's got a lot more to do with where the limits of sycophancy lie.

Abraham, who Googles himself constantly, should show up here in... 3... 2... 1...