![]() This is not a country that’s generous with second chances, but two pitchers so marvelously embraced the spirit of redemption and atonement that they were quickly taken to heart. Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia were the spark plugs, two guys who symbolized the Sox winning ways of the past along with leadership and strong character.Īnd this is where the bombing thread met up with more personal, humanistic narratives that transcended moneyball. Still, Ben Cherington was able to put together a team that blended free agency with a we’re-all-in-this-together spirit that mirrored the city’s reaction to the bombing. Red Sox pitcher John Lackey after he struck out Jon Jay Wednesday night. Let’s not kid ourselves - these players are paycheck-driven, too, and we may well have seen the last of Jacoby Ellsbury and Mike Napoli, among others, unfortunately. That marketplace-morality team could never have connected to the marathon bombing, but this one could. The 2012 last-place finish - I actually started rooting for the Yankees - was more than anyone could take and cheers greeted the trading of three of their problem players. Terry Francona, another fine manager, had obviously lost control of the team. The mercenary approach reached its nadir two years ago, when it almost seemed as if Red Sox fans were rooting for the collapse of a team defined by materialism and egocentrism, with enormous payouts to players who seemed the antithesis of team players. As my cousin often says, the Red Sox finally beat the Yankees and won the Series in 2004, but had to become the Yankees to do it. Writers, of course, are always looking for narratives for sports teams - lunch bucket brigades, no-name defenses - but in the age of free agency, most narratives take a back seat to one pack of mercenaries beating another pack of mercenaries. It gave the team a defining thread and put the Red Sox squarely in the middle of a story that was bigger than any sports team. In retrospect, Ortiz’s one F-bomb was more artful than those in all of David Mamet’s obscenity-laced plays put together. As John Farrell - the best (and most articulate) manager since Dick Williams - said after the game, the team genuinely believed in its civic responsibility and the fans, in turn, fed off the players’ commitment to Boston. So when Ortiz said the unprintable - “This is our city” - he was acknowledging a historical bond between the marathon and the Red Sox. ![]() Ambulances arrive at the scene of the Marathon bombing. on Patriots Day, usually a precursor to the marathon finish. ![]() But the connection was legitimate, beginning with the fact that the Red Sox always play at Fenway at 11 a.m. I was initially skeptical when the Red Sox tied their fortunes into helping the city recover from the Boston Marathon bombing. There is great craftsmanship in sports, but rarely are there the ingredients that make for an artistic journey.įirst of all, there is the narrative of this year’s Red Sox - narratives, actually. Lackey.” How about “The Magic Mound”?Ĭall them anything you like, but the 2013 Red Sox were a work of art, and that’s not the stretch it usually is when sports and art are mentioned in the same breath. Call it “David Ortiz and the Power of Myth.” Or “The Talented Mr.
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