BAYwatch & Boston's Identity!

[DRAFTAHOLIC]

Are the Sox Losing Their Unique Identity or Creating a New One? BAYWATCH!

Some Boston Red Sox Players Have Become A HouseHold Name....with such names as Nomahhh, Manny being Manny, Tony C, Yaz, Teddy Ballgame and the like. Years ago I could not imagine Boston without Garciaparra, could you? In fact as a photographer I took a beautiful picture of Nomar that I just blew up to poster size just days before he was traded. I still have not been able to put that poster on the wall. Now Boston has lost Manny Ramirez, the guy we loved to laugh at as well as cheer for and scratch our head about. Manny sort of left us in the same way that Nomar did; with a scowl.

We no longer have the Ortiz and Manny combination that we have known and loved, especially since 2004; the same combination that brought fear to the New York Yankees. That identify of Boston has vanished and as such we must hold a moment of silence and drink a beer to that memory. Ok, are you done now? Good! Because let's face it, gone are the days when a baseball team remained pretty much the same lineup year in and year out. I loved the standard of Evans, Lynn & Rice and always expecting to see them in the outfield the next season.

Today, we are lucky to have had the Manny/Ortiz combo for as long as we did. Can you imagine us owning two World Series Titles if Manny was picked up off of waivers years ago? But I digress. Today, we build a new identity with Jason Bay. He will take a little getting used to because his name seems to fit more with the Angels or Dodgers than with Boston. We don't really have a Bay in Boston, well I guess we do but, not as famous as the San Francisco Bay. We do not own a few players whose last name begins with a "B" so we cannot steal the name of the Killer Bee's and who would really want to anyway? If we had a player whose last name began with an "S" and then another whose last name began with an "O" and we fit him into the lineup with Bay and call them the "SOB" connection but I digress again.

In time, once Jason Bay hits either before or after Manny and once he creates a new legacy here in Boston, it will not matter if we are able to create a pet name for the man. What will matter is if he helps us win another World Series Title. If that happens we can create new catch phrases such as, "The TITLE BY THE BAY" or dare is say it BAYWATCH!!! I would like to copywright that one for Boston. Yup you heard it hear first folks, BAYWATCH will be our new slogan for Jason Bay.

So don't fret over losing our past identity because it is in the past and the past will not win us another World Series Title. Just as we tell the Yankees that all their rings don't mean bulldinky in 2008, what matters most are the players who are on our team and if those players are connecting with the baseball, while those who oppose our pitchers find new holes in their swings.

Now I still say that Boston blew it by only making a parallel move while other teams in our division bettered their ball club by adding new talent ON TOP OF what they already had. Boston either did not feel we needed to add or they just were not paying attention to all those losses we have had in July. Let us hope that Jason Bay will be enough to spark new life in our lineup and create a new identity at Fenway.

Something to think about....



DRAFTAHOLIC

[Yoda]

There is a 50% chance that Bay works out and a 50% chance that Bay doesn't work out. No one knows how he will perform. Maybe he steps it up and becomes even better as the member of the Red Sox but he has some big shoes to fill come September/October especially against the Yanks. Manny destroyed the Yanks for many, many years.

[DRAFTAHOLIC]

Yoda is wise! I still say Boston should not wait until the last minute to make moves, especially ones that are downgrades to the person being traded away.