Red Sox Fan’s Offseason Survival Guide
Sep 11, 2015; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Boston Red Sox president of baseball operations David Dombrowski prior to the game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
It has been more than a week since the last MLB game, 35 days since the last Red Sox game and there are 147 days left for Opening Day against the Cleveland Indians (to make the matter worse, there’s an off day after the first game of the season). Even though the Red Sox finished in last place, most of us are excited for the next season thanks to Dave Dombrowski taking over as President of Baseball Operations and the promising futures of players like Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts and Eduardo Rodriguez, to name a few.
However, the offseason can be a pain in the butt for some of us. We read rumors that most of the time end up being far from reality and watch every MLB Network special from our favorite team. For a while, that kind of stuff helps us deal with the absence of Major League Baseball, but how can you survive the long days of winter with no Red Sox baseball without turning into Jack Torrance?
Next: The New England Patriots
Oct 29, 2015; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski (87) spikes the ball after scoring a touchdown against the Miami Dolphins during the first quarter at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stew Milne-USA TODAY Sports
The New England Patriots
It obviously has to do with a regional thing, but most Red Sox fans also root for the New England Patriots. I completely understand if you don’t, but you have to admit that the season New England is putting is one for the ages. Personally, I do consider myself a Patriots fan and I have to say that the revenge tour Tom Brady is doing right now is definetely helping me with the offseason. Even though my interest with the Patriots is not even close to being as intense as the one I have with the Red Sox, Bill Belichick and his squad are one of the few things that are keeping me mentally sane. Brady and company are giving a clinic on how to shut down every obstacle that you have ahead of you and remember everyone else of why they can’t mess with you and get away with it. To watch Brady, Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman trying to lead the team on a 19-0 quest is something that makes my Sundays betters.
New England had its bye week a more than a month ago, so it’s safe to say that we’re going to have Patriots football until at least January.
Next: Podcasts
Sep 12, 2015; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Boston Red Sox designated hitter
David Ortiz(34) conducts radio interviews following a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays where he reached the 500 home run mark at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
Listening to podcasts
If you do not live in the New England area and don’t have access to radio stations like WEEI (downloading the station app on your phone is also a great idea if you can’t listen to them on the radio), baseball podcasts are an excellent option if you want to listen to good Red Sox talk.
My personal favorites are the following:
The Section 10 Podcast: With a humoristic tone and hosted by Barstool’s Jared Carrabis and UPROXX’s Pete Blackburn, the Section 10 Podcast consists on 80 to 110 minutes discussions about the Red Sox and everything related to them. Most of the times Carrabis and Blackburn try to have a baseball or Boston related guest on the show to turn the discussions into a more in-deep talk about whatever they want. Their guests have been local celebrities like Gary Striewski or even more mainstream personalities like Katie Nolan. The Section 10 Podcast is a must on your list if you need to forget about the mess the Red Sox have been and put a little humor into it.
The Danny Picard Show: Even though it doesn’t only consist on baseball topics, The Danny Picard Show is one of the most insightful podcasts around. With deep knowledge on WWE, NFL, MLB and almost every other sport, Danny Picard provides his honest and realistic opinion on any Boston sports topic that has been trending. Picard focuses more on the NFL during the MLB offseason, but whenever the hot stove starts heating up you’ll hear his hot takes on every player that has been connected to the Red Sox.
The Lana Berry Show: Lana Berry started as a social media sensation on Twitter, thanks to her humorous comments on Bartolo Colon, #theyearofthetriple, position player pitching and Zack Greinke. After taking off as a social media star, Lana launched her own podcast where on a similar note to The Section 10 pod, you’ll hear honest but comical opinions on baseball.
Next: Books
Oct 4, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; A bucket of bubble gum for Cleveland Indians manager
Terry Francona(not pictured) in the dugout prior to a game between the Cleveland Indians and the Boston Red Sox at Progressive Field. Cleveland won 3-1. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Reading a great Red Sox book
The great thing of having a historical team like the Red Sox, is that we will always have something new written about them. Since Red Sox broke the Curse back in 2004, there has at least one new book published about them every year. Most of the books are written by Red Sox beat writers and whether we like the Boston media or not, we have to admit that almost every member of it has the talent to tell a great story. With the Boston Herald’s Michael Silverman publisihing Pedro Martinez‘ autobiography this past summer, the list of Red Sox books keeps getting longer as you read this. Here’s a list of my personal favorites:
Faithful (Stephen King & Stewart O’Nan)
Boston’s 100 Greatest Games (Rob Sneddon)
Francona: The Red Sox Years (Dan Shaughnessy)
Feeding the Monster (Seth Mnookin)
Every book I listed above is directly related to the Red Sox, but in case you want something that has a more general opinion on baseball, here’s another list:
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game (Michael Lewis)
What If?: Altering sports history one piece at a time (Sean Penney)
Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant’ Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big (Jose Canseco)
Next: Patience
Apr 4, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz (34) reacts after receiving his 2013 World Series ring before the game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
Even with all the distractions we can get, waiting for the season to start again can be boring and stressful but patience is the key to everything. There will be something new every day that is going to make the offseason bearable and without us even noticing it, the Red Sox will be back at Fenway Park again. And just as a friendly reminder, Dombrowski has openly said that he is looking for an ace so this offseason is definetely going to be better than the last two years. The future seems bright for the Red Sox, our patience will be rewared this time.