Red Sox fans avoid stuffing All-Star ballot box for Xander Bogaerts
Xander Bogaerts of the Boston Red Sox could be an All-Star if Red Sox Nation decided to collectively stuff the ballot box. We did not and deserve credit for baseball smarts.
Boston Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts was voted off the island and will not be flying to Miami for the All-Star Game.
Good! Bravo! This was the absolute right fan inspired decision since Mike Moustakas – a third baseman – is more deserving. Moose is having a better season. In fact, several shortstops are having a better season and despite what fWAR will tell me I would give a hearty edge to Carlos Correa, Elvis Andrus, Didi Gregorius, and Andrelton Simmons.
The reason Bogaerts lost in the voting is the Red Sox fans. To be quite blunt and with a healthy dose of provincialism the Red Sox fan base is the sharpest of all thirty. You go to Fenway Park you do not need any “Make Noise” or idiotic trumpet calls to liven up the old ballyard. Boston fans actually know when and how to make noise without artificial stimulation.
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You go to a Red Sox game the fans know what to expect and are mulling over potential lineup maneuvers as early as the sixth inning. We collectively know the game and respect the game and with respect comes the simple fact of just who deserves accolades.
The Red Sox fans could have stuffed the ballot box quite easily. They did not for the one reason that is most apparent – others were more worthy this season than XB. We may – as with other teams – be “homers,” but we do have a certain level of common baseball sense and responsibility. That was on full display despite the nonsense exhibited on the Red Sox website.
Boston leads all American League teams in road attendance. We wear it (Red Sox paraphernalia) well. I just returned from Toronto and the Red Sox fans were out in force. This is not rare, but it is expected. A few years ago in Houston – before they switched leagues – the Astros had three sellouts all season – a three-game set with Boston. Again, Boston fans everywhere.
Tonight a four-game home series starts on the road in Tampa. A place – like Baltimore – where the players of the opposing team will comment publicly and privately about Red Sox Nation invading their home space – invading in droves and spending millions to boot.
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So that is my tangent regarding XB being shunned. I Place the blame, or is it common sense, on an entire nation – Red Sox Nation. A group of discerning fans who know when something is deserved and when something is not.