Bill's Red Sox Article

My Father in law wrote this for the church bulletin where he preaches. This article was sent to Manny Ramirez by some church memeber who is I guess a mover and shaker in Beantown. Who knows if Manny ever read it (or personally saw it) but I thought I'd help get Bill out there for you all to read. Bill understands first hand (through dealing with me)the fanaticism of we Sox fans and our anchor in tradition.

Here is his article.

My daughter and I converted Jeff in 1999. He responded by converting us to the Boston Red Sox. Jeff has relatives in Boston, and he and Charissa got to visit there this past spring. They went to a Red Sox game at Fenway Park, saw the Green Monster, and exchanged greetings with the players as they stepped onto the field for practice. The closest thing in Texas to a devotion like the Red Sox is an Aggie football game. It’s all about tradition. And friendship. And the pain of disappointment. Marty Nolan, an editor for the Boston Globe describes it with an oft-repeated quote, “They killed my father, and now they’re coming after me.”
Jeff loaned me a book by David Halberstam, The Teammates, about the enduring 60-year friendship between Red Sox greats Bobby Doerr, Dominic DiMaggio, Johnny Pesky and Ted Williams. Of the four, Williams was the most bombastic and difficult to live with. He was always argumentative, and was always right. Only Doerr seemed able to calm him down and correct him when he was wrong—in his swing, at least. That’s what “friends who stick closer than brothers” do.
As I read the book, I’m touched by the devotion and affection these men had for each other. They shared a love of the sport, and of their team. Only Pesky of the four ever wore another uniform than the Red Sox, late in his career. Friendships such as that shared by these greats are rare indeed; it’s why Halberstam’s book was a big seller. Rarer still is the loyalty to just one team, in the modern age of free agencies and huge salaries.
I find much to admire in their stories. And in the love and familial spirit shown by Red Sox fans. Wherever I wear my Navy blue cap with the big red “B” on it, Sox fans greet me. It’s to them like finding family far from home. One can’t be a casual Red Sox fan in the same way one can be a Braves fan, yet like the Indians or the Mets. A Sox fan is grounded in tradition. He or she remembers Ted Williams .406 season in 1941—the last year anyone batted over .400 in the Major Leagues. Though grounded in tradition, they are not chained to it. They shower their love on Manny Ramirez, David “Big Papi” Ortiz, Kevin Youkilis and Coco Crisp. On several different levels, they’re everything Christians should be.
Red Sox fans can teach Christians lessons on love, loyalty and zeal. Paul said “Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.” –from Romans 12:9-12, NRSV.
If we as a church can get a handle on this, maybe we’ll be as good at being Christians as the Red Sox are at being fans.