Why Isn't Spring Training In New England?

Oh yeah, the snow. I've lived in New England pretty much my entire life. I was not born here, but my parents moved here a couple of weeks after I was born. So snow is a fact of life, it happens every year. It also snows in March a lot, sometimes even in April. I remember riding my BMX bike into snowbanks April vacation one year.

That's the view I have right now while I'm typing this post. It's still snowing, and it's a wet, heavy snow, so the roads are slippery. But what people say about New England is that if you don't like the weather, wait ten minutes. It can change that quickly.

Fortunately, sometimes that translates into my hometown team as well.

The 2012 season was brutal. Much more so than the Butch Hobson years of the early 90's. Being a lifelong Red Sox fan, I was used to always losing. At that point the last World Series win was 1918, the last Bruins Stanley Cup win was 1972 (when I was 3), and the Patriots had never won a Super Bowl. The only saving grace was that the Celtics won a few NBA championships. It's certainly not like today.

Since winning World Series in 2004 and 2007, going to a Red Sox has been more like an event then an actual game. When I went to games in the 90's, it seemed like everybody was there to watch the game. Nowadays, it seems like most people are there to be part of the "scene". It is very expensive to go to a Red Sox game, so I haven't been to Fenway Park in a while. The last game I went to was in June of 2007 against the San Fransisco Giants, because I wanted to see Barry Bonds play.

This is a picture I took that night from where I was sitting. Even if you are not a Red Sox fan, you have to admit that this looks absolutely beautiful. Believe me when I say this, that Fenway Park is a gorgeous stadium and if you ever have the chance to see a game there, take advantage of it.

Just bring a lot of money.

The Red Sox are anything but a small market team, so a lot of times they overpay to sign players. Count me as one of the people who were excited about the signings of Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford, but it just didn't pan out. It is tough to play in Boston because us fans are very demanding and can be extremely critical if you do not live up to your contract. In Boston, you are not a player, you are a contract.

I liked both players, but Crawford could never get on the field and Gonzalez rubbed a lot of people the wrong way with his "It's God's will." comment as to why the Red Sox collapsed in 2011. And from what I understand Crawford still can't get on the field and Gonzalez is still complaining about his time in Boston.

So you can understand I was very surprised with the "Punto trade" of last year. I could not believe that the Dodgers were willing to take on that much salary. Josh Beckett, as dominant a pitcher is he was (and maybe still is) had worn out his welcome here, so he was part of the trade as well.

I can probably speak for "Red Sox Nation" and say that we did not like Bobby Valentine. However, if you think that he was the only problem last year, you would be mistaken. For the past few years, injuries have been ridiculous. The Red Sox consistently have one of the highest payrolls in baseball, yet for the past few years it seems like we're constantly fielding a Triple-A team becasue of all of the players on the DL. Who knows when David Ortiz will be ready, and pitchers Craig Breslow and Franklin Morales are supposed to begin the season on the DL, as well as outfielder Ryan Kalish.

Not to mention Jacoby Ellsbury is in the last year of his contract. Was his 30 - 30 season of 2011 a fluke? Does Jackie Bradley Jr. become the center fielder next year? Most think that this is Ellsbury's last year here.

Ellis Burks. He has nothing to do with this post, but he is one of my favorite players of all time. Plus this is a baseball card blog, and I haven't shown any baseball cards yet.

So since I started this post, the power has flickered probably half a dozen times.

It is still snowing.

My fiancee just took our dog out so she could play in the snow. (The dog, not her.)

I've got a beer and the Bruins game on TV.

I'm going to read my favorite card blogs later on tonight (as long as we still have power).

Life is good.

And if at some point it isn't....

I'll just wait ten minutes.