There’s a saying that I learned in a mental toughness training last year and it is one that every athlete should learn and implement. To be honest, it applies to almost every situation in life. It sounds simple, but we all tend to forget it. Here it is: Only worry about what you can control.
Just think about that for a second.
With that in mind, let’s talk about last night’s Red Sox/Astros ALCS Game 1. ALCS of course refers to the American League Cheat...I mean Championship Series. In the interest of full disclosure, I didn’t watch too much of the game. Baseball has a habit of putting me to sleep.
Apparently, there was a play in which Hunter Renfroe hit a ball down the third base line in the top of the 3rd. The bases were loaded and the play ended up being an RBI double. Fair enough right. You would think Red Sox fans would be happy about this. I’m sure they were at the time. They had a 3-1 lead at the time with runners on 2nd and 3rd. Still in the same situation out-wise. The Red Sox didn’t score again that inning and it was 3-1.
Well, the Red Sox ended up losing 5-4. A good baseball game to say the least but a loss nonetheless.
Now I really didn’t think much about the game other than the final score. Then I came across a tweet from Lou Merloni.
For anyone who doesn’t know, Lou Merloni is a former utility infielder for the Red Sox, who just so happens to host the afternoon show on Red Sox flagship radio station WEEI. He is usually pretty good about giving his opinions on the team and I actually like him on the radio.
A couple weeks ago, Merloni went on a tirade like that of a kid who tries to convince all his buddies that a certain anime show is actually really great. He went on and on about how it is “OK to love this fun team!” That was done in response to his station, and the Red Sox broadcast he happens to be part of, getting trounced in the radio ratings. But all is fair, do what you want Lou.
The problem is when Merloni said that he didn’t know why people seem not to like this Red Sox team. Never mind poor performance on the field the prior year, signing Alex Verdugo who was involved in a potential sexaul assault, and an ownership group that routinely insults its fans by trading away the best player on the team. Put that all aside.
What I give you in response to that is this video breakdown: https://twitter.com/LouMerloni/status/1449377197647704070
Nothing looks worse than complaining about a play that happened while you were winning and didn’t result in an out. Not only just complaining about it, but blaming it for losing the game.
Listen, I watched the play over and over again. The ball 100% hit the ball boys stool. And yes, the ball boy totally could’ve moved himself and the stool, and the ball would’ve got to the wall. But really? You’re going to whine and complain about a double that scored a run in the 3rd inning and say that it cost the Red Sox the game. Honestly that is just sad.
Merloni should take a look at what happened after that inning and blame the loss on allowing the Astros to come back and eventually winning. But instead, the guy who wanted people to enjoy watching this “likeable” team, bitches and moans about a ball boy. Maybe the Red Sox should’ve got another hit and kept the 3rd inning going. Or just protected the lead they had.
Not only that, but smart money says that Merloni and fellow Red Sox sycophant Jared Carrabis of Barstool sports wouldn’t be tweeting about this and doing video breakdowns of it if the Sox had won. This is the ultimate example of sour grapes.
Now, should the ball boy have been sitting in a different spot? Probably. And I’d put money on the fact that he will be somewhere else this afternoon. But don’t make the fact that your team got a double be the hill you’re going to die on.
Also don’t rant and rave about how nobody likes the team, and then whine like a sore loser when your team can’t win a game. I’ll end with a phrase my old football and wrestling coach used to constantly tell us when we complained about a bad call: Don’t leave it up to the ref. Although I’ll alter this for Lou, Jared and the Red Sox: Don’t leave it up to the ball boy to win a game you are already leading in.
Comments