The Curtain Falls

Where will the Red Sox now spend their autumn and their winter? Movies, TV, travel, helping Elizabeth Warren attempting to unseat Scott Brown? Soliciting funds for Sen. Kerry, listening to talk radio, reading The Globe and hoping their names do not appear in the trade rumors? Drinking? Will there be a formal funeral in Boston to bury this team? All that optimism of last spring now gone! All the pleasure of 2004 and 2007 and its resultant hubris now a distant memory...sullied by one of the worst September performances in the entire history of baseball. If only Simon and Garfunkel had written 'Where have you gone Ted Williams' this indignity might not have occurred. But not all is lost. Boston has a new sister city in Atlanta...Logan to Hartsfield if you want a non-stop to watch baseball being played at a credible level in the spring and mid-summer. Caution: avoid this flight in September: safety problems.

On the other hand, spring baseball and its attendant optimism is only five months from now. Who knows, Theo Epstein might just be able to tempt Jose Reyes to join Crawford for another $120 million or so. Who knows? Meanwhile, kick back and enjoy the ride as the heroes from the big ballpark in The Bronx pursue number 28.

Finally, Red Sox supporters should know that they will be back for another try before the clock expires on the BHO regime. That's not much but it's something.

Love in the Big City

Yankee fans are basking in the love being sent their way by the Red Sox Nation. As Boston continues to fail and sink, their fan base known for their annual awe and antipathy for the heroic Yankees is now sending rose bouquets, love and just about everything other than the kitchen sink in the desperate hope of securing a playoff spot and avoiding one of the most ignoble crashes in modern sports history. While it is not true that John Kerry has offered to kiss the ass of ARod in public in order to secure Yankee help in defeating Tampa Bay over the next week, there is strong rumor in NYC that he has unselfishly offered himself up in penance to abandon the Bay State and join Jane Fonda in Hanoi. The Yankee head office has generously offered John & Jane Yankee Stadium bleacher seats to cheer on their new big city heroes.

Class Warfare Continues

Today President Obama and his media acolytes plunged even further into class warfare by expressing a continuing desire and objective of singling out the well-to-do for greater tax increases. This, of course, would drive the country into a second recession if passed but it seemingly does not deter Obama in attempting to lay a predicate for his own re-election campaign at the expense of sensible economics.

The country has a spending problem and we have a debt of over $14 Trillion. Obama panders over and over to his base by proposing a solution of raising taxes on the people and institutions who create the jobs. That, at its best is class warfare; at its worst, it is just plain dumb.

If I were a Democrat I would pray for an LBJ type denouement and a new nominee for my party. There simply is no reason for the GOP to agree with leftist proposals which will not create jobs, not grow the economy and not create a serious restructuring in the entitlements designed reduce the debt.

The View from Left Field

Does anyone remember when George W. Bush was president how the left-wing media and the left-wing of the Democratic Party were all over him for carrying-on wars here, there, everywhere. Well here we are late in 2011 suffering through the misguided economic policies of an Obama administration, descending daily into greater debt as a nation, still engaged militarily in Iraq and Afghanistan while increasing our known military efforts in Pakistan, Libya, Yemen, perhaps Syria and Somalia and yet we do not hear a whisper from the Democratic left-wing, anti-war luminaries about this administration's policies. Hypocritical? Nah. Gitmo...bad under Bush, okay for Obama to use and continue? Anti-Terror policies...too aggressive under Bush; okay under Obama, Napolitano, Holder...just don't use the word "terror."

Economically, all we have is the Obama administration calling their profligate welfare spending an "investment." Who do they think they are fooling? Obama has never even, to our knowledge, run a lemonade stand as a kid much less the industries he wants to influence and regulate. Does the Obama administration have serious experience in anything other than community organizing and hubris?

How about some common sense? And soon?

The Great Debate

Who is worse off at mid-September 2011, the Boston Red Sox or the Democratic Party? Defeats continue to mount for both as recent losses to Tampa Bay by Boston may or may not be as bad the defeats taken by the Democrats yesterday in Nevada and New York City. There are, of course, parallels. The Red Sox Nation is nervous as hell while the White House, already fragile, is shaking to its core knowing these losses are simply an early sour taste of the the next fifteen months.

"Pass this now" President Obama says of his new, newer, newest jobs program. No discussion, no compromise, no congressional committee review. This would be akin to the Red Sox saying to Tampa Bay: second place is ours, let's not play the remaining games.

My conclusion is the Red Sox have a far greater chance of securing a winning future than does BHO and his horribly misguided economic policies. In fact, I think there is a greater likelihood of the Yankees winning both the 2011 and 2012 World Series than BHO and Democrats have of being reelected to the White House.

Fear Abates in Boston (Temporarily)

Finally, Boston can celebrate something. As he approaches 1,000 years of age, Timmy Wakefield gives Red Sox fans a moment in time to appreciate late in the season with his 200th career win. The victory was not a performance equal to those expected from Beckett or Lester or even from Clemens or Martinez of yesteryear fame. Indeed, the victory required 18 runs, some of which certainly should have been inventoried for near future use against the heroic Yankees or Devil Rays, to secure this milestone. Still, with so little to bring late season joy to the Red Sox Nation this could be the highlight of their all too familiar September performance.

Meanwhile in Yankee-land, Mariano achieved career save number 600 as the heroes continue to protect their four game first place lead over Boston. Yankee fans continue to pray for Boston's survival in the battle for second place.

Next week Boston fans will doubtless find themselves routing for the heroic Yankees to defeat Tampa as they limp toward the playoffs suddenly just a hiccup in front of the Rays.

Hope is the Last Thing to Die

As the light lessens, optimism continues its familiar seasonal fade in Boston. Following a 10-0 thrashing at the hands of the Texas Rangers last night the Red Sox Nation begins to adjust once again to the reality of another second place finish behind the heroic New York Yankees. The Steinbrenner family had considered sending black bunting to adorn the fences of Fenway but decided at the the last moment not to antagonize a team that has already defeated them 11 times this season. Apart from the Yankees, the Boston club seems incapable of regularly beating any of its rivals further alienating its fans from rational thought. Of course, in Boston, there is still much hope (and agony) in the expectation of Tim Wakefield winning his 200th career game. Even Sen. Kerry, great sportsman in his own right and great war hero, was excited and heard to exclaim in the constant of Boston breast-beating, "Those damn Yankees have Jeter and his 3,000 hits, ARod and all his HRs, Mariano the best reliever in baseball history, Texeria the guy we could not afford, all those glorious retired numbers of Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle and others but hell we've got our Timmy!"

Red Sox Nation Begins Mourning

Following yet another stunning loss last night to the Yankees and their 1,000 year old relief pitcher, Mariano Rivera, the city of Boston has begun its annual transition to supporting Patriot football due to the cold-shower bracing knowledge of yet another year in second place behind the 27 time baseball world champion New York club. This appears not to be a crisis for Boston residents as losing to the Yankees is a familiar annual event. Even notable loser, Senator John Kerry, has acknowledged this position when he says "Beating the Yankees is like trying to beat IBM or George Bush, it's just too damn hard!" Interviewed at his hairdresser, Sen. Kerry went on to say "Beating the Yankees is a taxing problem and perhaps if the Red Sox play next season in Newport RI, the seasonal result might improve."

The New York Post has already begun to wonder out loud whether or not Red Sox fans will continue to go to empty Fenway Park when the team plays next year in Newport in order to sustain one of the few proud records of the Red Sox.