A 2013 bobblehead? That'll make it all better.

Well, as anyone who lives in New England knows (that is, anyone other than those residing in Western Connecticut/NY burbs/Yankees territory New England), Red Sox fans are in an uproar over the news that our beloved shortstop, Xander Bogaerts, is shipping out of Boston to join the San Diego Padres.

Xander isn't a "generational talent." He's probably a marginal Hall of Famer. But he's a super good player, a clubhouse leader, well-regarded in the community, adored by the fans, an all-round good guy with no reputational dings, and a home grown player (came up through the Red Sox organization) who wanted to stay in Boston.

Alas, the Red Sox - who could have locked him up last spring with a good offer, rather than the insulting offer they put in front of him - let him slip away, even though they claimed that signing him was a priority. (Readers: it was not.)

Fans are totally up in arms.

When Mookie Betts departed a few years back, fans were pissed. Mookie was everything Xander was, plus a "generational talent" destined for Cooperstown. If I'm still alive when he makes it there, I will be brokenhearted if he's wearing a Dodgers cap on his plaque. So, while I'd be rooting against the Dodgers anyway, here's hoping that, while Mookie's team won the World Series in the weird and truncated covid season of 2020, they never win again during Mookie's career. Anyway, what we all knew with Mookie is that he wanted to test the waters and get a huge contract, and that he didn't care one way or the other whether he stayed with Boston. Fans were upset, but nothing like what's going on with the Bogaerts news. Especially since most of us gloom and doomers (i.e., lifelong Red Sox fans) anticipate that the next home grown talent in line, Raffy Devers - who, like Mookie, is generational - will probably get the same shabby treatment from the Red Sox.

The comments in the Globe articles, on Twitter, in the air are just brutal. 

Fans want Chaim Bloom - the GM who was said to be "stunned" when he heard that Xander was leaving - gone. (If Bloom was indeed stunned then he's the only person in the USA who doesn't know how sports agent Scott Boras - who reps Bogaerts - operates.)

Fans want owner John Henry to sell the team, since it's pretty clear that he's willing to field a last place, non-competitive, lackluster team as long as fans keep buying tickets, merchandise, and TV (NESN) subscriptions. He may be in for a surprise this year. Sure, fans will calm down by the time the season starts, but unless the Red Sox can somehow redeem and resurrect themselves, I think they're looking at fewer fans in the seats, fewer eyeballs on NESN, and lower jersey sales.

I usually go to a few games each year, and watch part of most games on TV, but I'm going to be in wait and see mode. My favorite game is the one played on Patriots' Day. Will I forgive them in time to get tickets? Probably. But that'll be it for me. And I will be super pissed that I'm chump enough to pay through the nose for those Patriots Day tickets.

And it'll be more through the nose than ever, as - after last year's stupendously terrible last place showing - the Red Sox had the gall to raise ticket prices. (In my mind, I'm rehearsing what I'll say when someone from Red Sox ticket sales calls me or emails me, which happens pretty regularly, even though I'm basically a few-games-a-year paying customer. My plan is to say that the only way I'll buy a ticket is if I can get my favorite loge box seats for half price. Which will still be overpaying. The Cubs, which also had a lousy 2022 season, are actually lowering their ticket prices...)

While the Red Sox are destroying fan morale, and likely driving us away in droves, they have come up with some idiotic sweeteners, with a holiday ticket package that comes with some goodies. (Not for everyone who comes to a game, mind you. Supplies of these treasures are limited to those lucky fans who show up early. So they can spend more for the overpriced concessions, which more than makes up for the cost of the mingy little giveaways.)

This offer dropped the same day Xander's departure was announced. You can only imagine fan reaction. I feel a tiny bit bad for the no doubt young folks in the marketing/social media department who teed this one up.

So, come on opening day to watch a bunch of no-name players, a roster which may or may not include Raffy Devers, as I wouldn't put it past the team to trade him away for a banjo-hitting utility player and a bag of balls, and get an Opening Day Magnet Schedule. 

That'll be worth sitting in the cold stands, watching a bad team, in 40 degree weather! But hot chocolate's only $8.50 for a skimpy cup. Oh, wait. That was so 2022. They'll probably be rounding it up to $10 for the coming season.

For the Patriots Day Game, there's a Boston Strong tee-shirt. This will commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Marathon Bombing. Patriots Day is always my favorite game of the year, but we'll see if I'm up for getting price gouged. As for the tee-shirt: been there, done that. The Lenox Hotel is at the Marathon finishing line. After the bombing, when Boston's Back Bay pretty much shut down as a crime scene for a couple of weeks, the FBI camped out at the Lenox. My husband and I were regulars in the City Table restaurant there, and when we went back for dinner for the first time, they gave us Boston Strong tee-shirts. So I won't be needing one.

I'd only stay for the May 12th post-game drone show if the drone was guaranteed to carry Chaim Bloom or John Henry away. 

Ah, the 2013 World Championship bobblehead. Who might it be? Xander Bogaerts was on that team. So was Mookie Betts, for that matter. One hell of a team! Good times! Good times! So much of baseball is about history, nostalgia, looking back. But the stark contrast between then and now is not worth celebrating, and probably won't be on May 31st.

I do not want to see anyone wearing a City Connect tank. The colors - Boston Marathon yellow, Boston Marathon blue - are bad enough. But a tank top? Not on the bare arms of 90% of those who'll be wearing it. Not that I was planning on being at Fenway on June 14th. But yuck. Just yuck.

Surprise me. Crazier things have happened. But by September 9th, the Red Sox will no doubt be long-eliminated from any post-season play. And an MLB networking bag won't be getting me out to America's Most Beloved Ballpark.

By September 24th, I predict that the stands will be empty. Rather than let kids run the bases, maybe they should let kids play the game. Now that would be worth seeing.  I will only be there if the tickets are free. Back in the good old days, if you showed up at a late-season, no meaning game in September, they'd actually let you in to watch the last few innings for nothing. Those Red Sox teams were worth every penny. Sadly, I have a feeling in the pit of my stomach that the 2023 Red Sox will be worth they same.

Prove me wrong, boys. But spare me the marketing gimmicks.