Forgiveness

[excerpt from "Red Sox and Philosophy"]

[As the baseball season is in full swing, I’ve chosen three selections from a book I did NOT write to present to you over the next three weeks. I did, however, contribute these pieces that were included throughout. The book was part of a series that mixed pop culture (baseball, in this case) and philosophy of which I know nothing about. But neither did any of the other authors, I’m guessing. (I don’t know as I have never read the book even though I have several copies they sent me). I happen to write as an expert on the Boston Red Sox, my hometown team, but I believe, outside the specific references, that the main idea of the article speaks to all passionate sports fans. The book is available here online so you too could have it and never read it. Enjoy!]

“To err is human, to forgive divine.” -- Alexander Pope

“To err is human, to err during the playoffs is intolerable.” – Anonymous Red Sox fan

Throughout history, the concept of forgiveness has driven a stake through the usually uniformed beliefs of Red Sox Nation. To forgive or not to forgive, that is the question.

Many times, those that are forgiven should not have been blamed in the first place. The Eastern Sports Philosophical Network (ESPN) has done specials on the subject of blame and forgiveness. Is it moral to decide one’s perceived legacy over one play? Who are we to blame? Therefore, who are we to forgive? What causes us to forgive? What’s it to you? You wanna make something of it?! You think I’m scared of you??! All valid questions, save for the last few.

Take Bill Buckner, for example. No, really. Take him. Please!. . . is what people would have said in 2003. But in 2004, in a collective act by the Nation, he was granted forgiveness. He had previously perpetrated a grievous sin of the highest magnitude in that he was left in the game by his manager (John McNamara) and put in a position by two pitchers (Calvin Schiraldi and Bob Stanley) where a ball hit to him by a speedy runner that would’ve beaten him to the first base bag anyway got by him thereby ending a game that his team wouldn’t have won anyway. Simply inexcusable on his part.

And yet he was not to be forgiven until another incarnation of his team, years after his retirement and relocation to Idaho where he took to publishing a weekly newsletter, The What the Heck do Red Sox Fans and Media Know Anyway? Times, finally won the prize for which he was competing.

So it might be theorized that winning a championship is the only thing that dissolves one of blame. However, that presumption would be proven incorrect by Mary, er, Johnny Damon.

The flowing-haired centerfielder did win the championship and then needed to be forgiven. It is this reversal that is philosophically divergent from the previously revealed policy. Rising to cult hero status in Boston, fans routinely asked the question, “What would Jesus Do?” In this case, Jesus was Johnny. And the answer was “Run to New York for more money.”

His actions demonstrate a desire to take the best offer on the table and not to hurt Red Sox Nation, but it wasn’t until his play diminished thereby proving the assessment of Boston’s front office of his future work correct that he has begun to work his way back into the good graces of the fans. (Still, there are many who consider him dead.)

So we can assume that to be forgiven, one must still be on the team or have retired as a Red Sox. That, too, is also wrong.

Look at the recent cases including one Big Papi and one Daisuke Matsuzaka. For the former, upon the revelation of how he became “Big” Papi, he was met with disappointment. But then went out that very night and hit a game-changing three-run homer, thus absolving him of all blame.

Forgiveness can be granted upon contributing to the team’s win? Well, even that hypothesis is tenuous at best.

For the one affectionately known as Dice-K, his statement shunning the training methods of the Red Sox in favor of his old practices rescinded any forgiveness fans gave him for partaking in the World Baseball Classic. In some circles, he is also dead. And yet, he is still on the team and has one World Series win and was only a year removed from being their best pitcher.

It speaks to a greater issue of a fan base in disarray when it comes to a fixed set of rules on forgiveness. They are much more rigid in their practice of blaming. They divide the blame equally with the manager, players, and general manager each deserving 100% of the blame. You could probably throw an extra 100% at the media as well.

The topic of forgiveness has always been a touchy subject in Red Sox Nation. Most all-time rosters they compile are put into two categories: “Dead” and “Skating on Thin Ice.”