Jacobye Ellsbury

I’ve seen the headlines. I know that history has repeated itself. Jacoby will be wearing pinstripes and stealing bases in the Bronx next year. It’s a great time to be disengaged from the sports world. It’s a great example of how the sports media industry takes advantage of the emotions of the fans to stay in business.

I used to be a dedicated EEI (the only local sports radio station back in the 90’s) listener. At work, in the car, at home, I was tuned in all the time. At some point I realized that basically listening to people argue all day every day wasn’t a very good idea. I weened myself off and really have never gone back. My enjoyment of sports went up almost immediately without having to worry about rival fans calling in to rub in a loss. Somehow, my ego was less on the line and I was able to just appreciate what happened on the field. What a relief.

The truth is that most people who follow the Sox closely have been braced for this for a couple of years already. Truthfully, this couldn’t have worked better for the Sox as they were able to squeeze one more title out of Ells before he beat a path out of town. He racked up more DL loyalty points than just about anyone over the last 7 years, and there was little chance Ben and the front office was going to commit long term again to him. Not with some intriguing talent waiting in the wings and the financial freedom to get someone else if that talent doesn’t pan out. Much as I hate to think in terms of contracts as opposed to talent on the field, the Sox are likely better off without him.

None of that will stop writers and talk show hosts from wailing away about it today and all winter long. Even in to next year, you’ll hear the story of how he spurned Boston and chose the hated Yankees. They’ll feature the angriest of fans calling in to complain about it and spit at the NY fans on the air. They’ll draw the parallels to the parade of Sox that have headed south in the past to cash in and win titles. It always happens, and it seems that it always will.

The thing is, the dynamic has changed ever since 04. Since then the Sox are up 3-1 in championships, and have arguable run their ship better. At the end of last season there sin’t a baseball fan on the planet who would have said that the Yanks were in better shape than Boston. Seems to me, Jacoby simply went for the money. Hard to argue with that.

Any fan who can’t see all that might need to take a step back and look at the larger view.