As a loyal fan, I have hung in with my Red Sox despite the pain of watching my Home Towne Team dissolve into dust.  I found myself jotting down thoughts over the last couple of painful months.  Here are the first 25 of 50 shades of all things Red (Sox):

1. Bobby Valentine looks like he is getting beaten on a daily basis.  The clubhouse must be like the Red Room of Pain to him by now.  If he cannot be the dominator, he needs to give it up and walk away.  (That’s the last reference to Fifty Shades of Gray that will be made, in case you are wondering.)
2. Although it is not a popular sentiment, I believe that J.D. Drew’s coverage of right field has been missed this year.
3. I refuse to believe that Daniel Bard is broken for good.
4. The 2012 NESN marketing promotion, “Every game matters; every play matters…” was about as truthful as the 2011 marketing promotion: “We’re all in.”
5. Admit it.  When the Red Sox signed Gonzalez and Crawford in the winter of 2010 you felt dirty.  The Trade was cleansing.  We are not the Yankees anymore.
6. This is Ben Cherington’s team now.  For better or worse.  I’m excited to see what happens over the next year.
7. The Red Sox are an historic franchise.  The September 2011 collapse was the worst in history.  Zach Stewart (who came in the trade for Youkilis) started  for the Red Sox on 8/25/12 and had the worst start in a first appearance by a pitcher since 1903.  The Trade was the biggest salary dump in history.  I would be happy if the Red Sox were a little less historic going forward.
8. In one week, Alfredo Aceves went from closer, to a 3-game suspension and not allowed on the team flight, to a mid-game mop up reliever.  A week later, he had a crazy inning where he dropped a pop up fly ball that he insisted on handling and proceeded to have a verbal altercation in the dugout with Pedroia.  Talk about a fall from grace.
9. Things you thought nobody would ever say:  The Sox have sorely missed Scott Atchison out of the bullpen the second half of the year.
10. Can we untrade Youk and put him back on first base at Fenway where he belongs?
11. I feel sorry for James Loney who came to Boston in The Trade.  Imagine going from the playoff-bound Dodgers to the mess in Boston?
12. On April 21 when the Red Sox blew a 9-0 lead to the Yankees that ended in a 15-9 loss, Bobby V. told reporters that the team had hit rock bottom.  Little did he know the depths they would reach in their subterranean dumpster dive of a season.
13. The Los Angeles Dodgers have lost 8 out of 16 games since being joined by Gonzo, Beckett and Punto .  Just sayin.’
14. I doubt that Josh Beckett deserved the vitriol that rained down upon him from the press and from Boston fans.  However, Josh’s stubbornness did nothing to sway anyone to his side.  In fact, he seemed to do everything to convince everyone he was a stupid ass.
15. Adrian Gonzalez was difficult to warm up to.  There, I said it.  There’s nothing warm and fuzzy about a statue.
16. I will have a pit in my stomach until some other team signs Josh Hamilton and Zach Greinke.  I do not want to see either of them in Red Sox uniforms.
17. Boston sports radio needs to stop reporting results of Dodgers games.  It no longer matters.
18. I caught myself thinking, “I can’t wait for the playoffs and World Series to begin so that I can watch some good baseball.”  That made me sad.
19. I stopped making Red Sox quilts because they made me mad.  Until someone proves to me that they deserve it, there will be no more.
20. It’s impossible for me to be mad at Dustin Pedroia.  He is too valuable and cares too much.  Yes, he has said some stupid things this year.  When I think about it, I remember that he and most players are young men – in their 20s.  Think about your sons, step-sons, nephews, younger brothers, etc. in their 20’s.  Imagine them on a big stage, where every word they say is reported, dissected and replayed 60 times a day.  Singer/songwriter Peter Mulvey wrote in his song, “No Sense of Humor” about “that stupid age between 26 and 35”.  Think about those young men you know.  You understand, right?
21. I hope Jacoby shocks everyone, avoids free-agency and signs with the Red Sox.  I know it is not going to happen but wouldn’t you love him beyond words if he did that?
22. Callers to talk radio are still calling Bobby V. “Valentin”.  It’s September, people!  What is so difficult about, “Valentine”???
23. September 1, 2012:  The 1 year anniversary of the Red Sox beginning of the fall from grace.  September 2011 began innocently enough. The Sox were in first place.  Then they lost to the Yankees, 4-2.  Then they went on to a 7-20 September and fell off the cliff for the next twelve months.  Happy anniversary?
24. On Labor Day, I sat down to read what was going on in the MLB.  I saw that Marco Scutaro had hit a walk-off homerun, Josh Beckett won his second game as a Dodger, Adrian Gonzalez hit a walk-off double for the Dodgers, and Jason Bay hit a walk-off grand slam for the Mets.  I have to stop reading the MLB news.
25. The month of September has felt like a death watch for Bobby Valentine and the Red Sox.  I don’t want it to end and yet I feel guilty that I just want it to be over to end the suffering.

TO BE CONTINUED….

The Laser Show: Portrait of Dustin Pedroia
by Colleen Kane Whary