Death of a "Nation"

(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Red Sox Nation died today.  Or at least it should have.

Yes, the term "Red Sox Nation" was used before '04, but it was during that year when it was popularized.  It was in '04 that "the Nation" became official and actually started collecting citizenship fees.

It was also in '04 when the Red Sox won their first World Series in 86 years.  The two biggest and best players during that postseason run were Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, who were both in the news today.

Say what you want, but that World Series is now tainted and so is baseball history.  In 1998, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa captivated the country during the home run battle.  Eleven years later, we learned it was fraudulent and nobody cares about it any more.

The same thing should apply to the '04 World Series.  You cannot honestly tell me that Boston didn't take the baseball world by storm.  There was a clear mass bandwagon effect toward the Red Sox.  Boston, a feel-good story at the time, brought back some popularity to the game of baseball by breaking a "curse."

We now learned it, too, was fraudulent.  Are you telling me that Boston could've capped that "miraculous" comeback against the Yankees without the power of Ramirez and Ortiz in the ALCS?  I don't think so.  They were the heroes of that postseason.  Now, they are zeroes.

Yes, there were the clean ones.  They should be celebrated.  I hope Curt Schilling goes on one of his rants—but this time it has to be about the people that helped deliver him two of his World Series rings.

Just how important were David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez?  Go look at their statistics in the postseason and compare them to the rest of their teammates.  I recommend using Baseball Reference .

What did the World Series do for Boston?  How about 500 consecutive sellouts?  How about the overbearing media attention they now get?

That's where the "Nation" comes in.  That's when we go back to '04.  Manny and Ortiz gave rise to the popularity of the term "Red Sox Nation."  I hope today's news also causes the demise of the use of that term.

Say what you want, but when Boston's own Dan Shaughnessy says the World Series titles are tainted, you know this isn't just one blogger's opinion.

Boston is still, and will always be, the champion of the '04 and '07 seasons.  And more than likely every World Series team in the steroid era has had at least one person cheating, so it's not just Boston.

Ortiz's career turned around and led up to those World Series titles and the rise of the "Red Sox Nation."  Now, I urge people, and ESPN, to stop using that term.  Every time we hear it now, we think of false ideals.  That term will bring back memories of how curses can by broken—with artificial help.

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