I wasn’t at Opening Day yesterday but I did make it a point to watch the Buckner reaction and I’ve come away from it a little confused.

We did he get a standing ovation? At first blush it’s because we need to let him know it’s alright. We honor him as a very good ballplayer who was an integral part of the ‘86 Red Sox. He was a very clutch hitter and he played hurt. We all knew he should have been taken out of Game Six for defensive purposes the same way we all know Pedro was ready to go after seven innings in Game Seven of ‘03 Sox/Yanks series. So now we had our chance - The Nation lets Bill Buckner know we love him.

But do we love him? The unspoken but obvious point to make is that the only reason he could set foot in Fenway Park without being booed louder than a “new song” at a Steve Miller concert is that we are only able to like him because the the Red Sox a few championships. Hell, I’d bet if they brought him back after ‘04 we still wouldn’t have been ready to cheer him. But now the Red Sox are firmly in place as contender and Champion. We all believe the Sox are here to stay. The ownership of the Sox has figured out “The System” just as the Patriots have figured out their league. The Red Sox have a lot of money to spend - they invest heavily in their minor leagues in ways small market teams just can’t. They spend money on big time players but focus on signing players within their organization to longer term deals before their value has peaked (See Papi, Beckett). As much as we don’t want the team traveling all over the world to start the season they are building a world-wide fan-base. Anyone who thinks that Dice-K’s marketability wasn’t at least a factor in their bid for him is naive. Maximize profits and spend them as wisely as possible - and then if you make some mistakes, you have enough money to bite the bullet and re-invest.

So, as Red Sox fans, we are feeling more comfortable than ever before. That is not an exageration. Unless you are a centagenarian you have never seen the Sox in the position they are in now. But we know how it feels. We saw the Bruins do it a long time ago…and the Celts have had numerous runs…the Pats are a story told too many times at this point…and now the Red Sox…

So, now that we are in this position, we are willing to forgive and forget. But that’s not what yesterday pretended to be. Yesterday pretended to be a chance that we as Sox fans hadn’t had over the past 20+ years to see Bill and let him know we never held him responsible. “Hey Bill, we love you”. Total crap. His name has given us all heart burn and for fans who saw it happen, it still hurts. I’m not saying he deserved to be showered down upon with a chorus of:
“BIIIIIIIIIIII-IIIIILLLLLL…BIIIIIII-IIIIIILLLLLL…….YOU SUCK!”

But honestly, he really deserved something more like a:

“SOOOOOOORRRREEEE….SOOOOOOORRRRREEEEE”

Sorry we followed you to minor league games when you were coaching and booed you so much that you ended up in a fist fight in the parking lot.

Sorry your name has made us all cringe and cuss for the past 20+ years.

Sorry we blame you for our inability to trust and love.

Maybe we overreacted a little.

But a standing ‘O’? No Red Sox fan really meant it the way it was packaged.

Here’s a pic of that horrible moment….that Bill Buckner signed with mookie Wilson to make some money….

And here’s that moment…