The Boston Red Sox come to town today for four games. We all know what happened last time they did (if you don’t, well, Google is your friend).
And if you can’t remember, well, I’m cutting you off at the Tap Room today.
To recap briefly, the Orioles and Red Sox demonstrated that they didn’t like each other in late April in Baltimore or in early May in Boston.
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Now, at the start of June, the assumption is that they still don’t like each other, but I doubt there will be a major carryover from those games. Then again, I’ve been wrong before.
The dustups between the Orioles and Red Sox basically led me to ask a question to all of you Monday: How would you rank the AL East teams in order of your dislike?
The electorate was fairly split among the Red Sox, New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays. The Tampa Bay Rays were basically the Green Party in this vote.
In our comments section, it was interesting to me how many people mentioned one of the AL East managers as a reason to dislike the various teams: Boston’s John Farrell, Toronto’s John Gibbons and, on occasion, New York’s Joe Girardi, were the targets of vitriol. Tampa’s Kevin Cash got no love in the hate category.
It was a surprising development to me – the hatred of managers, not Cash being left out – but it makes a little sense. Farrell, Girardi and Gibbons have been in their respective uniforms longer than many of their players.
Besides, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira and David Ortiz are all retired now, so there are fewer big-named players for Orioles’ fans to boo. So why not dislike the veteran managers, I suppose?
My guess here is that Farrell wins this contest – simply because he seemingly kept the bad blood between the Orioles and Red Sox churning. But then there’s Gibbons’ long, slow strolls to the mound and Girardi’s propensity for 19 pitching changes per game. And Girardi did turn down the Orioles’ managerial job years ago while he waited for the Yankees to come calling (hard to blame him for that, though).
And, hey, if you’re visiting from elsewhere and are new to this joint, Buck Showalter could be the answer. He’s not as beloved in the rest of the country as he is in Charm City.
So, maybe the answers will be as varied as when I asked about teams Monday. I’d like an explanation on why you chose the manager you did – if you’re feeling charitable.
Tap-In Question: Which AL East manager irks you the most?
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