damned if they do. damned if they don't.

so, unless you are the Twins or the White Sox (and by default, the Tigers, whose final record has not be set it stone), your 2008 baseball season fate has been determined. seven teams are headed into October. the rest are heading to the golf course.

among those seven teams, possessing the AL Wild Card, are my Boston Red Sox. for the fifth time in six years, my boys are playoff-bound. and by no small miracle this year, what with the likes of Julio Lugo (pre-quad-injury) pretending to be a Major League Shortstop, the self-destructing bullpen (only minus the warning countdown, just BOOM! right in your face, like some kind of practical joke), and the revolving door to the Disabled List.

early last week, the Red Sox clinched their playoff berth, and while it wasn't with the pomp & circumstance of a division title, and at times, it was downright *ugly*, here they are. it was pretty clear that with something like 98.3% odds in favor of the Tampa Bay Sunbeams Rays (Papi says we have to respect them now but still: ?!?) that the Red Sox would assume their customary Wild Card role. so on the evening of their clinched playoff spot, they celebrated. they jumped around & wore goggles & sprayed champagne. they rejoiced in making it to the next level.

and the following evening on ESPN, i was astounded to hear... *criticism*.

how dare they? how dare those Red Sox celebrate something as menial as the Wild Card gaining them admittance to the post season? how utterly classless. don't they realize they are defending World Champions and the Wild Card is a more a failure than an accomplishment?

WHAT?!

i've thought about this for several days now, wondering if there would be some clarity that would awaken in my mind as to why anyone would feel this way. maybe i am in the minority here, i don't know, but... when a team succeeds in reaching the post season, something only eight teams in all of baseball (thirty teams!) will accomplish, i *want* to see celebration. i want to see joy & enthusiasm. i want to see childlike excitement (albeit with adult beverages being used as a prop).

and, of course, i want it to be my team with a reason to celebrate, but above and beyond that, i want to see whichever teams get there excited, thrilled to the point of dancing, whooping with utter joy. even if it's a team i don't particularly care for.

why? because i would rather see a team excited to be there. no matter how many times they've been there before. the moment there is a lack of celebration in achieving a pass to this next level, i see it as complacency. and even if it's one of those teams that cause me to say "i am a Red Sox fan and a fan of whichever team is playing against [insert loathed team name here]," i would find an apathetic lack of celebration to be far more offensive. we all want our teams to get there. so few actually do. to act as though you've been there so many times that it's gotten old, when there are so many who would give anything to be there, seems unforgivable.

and here we are, critical of a team who celebrated because they reached the next step toward the Fall Classic. yet, somehow, i suspect that had they not rejoiced, they would have been spoken of just as harshly. that absolutely blows my mind. so what that they have been there before? so what that they are celebrating "just the Wild Card" when a year ago they were kings of the AL East? will winning the World Series taste less sweet to arrive there via the Wild Card? what about the guys for whom this is unprecedented? the Jason Bays and Justin Mastersons and Jed Lowries who has never been here before? do they not deserve to celebrate because the teams before them got this far or farther? is there a limit on the number of times you can be excited to be there?

(Boston Globe)
the fact is, this never gets old. certainly not for me and, i hope, not the baseball players i watch all Sping and Summer. i hope i never see the day the Boston Red Sox are ok with merely tipping their caps to the fans as they exit the field the night they are assured a chance to play beyond the regular season.

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ps. dear Josh Beckett: no no no no no. no being hurt *now*. this is October & the Sox minus Commander Kickass is *not* an option. we clear on that?