The Red Sox might have more in common with the Aralkum desert than you think.
On the opposite side of the continent where Major League baseball opened its season last week between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres, there lies the terribly depressing Aralkum Desert.
Despite its ghostly appearance, it actually hasn’t been around for all that long. Less than a century ago, the world’s youngest desert looked completely different. Back before powerful forces intervened in the natural course of events; back before the ill-fated decisions, the empty promises, the neglect, and the outright lies, there once stood a momentous, and thriving waterfront community.
The evidence is in the enigma. The same place that now features rusted-out former fishing vessels paradoxically baking in the burning sun of a lifeless, toxic desert, was once home to a big, bountiful lake. And not just any lake, but the fourth largest lake in the entire world! The Aral Sea, whose name was both incredibly misleading in its heyday, and frighteningly foreshadowing of the state it would shrivel to in its demise, was enormous. In the 1960s, the (at the time) freshwater sea was so large, you could have placed it in the middle of North America, and it would have been the second largest of all the Great Lakes, falling short of only Lake Superior’s massive size.
Now? it’s almost gone.
You see, the Aral Sea was created by the natural flow of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers. But then, under new ownership in the middle of the last century, the Soviet-controlled region fell victim to the greed and arrogance of man. In a quest to achieve (among other things) lucrative cotton farming, a significant portion of the tributaries were wastefully diverted.
What happened next was both shocking and heartbreaking. Without its lifeline, the Aral Sea began to dry up, faster and more completely than anybody thought possible. Within a mere few decades, it went from a rival to the Great Lakes, to a shallow, salty dwarf of its former self. And in its place, the unforgiving process birthed the new and aforementioned terribly depressing Aralkum Desert.
Here we had something beautiful. Something that worked naturally and defined a region for generations. And then, that something got completely ruined because a rich and powerful decision maker decided to divert its resources to other pet projects.
Back in North America, the Red Sox are about to open their season this week (yes, it’s true, I checked). They do this as a shell of their former selves. The fervor and obsession that was once synonymous with their mention in this region has, much like the Aral Sea, mostly dried up. Only here, instead of choosing to stop feeding the lake, they chose to stop feeding the monster.
This is the incredibly depressing point we’ve reached:
Red Sox fever spreading like wildfire ahead of opening day pic.twitter.com/wh4JbFDpHV
— Red Sox Stats (@redsoxstats) March 19, 2024
Twenty years ago, this would have been unfathomable! I was in high school during the 03-04 offseason, and the Red Sox vs. Yankees rivalry burned so hot that not only did it remain a daily topic of discussion throughout the entire winter, but it was the preferred topic of discussion during the week of the Super Bowl, which the Patriots were participating in. At times, the Red Sox felt closer to a religion than a sports fandom.
As someone who was severely introverted at that age, knowing you could bring up the Red Sox as a topic of discussion and have a real baseball conversation with virtually anybody you had to converse with was both incredibly convenient and comforting. I would have been much worse off without them!
People were literally so passionate about this team for so long that they treated Truck Day like a holiday. Now? They’re mostly unaware of Opening Day.
Knowing this, the Red Sox desperately need a spark to kick off the season to get people engaged. So let’s take a look at their opening slate of games and see if we can find any:
Game 1: Thursday, March 28th @ Mariners (10:10pm)
Game 2: Friday, March 29th @ Mariners (9:40pm)
Game 3: Saturday, March 30th @ Mariners (9:40pm)
Game 4: Sunday, March 31st @ Mariners (4:00pm) – On Easter Sunday
Game 5: Monday, April 1st @ A’s (9:40pm)
Game 6: Tuesday, April 2nd @ A’s (9:40pm)
Game 7: Wednesday, April 3rd @ A’s (3:37pm)
Off Day
Game 8: Friday, April 5th @ Angels (9:38pm)
Game 9: Saturday, April 6th @ Angels (9:38pm)
Game 10: Sunday, April 7th @ Angels (4:07pm)
Off Day
Game 11: Tuesday, April 9th vs. Orioles (2:10pm) – Home Opener
[Gulp!]
That is as ugly as it gets for a team trying to gain traction in the consciousness of a fanbase losing interest. I can only find one game in the next two weeks that’s at a truly convenient time for the casuals to watch all things considered, and that’s Game 10 against the Angels at 4:00pm on a Sunday. Everything else is either late at night, during a workday afternoon, or on Easter Sunday.
So uh, no pressure boys, but you better get off to a hot start.
Then, almost immediately after this stretch, the Bruins and Celtics are going to begin their playoff runs. The Bruins could be the No. 1 seed in their conference. The Celtics will be the No. 1 seed in theirs. In other words, the Red Sox will likely struggle to gain traction in the Boston sports media landscape all spring.
For this, they only have themselves to blame. The fanbase may be running dry, but this is what happens when you divert resources away from the team and fail to invest in solutions. Going into this offseason, the number one need was the addition starting pitching that would be ready to contribute. On that note, Alex Cora officially announced the starting rotation on Friday:
Cora announces starting rotation of Bello, Pivetta, Crawford, Whitlock, Houck. Criswell to Worcester rotation.
— Rob Bradford (@bradfo) March 22, 2024
This is a complete and utter disgrace! Again, the number one need this offseason was to add starting pitching — which they themselves admitted back when Craig Breslow was hired — and they’re opening the year with five guys who were already on the roster last season. Absolutely infuriating!
This winter was the latest installment of ownership possibly diverting funds and investing in other projects that have nothing to do with the Red Sox. All while they charge sky high prices for tickets and NESN 360 and make their games impossible to watch on popular streaming platforms like YouTube TV.
Can’t imagine why the remaining interest in this team is a salty shell of its former self.
So what’s the big lesson here in this messy trip around the world and through time? Actions have consequences. No matter how established or unshakable something appears to be, actions applied consistently over time can have stunning effects.
The good news? This street runs both ways. If the Red Sox consistently punch above their weight on a consistent basis this spring, that will have consequences, and their summer and fall will be a lot more noteworthy than people expect.
The long-term solution? Oddly, that may come in part from just letting prospects naturally flow downriver. That of course, combined with ending the practice of diverting funds away from the Red Sox in favor of other FSG ventures, will breathe life back into the franchise again.
Until that happens however, we’ll be left wandering aimlessly through this waterless wasteland.