Dan Shaughnessy, ultimate know-it-all, troller and Boston Globe columnist, had made up his mind about the Red Sox back in February, and his prediction was less than flattering. In an article entitled "It's hard to get excited about these Red Sox," Shaughnessy wrote this before the season began. He's truly an oracle when it comes to this whole prediction business:
Sorry. The juice glass is half-empty today. These guys could be really bad. And really boring. “Scrappy” doesn’t sell in Boston in 2013. Not after everything that’s happened. For $170 million, a little more prime-time talent would have been nice.
Scrappy doesn't sell in Boston? That was pretty much the defining thing about this year's World Series. You couldn't escape the Red Sox and their scrappy scrappiness. Then there was his comments about World Series MVP David Ortiz:
"Finally, it’s tough to feel good about Ortiz. He turns 38 this year, and is coming off an Achilles’ tendon injury — an injury he sustained running the bases in front of an Adrian Gonzalez home run last July. Ortiz doesn’t have contract incentive (he finally got his two-year deal, a lifetime achievement award from the Sox), and he is concerned that the Sox did little to find him lineup protection."
Now we know why Dan Shaughnessy was trying to stir up PED rumors around David Ortiz, he was trying to protect his preseason predictions!
So naturally, Boston fans remember what he wrote and are not letting him forget it – and instead of saying he was wrong, he's throwing it back at them in an article entitled "Red Sox were a true feel good story for Boston." You can really feel the love here:
"Being wrong is OK by me, but I was bombarded Thursday by fans consumed with a message of, “You need to eat crow! How could you have been so wrong?’’ I’m hoping all those folks went to Vegas in March and are now collecting thousands."
Shaughnessy also compliments the Red Sox on going through the season without any controversies, except, you know, the one he helped to create.
Sportswriters get predictions wrong all the time, it's the nature of the business. It's not like this is the first or last time he has been or will be wrong – so just say "I was wrong" and move on, and forgive us if we don't believe anything you say when you talk about how you feel this team gave Red Sox fans such a great story.
Although, we should thank Dan Shaughnessy for dropping a brilliant idea in our laps – go to Vegas and bet against whatever he says.
[H/T: Boston Sports Media Watch]
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