The Tommy Harper thread got me thinking that Red Sox history has more than its fair share of twisted monsters. Racist drunkards seem to cast the longest shadow (that there are plural is probably a very bad sign), but the club is no one-trick pony when it comes to humanity's failings; ego, greed and fear have reared their ugly heads many a time as well.
In the Faulknerian plantation that is Fenway, Tom and Jean Yawkey loom large as flawed patriarch and matriarch, but who else rounds out the family? Imperious uncle James Lannin, who traded Tris Speaker to Cleveland after Speaker refused a pay cut? Cousin Harry Frazee, mismanaging money while dreaming of The Great White Way? Brother Joe Cronin, who as player-manager engineered a trade that sent Pee Wee Reese packing because Reese played the same position as him? And later passed on a chance at signing Willie Mays? Nephew Pinky Higgins, drinking pal of Tom Yawkey and virulent racist in his own right? And lurking in the basement, the most horrific beast of all: clubhouse man Donald Fitzpatrick, predator of young boys.
There are plenty of candidates to add to this rogue's gallery... Buddy LeRoux, Haywood Sullivan, Jerry/Jared Remy. Let's take this opportunity to reflect on all the fucked-up repugnant shit that's gone on in the 100+ years of this franchise. It's enough to fill a novel that you'd skip reading in your sophomore English class.
Vent. Feel the hate flow through you.
In the Faulknerian plantation that is Fenway, Tom and Jean Yawkey loom large as flawed patriarch and matriarch, but who else rounds out the family? Imperious uncle James Lannin, who traded Tris Speaker to Cleveland after Speaker refused a pay cut? Cousin Harry Frazee, mismanaging money while dreaming of The Great White Way? Brother Joe Cronin, who as player-manager engineered a trade that sent Pee Wee Reese packing because Reese played the same position as him? And later passed on a chance at signing Willie Mays? Nephew Pinky Higgins, drinking pal of Tom Yawkey and virulent racist in his own right? And lurking in the basement, the most horrific beast of all: clubhouse man Donald Fitzpatrick, predator of young boys.
There are plenty of candidates to add to this rogue's gallery... Buddy LeRoux, Haywood Sullivan, Jerry/Jared Remy. Let's take this opportunity to reflect on all the fucked-up repugnant shit that's gone on in the 100+ years of this franchise. It's enough to fill a novel that you'd skip reading in your sophomore English class.
Vent. Feel the hate flow through you.