The Red Sox have become baseball's best road draw, attracting over 39,000 fans per game away from Fenway. However, that surge in popularity has its price, as players and personnel are a bit beleaguered on how to constantly deal with a large and rabid fan base. Terry Francona recalls walking into a hotel elevator in Baltimore this month, still smarting from a galling loss that night. The Boston Red Sox manager was joined by two Sox fans, also guests in the hotel where the team was staying."One of them told me I took (pitcher Daisuke) Matsuzaka out of the game too early," Francona says. In no mood to debate baseball strategy with strangers, he said nothing.
"Then the other guy said, 'So, what are you going to do tonight?' " Francona recalls. "I said, 'Get away from you as quick as I can.' "
These days, the Red Sox are learning that it's not always easy being the biggest attraction in baseball. For much of this decade, that honor - and all the hype and scrutiny it brings - has gone to their archrival, the New York Yankees. But in two of the three seasons since the Red Sox ended an 86-year drought and won the World Series in 2004, the fan base known as Red Sox Nation has grown into its name: No one, including the hallowed Yankees, plays to bigger crowds on the road.
Red Sox Reaching 'Rock-Star Status' - AOL Sports
08-24-2007, 11:50 AM
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