Why I Don't Feel Bad Saying I'm a Red Sox Fan

Since the early 2000's, "Red Sox Nation" had become a common phrase. They were the cursed franchise that people seemed to love. Every year was full of heartbreak, but full of hope at the same time. I did not have the pleasure of suffering my whole life as a fan (because the team I grew up loving was one of the worst franchises of the nineties and almost got contracted because the owner wanted to cut his losses while also watching the greatest sports figure in Minnesota history lose his career to glaucoma that ended one of the greatest players of all time's career... The Puck was a stud, and if you don't believe me watch game six of the 1991 world series. Only Kirby could win a nine on nine game by himself). Why do I love the Red Sox? Although I don't think it's a great reason, but it's because of a few players. Pedro. Manny. Big O (Or Big Papi if you aren't from Minnesota). I LOVE every single one of them. I remember watching Ortiz hit an upper deck home run at the giant inflatable toilet that probably could have taken out Sputnik only to find out back in the dugout that he probably had a broken wrist before the at bat. Every time Pedro pitches you wonder if you're going to see the first person to strike out 27 batters. Pointing to Posada and then pointing to his head and saying something, probably "don't F with me, I'm Pedro F-ing Martinez, I'll drill you in your ear lobe if I want to with a 95 MPH fastball. And you KNOW I can and WILL do it". That's the kind of pitcher every manager wants on his team. And Manchester Ramirez. The guy hits everything for power, walks when you don't give him anything, and hell, he even plays a decent left field. "Manny being Manny" is stupid. But when Manny is really being Manny, he hits for power, average, and gets on base. That's what you want a hitter to do. And he knows he's better than you. You don't see him get drilled by pitchers. They're too afraid because if you hit him in one at bat, you better do it again the next time. And the next. Because he's going to take you deep if you do that. And it's great to send a message, but the message isn't very clear when you give up a 480 foot moonshot the next at bat. The guy is just scary at the plate. Along the time, I've become fans of other players. I like Papelbon, Youkilis, Varitek (even though he said screw you to my beloved Twins when he was drafted and wouldn't sign), Beckett (even though I was in love with him since 2003. Who doesn't love big Texans who throw hard, shutout the Yankees, and spit Beechwood?). The reason I became a fan was a few players. But now I'm a fan of all of them. And unlike most of "The Nation" I actually follow them and pay attention to what's happening with them. So if you have a problem with me being a Red Sox fan, try and tell me you only cheer for your home town teams. I'll feed you dirt faster than Pedro did to Don Zimmer.