Why Can’t the 2026 Red Sox Win at Home?
Though Boston’s Fenway has long held the nickname of “America’s Most Beloved Ballpark”, it certainly has not been kind to the team that calls it home. At the time of writing, the Sox are 10-21 in Beantown this year. The latest series loss, a disappointing effort against the Orioles to begin June, lets a bummer stat linger a little longer: there has been only one home series win for the Massachusetts squad all year. After extensive research, here is a carefully constructed theory as to why the results from Fenway have been especially concerning.
Ghosts. It’s gotta be ghosts, right? The stadium has been standing for over one hundred years. Surely, some MLB player from the early 20th century with strange pants and a too-long mustache is attending to unfinished business. He has chosen this year, perhaps an anniversary of his greatest humiliation, to exact revenge on his hated Red Sox. He possesses pitchers' arms and hitters' bats, ensuring that visiting ball clubs leave victorious. Once he feels satisfied, he will leave the hallowed park, and life can begin to look normal again.
Surprisingly, not many people agree with this. Some would say zero people agree with this. Instead, fans and journalists might argue that the road record is not much better and that disparity is simply an unfortunate twist of fate. Players themselves, like Isiah Kiner-Falefa, have said it is an energy problem. “I just feel like on the road, we’re a very close-knit team,” he said after the June 2nd loss. “We’ve come home, and there’s just a lot of people around. It’s just a different vibe at home. We got to figure out a way to make it small like how it is on the road.” Chad Tracy, interim manager, echoed a similar sentiment, citing a need to make it work at home. Maybe it’s the perceived added pressure to execute on things they already struggle with, like hitting for power and delivering good innings on the mound. Maybe it’s the palpable frustration of fans at America’s Most Beloved who feel grossly overcharged for the viewing experience. Maybe it is a little bit of all of these things. Especially the ghosts. Do not discount the ghosts.
