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Keller @ Large: Red Sox Critics Need To Chill Out

BOSTON (CBS) - You don't have to tell me this is an angry time in our country. Trust me, when you cover politics you are reminded of that every time you open your email. But there's a vein of anger and disgust in our local culture these days that has me totally baffled - antipathy toward the Red Sox.

They have the best record in baseball, 36 games over .500, and a three-and-a-half game lead over the Yankees. They have likely MVP Mookie Betts, arguably the best pitcher in the game in Chris Sale, one of its leading power hitters in J.D. Martinez. They are fun to watch and superb at what they do.

So why is it that whenever I flip on sports talk, I hear nothing but negativity about what this amazing team is accomplishing?

Boston Red Sox
Mookie Betts, Andrew Benintendi and Jackie Bradley Jr. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)

If fans aren't ranking on David Price or second-guessing the manager, they're dumping on Andrew Benintendi for being too aggressive on the bases or slamming Dustin Pedroia, who's played just a handful of games all year.

Are you kidding me? We're living through a beautiful summer and the summer game is being played at its highest level right here at home. What on earth is there to be so angry about?

Again, I get it, I'm a lifelong Red Sox fan completely familiar with the fatalism that used to engulf us. But if that's what you're clinging to after three titles in the past 14 years, it's a sorry situation. And if you can't enjoy what's happening now because of what might happen in October, aren't you missing the point?

So my advice to the obsessive Red Sox critics is, chill out. Try enjoying the good times instead of trying to turn them into something bad.

Share your thoughts with me via email at keller@wbztv.com, or use Twitter, @kelleratlarge.

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