Justin Turner buying into delusional Red Sox fandom is sad reality for Dodgers fans

Perhaps it's frumpy to question why this happened ... but why did this happen? The Boston Red Sox clinched a below .500 record and last place in the AL East for the third time in the last four years. Did we miss anything special about this horrible season?

In the offseason, Boston picked up former LA Dodgers stars Justin Turner and Kenley Jansen, and the two have been good for the Sox. Turner is hitting .274 with a .799 OPS and 114 OPS+. Jansen has a 3.63 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 52 strikeouts and 23 saves in 44.2 innings.

Still, though, it wasn't good enough to keep the Red Sox from being an embarrassment. Nothing from this Red Sox season particularly deserves or warrants recognition. It's been, at best, mediocre, and resulted in the organization firing general manager Chaim Bloom.

And again, we're all for silver linings and feel-good moments, but on what planet does Turner -- or, again, anybody on this Red Sox roster -- deserve a send-off in the final home game at Fenway Park? Turner, for some reason, got one on Wednesday night when Alex Cora unexpectedly removed him from the game in the sixth inning of a 5-0 loss to the Rays, and the fans had no clue what was going on.

Then, Turner tipped his cap and fans started applauding. And then came the phony outpouring on social media. "Justin Turner embodies what it means to be a member of the Red Sox!" Get over yourselves.

Justin Turner buying into delusional Red Sox fandom is sad reality for Dodgers

Turner didn't guarantee he'd be back next year (there's a player option on his contract for the 2024 season), so was this really that memorable of a season for Sox fans to take pause in the middle of a game to say goodbye? Just trying to understand the true meaning of a farewell. Because this minimizes the act to the nth degree.

Even worse, however, was Turner's message to Sox fans after the game. Get a load of this, please. Try not to fall off your chair.

"Look at tonight, it’s the last game of the season, out of playoff contention, but the house is packed and everyone's into the game and it's just been an absolute pleasure to play in front of these fans every single night. So I want to say thank you to all the fans for being so brave for showing up and sorry we fell short."

- Justin Turner

What are we reading? Final home games of any regular season in any sport usually have good attendance because that's the last time fans can watch their team play in person for a fairly long time. Only Boston fans will convince you of their faux undying loyalty because they braved the weather making their way to Fenway Park as it turned from summer to fall.

And last we checked ... Boston isn't an active war zone, is it? Turner thanking the fans for "being so brave for showing up" has to be one of the lamest messages to a fan base ... ever? Attending a baseball game is a first-world luxury, especially in a legendary park such as Fenway. Fans aren't being dragged through the streets and subjected to watch a public execution.

But yes, poor Red Sox fans. With their four championships in the last 20 years. Thank you for mustering up the courage to go watch baseball and feign disrespect because your ownership group decided to spend a little less over the last few seasons. Surely, nothing worse has ever happened in the history of baseball, let alone throughout human existence.

If this team gets its hands on Shohei Ohtani, God save the baseball community. Please.