A Conversation With Spike About The Red Sox:

My friend Spike O’Cool, who always reminds me that the O’Cool’s were kings in Ireland, called after he had read my second article on the Red Sox.

“Matty: I was talking to Paul Auerbach today. We think you should lay off the Red Sox thing.”

“Why do say that,” I asked. “It’s just to get people looking at it in a different way, having them do some, you know, thinking.”

“Thinking!” he exclaimed. “Indicted you mean. Paul says you’re gonna get someone indicted.”

“I don’t see it.”

“You’re not looking then,” he went on.  “Haven’t you been writing about that O’Brien guy, you know the probation guy who just got hooked?”

“What has that got to do with anything on the Red Sox?”

“Paul says, and I agree, that it has a lot to do with it.”

“Saying it doesn’t mean it does, Spike. Tell me how you figure it.”

“Who tried the case for the prosecutors? You know. That guy Wyshak, didn’t he?”

I didn’t answer figuring he would go on which he did.

“You know he just got a promotion, did you know that? He’s now head of the corruption unit.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Then put two and two together and what do you come up with.”

“I get four.”

“Come on Matty, you know what I mean. That Wyshak guy has no shame, he’d indict his best friend – and now he’s the boss he’ll be running around trying to indict anyone he can put his hands on.”

“Maybe, maybe not, but I don’t see how that fits in with the Red Sox.”

“Sometimes you’re as thick as the mud in the spring on Colombia Park. Here’s what Paul and me thinks. You say that Henry guy on the Sox sold all those season tickets. When he sold them for big bucks he told the season ticket holders buy them tickets and we’ll compete all the way during the year. That’s the promise he made to them guys. Compete all the year. So all those guys put up their dough and half way through the year Henry says, sorry guys, we’re giving up on the year.”

“That’s about it.”

“So he and the guys he worked with defrauded the season ticket holders. They said one thing to sell the tickets that they know that ain’t the truth. How do we know that, all we gotta do is look at what they did.”

I said, “You’re just repeating what I said so what am I missing.”

“Who did O’Brien the probation guy fraud?”

“You mean defraud.”

“Whatever! Who was it? The judge wasn’t it. Well Henry and his gang – didn’t they defraud all the season ticket holders.”

“I know. I wrote about them deciding to quit on the season. So in a sense they defrauded them.”

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you. Me and Paul know you think that so that’s why we think you should get off the back of the Sox people.”

“It’s something I wanted to point out.”

“You wanna get Henry indicted? You want all them guys running the team running it from the can?”

“How’s that going to happen? They haven’t committed any crime.”

“Remember about O’Brien, you said the same thing . Ask Paul. He backs me up on this. You said O’Brien would never be indicted.”

“I don’t remember saying it.”

“Well you did and now you’re saying it about Henry.”

“Henry’s done nothing.”

“Yeah, neither did O’Brien.”

I didn’t know what to say.

“So here’s what Paul says – Henry and his pals deceived his season ticket holders like O’Brien deceived the judge. Worse than O’Brien they made money doing it. Then they sent the season tickets out and guess how?”

“What do you mean guess how?”

“They did what O’Brien did they used the U.S. mail to send out the tickets – the mail was used to carry out the scheme, don’t you see, and that guy Wyshak is looking for cases to bring.”

“He’d never go after Henry. He’s too big, owns too much. They go after the little guys.”

“True, true, and Henry’s a good guy but just in case, you know, just in case. Best stay off the back of the Red Sox with Wyshak sniffing around for something big to do. Understand?

“All right Spike, I see what you mean. I’ll keep it quiet.”

“I told Paul you would.”

“Thanks and tell him I said hello.”