NEFF: Tuesday’s Take: So bad! So bad! So bad!

“So bad! So bad! So bad!”

That’s what Sox pink hat fans should be chanting during the eighth inning at “America’s Most Beloved Ballpark.”

But they aren’t.

Instead, the Red Sox PR machine has brainwashed a nation of Sox fans in to thinking that coming out, spending money and having a “good” night is more important than the team actually winning baseball games.

The Sox are in the middle of a three-game series with the lifelong-rival New York Yankees to finish out the season.

A Sox-Yankees three-game set during the first week of October should be must-see baseball.

But it’s not.

The Sox can’t even put together a compelling enough lineup to make even some of the truest diehards tune in.

Kenmore Square and Fenway area bars should be packed for these games.

Business should be booming.

But since the Sox have dropped 10 of their last 11 games and traded away the heart of their roster, what’s to cheer for?

I guess we could cheer for our sellout streak? Or at least the Red Sox front office thinks we should.

They want the fan base to be proud of how supportive we are of the team. How can we have pride in something so hollow and flagrantly untrue?

“We’ve averaged 37,600 people, somewhere around there,” said Sox CEO and president Larry Lucchino in an interview on WEEI-FM. “That’s an average for every game this year.”

No you didn’t, Larry.

Just because you dumped all of the tickets out to team partner Ace Ticket, doesn’t mean it’s a sellout.

I was at the ballpark for most games this year. A family of five who bought standing room tickets could have seats together in virtually any section of the ballpark during the final month and a half of the season.

The only sellout, Mr. Lucchino, is you.

The Sox PR machine wants only positive comments about the brand, the team, the ballpark and the ownership. I suggest to the Red Sox that if they want positive feedback, give us something positive to talk about, like a winning baseball team.

Sure, Boston sports fans have been spoiled over the last decade. With championships in every major sports league, we’ve become a bit expectant of our hometown teams.

But when you have a major league baseball team that enters last September at 83–53, you expect them to make a post-season run.

And when they don’t make the playoffs, you expect the team will do the necessary tinkering to fix what failed.

And when the team doesn’t, you, as a fan, have a right to be upset.

No, Sox fans, I’m not suggesting we charge Fenway Park and demand Lucchino’s head on a platter (I wonder how much they’d charge for that).

I’m suggesting we not be fooled by the silliness of a celebration of the eighth anniversary of the 2004 Red Sox World Series victory. I suggest we don’t buy 100th anniversary memorabilia. I suggest we don’t buy those $9 beers.

I suggest we don’t buy a brick. I suggest we don’t tune into NESN’s endless Red Sox shows.

If they have us hooked on their product, we should at least force them to make it a quality product.

As they wrap up the season, being swept this past weekend by the Baltimore Orioles, let’s remember all those precious memories we had at Fenway this year.

And keep your eyes peeled. I’m certain there’s some sales opportunity out there for the last place team in the AL East.

I can see the t-shirt now.

“I like it better on the bottom, with my Sox on.”

Mike Neff is a weekly columnist for the sports section. He can be reached via email at mneff@bu.edu or via Twitter at @mneff2.