At first glance, it would appear that Dan Shaughnessy's use of the term "literally" in the previous sentence is erroneous at best and idiotic at worst. I mean, it's conceivably impossible that the Red Sox could LITERALLY own the franchise of fatal flop, right? WRONG! Not unlike George W. Bush, history will prove Mr. Shaughnessy to be correct.
In 1933, Tom Yawkey purchased the struggling Red Sox Baseball Club from previous owner Harry Frazee. Yawkey had great plans for the franchise and intended to turn the dismal team around. A businessman first and possibly a racist second, Yawkey was nothing if not pragmatic. Thus, upon purchase of The Sox, Yawkey also acquired the copyright to the phrase"fatal flop". Should his investment tank, Yawkey planned to trademark the phrase and sell the slogan on hats,
t-shirts, and playing cards specifically marketed for Texas Hold'em. Yawkey also entertained the possibility of extending the brand to men's undergarments, as well as a low-end line of affordable caskets for low-income families still suffering from the effects of the depression. Fear of market over-saturation curtailed that extension.
Ultimately, none of these ideas ever came to fruition, as Yawkey was indeed successful in turning the team around. However, since Yawkey had officially become a member of the Red Sox limited partnership upon purchase of the term, and said purchase was then made with what were designated as team funds (mostly for tax purposes), the copyright to the term still resides with the Club's managing partners to this day.Thus, what would otherwise have appeared to be an ignorant, sloppy, and egregiously lazy use of the English language by Mr. Shaughnessy actually turns out to be both grammatically and factually correct!
Lucky for Dan, because otherwise I would have to report him here.
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