Written by on June 30, 2009 – 9:26 pm
I watched the first fifteen minutes of Fever Pitch while eating my lunch and the narrator made me laugh. He said that Red Sox fans are pathetic creatures. He said that with love, of course. If you’re not a fan it’s hard to understand that statement. I got it. Of course I did. The Red Sox always break our hearts. Always! Wait, that seems to be in the past now but there was an 86 year dry spell that people thought would never end.
Of course, now we know otherwise. Books had been written. The Curse of the Babe. Fans clung on to any idea even if it sounded hoaky and a little odd. A curse? Come on. Pathetic creatures, like the person said. But I don’t think we ever really believed any of that. But after such a long dry spell I guess you need to examine every option.
Then Game 4 happened. That afternoon, I was at a cookout chatting with my husband’s coworkers. We had just moved back to the United States after living in Germany for a few years. I was still trying to get my feet rooted into a culture I had always known and loved, but hadn’t been part of for the past few years. You see, Boston has its own climate, and that day all eyes were on the Red Sox. Especially on that day. Did any of us believe they could win the game? Sure. But we were all in agreement - if they won at least they wouldn’t have gotten swept. Winning the whole series was a long shot. And this wasn’t even the World Series - but rather the pennant.
I thought, of course I’ll watch it. Sure. But I think I turned it off. See - they weren’t winning and I couldn’t bear it. I bet I cleaned the kitchen or unpacked boxes or maybe watched a King of the Hill rerun. But of course I returned. I couldn’t believe it. All Mariano Rivera needed to do was close the game effectively. The Sox were down one run. Then Kevin Millar walked. Pinch runner. Roberts stole a base. OMG. Tying run in scoring position. Bill Muellar brought him home. Game.Not.Over. Papi closed the deal in the 14th inning, foreshadowing the rest of the series. The Sox had won a game.
Gee, wouldn’t it be nice if they did it again? And then they did. 3-2. Wow they could really win this. 3-3. Could this be it? Oh my gosh this could be it. You could feel the excitment. It was electric and cautious. No one wanted to “jinx it”. By then you could tell the Yankees were lost. Deer in headlights. The last game of the series. How could this happen? You could feel it when you looked at them. They were about to lose. Did I mention that none of us got any sleep? Generations of Red Sox fans stayed up late watching the battle. School teachers didn’t have the heart to reprimand their Zombie Students because, well, they were one of them. And we know the rest. Bloody Sock. Etc. The Red Sox became World Series Winners in 2004. Then again in 2007.
But you see, the movie brings it back. The creators didn’t plan on the filming and release of the movie overlapping with this 2004 win, but it did. There’s footage of them at the World Series. I remember seeing them in the audience - they were really there. The movie didn’t represent my particular experience, but it brings it back. All I need to do is watch the movie and I remember …
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That was an excellent blog. I was around in ‘67 for the Impossible Dream! What a thrill that was. I was a sophomore in college. That year Yaz won the triple crown (batting, rbi’s and home runs). He was the last player to do that and he is a Hall of Famer. That Sox won the pennant for the AL. I predicted it in ‘66 at the end of the season. I could feel it! In those years there were no play offs and 2 divisions-the AL and the NL. They were first so they got to go to the World Series but lost to the Cardinals. In ‘75 they once again won the pennant. They went to the World Series but lost to the Reds. I remember Fisk’s home run waving his hand to push the ball fair. It worked. They won that game. The Sox again lost in ‘86. I still have difficulty dealing with that one. Sweet revenge came in 04 when they beat the Cardinals four straight. 07 against the Rockies was frosting on the cake. I never thought I’d see even one championship but got to see two. Thank God! …and so the saga continues.
Thanks Dad! I enjoyed sharing your musings, too - that triple crown must have been awesome to witness. That’s a heard record to break. And 1986 was heart breaking. I remember how upset you were. I didn’t want to mention ‘86 because what’s his name took the heat for that and I feel bad for him. The team could have gotten their grip back and won the series. The team lost not him!