So this is what it's like to root for a winning baseball team with a confident, angst-free fan base? Even after the exhiliration that was 2004, I'm still getting used to it.
It's amazing how often the Red Sox find themselves crawling out of holes. Oops. Did I say "crawling?" I meant blasting. After the Cleveland Indians had them down three games to one, we finally recovered and slaughtered them by a combined, three-game score of 30-5. As sports columnist Dan Wetzel writes, "Now [the Sox] are the team with so much talent and tenacity that if you get them down you need to drive a stake through their heart. If not, they'll come back and break yours."
I also love Wetzel's observation about their status in the series: "The Red Sox, the team that forever used to dig their own grave, now just dances on their opponents. Whatever you once knew about the Red Sox is gone. This is no cuddly underdog, no loveable loser trying to change history. This is Goliath."
Amazing, isn't it? After decades of heartbreaking defeats and constant team-manager shake-ups, the Red Sox get to swagger into the World Series, while the New York Yankees find themselves in disarray and despondently searching for answers. Oh, how the tables have turned!
I wouldn't say that we've become like the Yankees just yet. After all, in 2005, we got bounced out in the first round and in 2006, the Yankees themselves delivered a late-season, 1978-style Boston Massacre II, killing our chances of making the playoffs.
But I'm loving this year. This is even more justice for all the fans of the past who suffered. Bring on Colorado and let's start this World Series! Boston has another trophy to win!
Article comments
1 - Michael J. West
We'd need to rack up another 70 years worth of championships to become like the Yankees, so let's not worry about that. :-)
That said, it's clear to me that God has finally forgiven the Red Sox for Babe Ruth. It's awfully hard to have watched Game 7 of the ALCS and not see the hand of Divine Intervention. (For evidence of Divine Intervention against the Red Sox, see 1986 World Series, Game 6.)
Incidentally, Mark, I'm going to be in Dublin this weekend, then in Edinburgh next week. Is there a way to see the games over there in the Isles, or will I be dependent on the Internet?
2 - Mark Edward Manning
Michael: Seriously, we haven't been winning long enough to resemble the Yanks!
For my part, it's just amazing how the Red Sox always seem to pull a rabbit out of the hat. The 1999 ALDS against Cleveland. The ALCS against the Yanks. And this year's ALCS. Amazing stuff. And then there's last night's 13-1 slaughter of the Rockies. The Red Sox seem determined to make history with nearly every post-season game they play, or so it would seem.
I was in Dublin in August -- wonderful city. Edinburgh's beautiful too. Enjoy yourself. I don't know about Dublin, but in Edinburgh you might get Channel 5 which will be likely be showing the games. I'll be watching the game on Channel 5 myself this Saturday night. So, hopefully, when you're in Scotland, you'll be able to tune in. The game would be broadcast at around 1 a.m., so if you wish to stay up most of the early morning, go for it!
3 - Michael J. West
I'm absolutely with you on the rabbit out of the hat...and I'm especially thrilled with it this year, because I really feel like it's a team effort, not just Ramirez and Ortiz carrying the team on their backs. (Certainly not Ortiz, at least in this postseason.) But even with last night's HUGE and wonderful win, I think the sportswriters are making a big mistake in underestimating the Rockies. I don't think this is going to be as easy a series for the Sox as it right now seems...
...Of course, it could just be that as a longtime Red Sox fan, I've learned to brace myself for heartbreak. :-D