Life long Red Sox Fan
One of my major interests in life is following the day to day trials, tribulations and victories of the Boston Red Sox.
My grandfather is to blame for this affliction. When I was about 10 years old, my grandfather took all of my family to a Red Sox Game. It was the first time I went to Boston. I still remember walking up the ramp which emerged into the grandstands at Fenway. Back then you didn’t get to see the Red Sox play every game, actually looking at how green the Green Monster actually was, and the Sox home uniforms looked so white against the contrast of the greenest grass I had ever seen in my life. Top it off with the fact that I was watching Jim Rice, Fred Lynn, Carl Yastremski and Carleton Fisk get ready for the game and I was hooked.
The Red Sox also appealed to me because it always seemed like fate was against them. It’s easy to love the front runners, but it is more of a deep bond when you feel that no matter how good it looked for Boston to win the world series, you just knew that somehow they were going to blow it. They continued to have close calls and the relationship grew.
In 1986, I had just moved to a new apartment in South Portland, Maine. I had three roommates who weren’t there yet, so I was sitting in a lawn chair, (no furniture had gotten there either), watching game 6 of the World Series by myself. I remember thinking to myself, “Wow, I can’t
believe I’m going to actually see the Red Sox win the World Series.” No sooner did I think that than things started to go wrong. Bill Buckner, we all know where that one ended. I would see the Sox win the series………………. but not for another 18 years.
The Red Sox have been a unifying force throughout my family. Many of us may be separated by age or by geography or whatever else divides people. Almost all of my family on both sides can carry on a discussion about the Red Sox. We have all followed the ups and downs of Red Sox Nation. Even my mother who has never been into sports at all can tell you about the virtues of Big Papi and how great it is when the Sox win. At the time of this writing the Sox are currently 2-10 to start the season. Ouch. the date is April 16, 2011, as most Sox fans probably believe, this is the day it starts to turn around.
My favorite Red Sox Player of all time was Dwight Evans. It was close between Evans, Fred Lynn, Jim Rice and Carl Yaztremski. I have always been partial to Dwight because he worked hard every day, gave it everything he had and seemed to always come up big in clutch situations. He was one of the steadiest players for the Red Sox throughout the 1980’s and although he is not a Hall of Fame Caliber Player he is definitely an all-time great.
The Red Sox Finally Win!!!!!
As we all know the previously unthinkable happened in 2004, a group of “idiots” took Boston and their fans on one of the wildest rides in baseball history. Most people remember what happened, so I won’t spend a lot of time on the details. The Red Sox winning the World Series was a watershed moment in my life. I was convinced that I never would see that day. My grandfather was born in 1921 and died in 1993, loved the Red Sox and never, thats NEVER saw them win it all. I was sure that would be my fate as well, but then there they are beating the Yankees coming back from a 3-0 deficit, and then destroying the Cardinals in four games! Up was suddenly down, cats were friendly with dogs, left was right. What was happening to our world? If the Boston Red Sox could win the World Series than wasn’t anything really possible? It was because they did it again just three seasons later. Now there is a young generation of fans who never know the angst of knowing, deep in your heart, that no matter how good it looks, it will probably end up in heartache and disappointment in the end. I am happy that the Sox won and I wish my grandfather could have seen it. I also now kind of look at Cubs fans with sympathy.
