It’s a great time to be a New Englander. The Patriots have won 21 straight games, and a Senator from Massachusetts is the Democratic challenger for president.
Oh yeah…and the Boston Red Sox are in the World Series.
For a team that was only slightly better than .500 on the season going into the All-Star break, the self-proclaimed “idiots” who make up this year’s ball club have earned their place in history, and have sent Red Sox Nation into a complete tizzy.
Most of you probably already know that the Red Sox are not known for their postseason victories. Since the infamous series of 1918, they have only found their way to the World Series a handful of times.
Most pundits and fans alike will tell you that if there ever was a year to reverse the curse of the Bambino, this is it. And it’s not, like Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling said while presenting the Top Ten list on a recent episode of the “Late Show with David Letterman,” because the team “got Babe Ruth’s ghost a hooker.”
Last week’s comeback from a 0-3 deficit against the Yankees was historic, and showed that this year’s Red Sox have an awful lot of determination, drive, and heart. Most counted them down and out following their disastrous 19-8 loss in game 3, but they continued to believe and drove their way to an improbable victory.
Now we’re in the middle of a battle of epic proportions in St. Louis. The Red Sox’s clutch hitter and MVP of the ALCS, David Ortiz, faces a tough challenger in the Cardinals’ Albert Pujols. Curt Schilling, whose heroic performances on a injured ankle carried the Sox through game 6 of the ALCS and game 2 of the World Series, will be out of the mix until a possible game 6, and Pedro Martinez, Derek Lowe, and determined knuckleballer Tim Wakefield will be left to carry the torch.
Can they do it this time, for the first time in 86 years? This writer believes they can, and will, break the curse, and perhaps even replace it with a new one: the curse of the A-Rod.
New England is certainly ready for a World Series win. I have never seen so many people so zombified. The combination of the complete joy of embarrassing the Yankees and the complete exhaustion which has resulted from far too many sleepless nights has forced millions of people into a one-track mindset. Rather than discussing the projects of the day, conversation in my workplace always seems to shift to “Isn’t Mark Bellhorn’s hitting amazing?” or “I think it’s time for Johnny Damon to cut his hair.”
Few teams have ever had so much pressure on their shoulders, and they continue to deliver.
Oh, and Yankees fans, beware. The curse of the A-Rod is coming your way.
