Barking at shovels: That unfamiliar feeling is . . . VICTORY

2004 October 21

That unfamiliar feeling is . . . VICTORY

I have a question for the Red Sox Nation. I can't really count myself as a real Sox fan, considering I've hardly watched more than a few Sox games ever, have never been a baseball fan, have only lived in Boston for a couple years, have never been to Fenway, and basically am Canadian. I got swept up in the ALCS somewhat to my surprise, so I can hardly imagine my own reactions can be representative.

So my question is: Are the Sox still doomed to choke next week? When you contemplate the Red Sox winning the Series, do you still have that lump of lead in your belly that knows they will crush your hopes? Or does a historic ass-pounding dished out on the Yankees -- the Evil Empire of lore -- does that mean that all bets are off? Is anything possible in this brave new world, or are the Sox only finding new ways to float you up off the ground while lining up a pulverizing boot to the nads?

Do you even care about the World Series at this point?

An article today on Sox celebrations in the Dominican Republic pointed out that David Ortiz, Pedro Martinez, and Sammy Sosa are all from that country. I will have to remember to point this out next time somebody tells me that a World Cup of Baseball wouldn't be viable.

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I have a deep and abiding faith in the ability of the Red Sox to fuck up royally. That faith was shaken last night, but these things happen every once in a while.

(Of course, it's all preventative thinking. If you don't get your hopes up...)

Posted by: julia on October 21, 2004 07:21 PM

Sure, we care about the Red Sox winning the World Series. But if they don't, it won't be as disappointing as it has been in previous years, because of how the ALCS turned out. They finally defeated the Yankees, and they became the first team in history to come back from having lost the first three games.

Posted by: Michael A. Burstein on October 21, 2004 11:09 PM

The World Series matters. The curse, it's commonly held, prevents us from winning the World Series; until we win it again we can't consider the curse broken.

On the other hand, it's been 18 years since we were even *in* the World Series -- the curse does its homework -- so the Nation is pretty happy right now. Handing the Yankees their asses in New York is also cheering.

Are they doomed? I don't know...What's the proper amount of faith to have? There's your philosophic question for the Nation. I *want* to believe, anyway, but I have a lump of lead too -- I know how this fate thing works...

I think this particular Sox team might not believe in the curse, though. And that might make a difference.

Oh, I don't know. But I'm going to be glued to the World Series all week.

Posted by: Andromeda on October 22, 2004 05:09 AM

Fun fact: The Red Sox have been to the World Series four times since 1918.
Fun fact: Every time, they took it to game 7, and lost.
Fun fact: Two of those times, they lost courtesy of the St Louis Cardinals.

Posted by: colin roald on October 22, 2004 06:47 AM

Sadly, I'm pretty convinced that they are going to kick the Cardinals to a quivering bloody pulp (and I'll be in San Diego while they do it, dammit). This just means that the disappointment will be all the more severe when they lose. That's the problem with the Sox - every year, despite your best efforts and better knowledge, they manage to convince you that This Is, In Fact, The Year.

(Native New Englander, followed the Sox since fifth grade)

Posted by: Jascha on October 22, 2004 05:55 PM

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