Whew, I’ve finally arrived in Virginia. I’ll put a big post up about the trip in a bit, but first, a Youtube link: If this doesn’t give you chills, you’re not a Sox fan. I would say the entire city felt like that for about two weeks back in the fall of ‘04. I still don’t know how a sporting event could top that one. A quick recap:The Sox trade Ruth in 1918. They fail miserably for the next 86 years, often in critical games against the Yankees, and included such heartbreakers as Billy “Fucking” Buckner and Bucky “Fucking” Dent, as you would imagine their middle name to be if you mention them in a Boston bar. In 1986, they are one pitch away from winning the Series when a wild pitch walks in the tying run and a ball through the legs of the first baseman brings home another. In the 2003 ALDS, the Sox beat the A’s in an incredible series featuring such things as an A being tagged out while standing in his own dugout after failing to touch home plate. They then played the Yanks in an amazing 7-game series, and were 5 outs away from the World Series when Pedro fell apart, leading to a 12th inning homerun by Aaron “Fucking” Boone. I went to grab a drink at the convenience store after that game and the city was as quiet as I’ve ever heard it.
The next year, Theo the Kid made some moves and the team made it to the ALCS again, and again were facing the Yankees. Games 1 through 3 were blowouts (they lost 19-8 in Game 3), and the Sox were down in the 8th inning of Game 4, with Mariano Rivera, the best closer in baseball history, on the mound for the Yanks. “The Steal” by Dave Roberts allowed the Sox to tie it 4-4 in the bottom of the 9th, and then win it with an Ortiz walkoff in the 12th. In Game 5, the Sox were down 4-2 in the 8th when (who else) Ortiz homered and Roberts stole a base, eventually scoring on a sac fly. Almost six hours after the game started, Ortiz drove in the winning run in the 14th inning. Both Game 4 and 5 were at Fenway, and needless to say, the area around Kenmore was absolutely nuts.
In Game 6, the Yankees comeback attempt failed when A-Rod was called for interference after slapping the ball out of Bronson Arroyo’s glove in the 8th. New York fans began pelting baseballs onto to the field, and order was only restored when a full brigade of riot police took their place along the foul lines, where they remained the rest of the game. Beyond that, the Sox pitcher, Curt Schilling, had a torn tendon in his ankle, and played with three sutures on his leg. By the end of the game, they were drenched in red, making Game 6 the famous (in Boston, at least) Bloody Sock Game. Game 7 was a routine affair, as Boston legend Pedro Martinez shut down the Pinstripes. There were at least 500 cops in Kenmore Square, near the ballpark, when I went through in the afternoon, and there must have been a couple hundred thousand people there after the game. How can a series get any better than that? And, oh yeah, footnote, the Sox swept the Cards to win the World Series, and something like two million people came for the parade. Ah. Good times.
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