Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Boys of Summer

I have been a Red Sox fan since the fourth grade. I don't come from a sports family, so this passion came out of left field (arf). My father would occasionally watch a game on a Saturday afternoon, but he wasn't a die hard fan by any chance. I remember wearing red barrettes to school- Catholic school uniforms made it hard to show team loyalties - the day of the one game playoff between the *spit* Yankees and the Red Sox in 1978. We lost, thanks to Bucky fucking Dent. In 1986, I was attending UMass Amherst and witnessed the dribbler thru Bill Buckner's legs. Even though the Sox had a chance in Game 7 to win that series, that's the play that's always cited when referring to that horrible series.

And 2003. The first time I ever cried over a baseball game. I'd gone down to a local pub to watch, along with about 500 of my closest friends. We were up! We were winning! Then Grady Little decided to leave Pedro in the game and, well. You know what happened. We lost. I set my beer down on the bar and went outside and cried. The 2004 season more than made up for it, however. Just a little.

I almost hate to say anything because I am very, very, VERY superstitious about these boys, but doods! We're 14.5 games ahead of the Yankees. The team in second place, Baltimore, is 11 games back. It's incredible. Every night, I watch the games. Every morning, I check the standings. TCBIM and I look at each other, wide-eyed, and giggle this "Holy shit, I can't believe we're getting away with this," giggle, sort of a whistling-thru-the-graveyard reaction to being so firmly in first place.

Because even after all this time, even after winning a World Series and having some kick ass talent, I still can't quite believe my guys are in first. Still. And that the *spit* Yankees are so far behind. I know they could, and have, come back from that, but it's almost June. It's amazing. It gives me that excited, stomach-knotting feeling, like maybe there's a chance it could happen again, that 2004 wasn't a fluke. That maybe, and I'm saying this softly, with offerings to appease the jealous baseball gods, we really do have the best team in baseball.




Oh, and Trot? Welcome back. We missed you. You look weird with a 33 on your back, but man, it was nice to see you roaming around the outfield again.

10 comments:

mr. big dubya said...

Shhhhhhh - no whistling. Must be cautiously optimistic (at least that's what I wrote this morning).

It is nice though. 14.5 games up. Whodathunkit?

Mrs Big Dubya said...

Shhhhh they might hear you....

I was sad to see Trot in those foreign colors

Chicky Chicky Baby said...

A part of me died to see Trot in another uniform, but it was nice having him back.

And I hear you about the superstition thing. I'm afraid even to bring up our lead. It's like when a pitcher has a perfect game going and you don't want to even admit that you know that a perfect game could be had for fear of jinxing it.

Unknown said...

I know... even Curt Shilling is like peeing in his pants on his blog. It's so excellent. I've been a sox fan since birth. My grandfather, father, my sibs, and now my kids are all rabid sox fans. Insane fans. My superstitions are bizarre. I have to pooh pooh pooh (A Jewish thing) whenever I say anything good about this year's team. But I'm so hopeful. Pooh pooh pooh. I really am.

And it was good to see Trot back. How come it's great to see him, but it sucks to see Damon (that traitor). Because Damon went to the Evil Empire and wears pinstripes and we HATE him now.

Unknown said...

Hey, Yooooouuuuuukkkkkk just started blogging. His first post is up today.

http://kevinyoukilis.mlblogs.com/kevinyoukilis/2007/05/this_blog_is_of.html

Now you can read both Shilling and Youk. Isn't that wicked cool?

Major Bedhead said...

margalit - Damon CHOSE to go. Big, big, YOOOGE difference. The powers that be on Yawkey way chose to let Trot go and while I wasn't surprised by their decision, I was sad to see him go. He sort of epitomizes the Red Sox - scrappy, hard-working, modest, but not falsely so.

Thanks for the link to Youk's blog. I like Schill's but man, that guy is long-winded.

Unknown said...

Shilling is LONG winded, no doubt about it, but it's so interesting to hear about how hard pitchers work on throwing the ball. For some reason, I just thought it was mostly natural talent, which of course it is, but the amount of work that goes into preparing for each game is astounding.

Plus, I always like a windbag. Makes me seem much less verbose!

Fairly Odd Mother said...

Don't hate me but I am a very minor Red Sox fan. I was SO happy they won in '04, but that was mostly b/c my dad lived to see it after watching them for years and years. I'll get fired up from time to time, but I am totally not a sports nut. I try, I do, but it just doesn't stick.

Major Bedhead said...

As long as you're not a *spit* Yankees fan, that's fine. I don't understand it, and I'll have some small feelings of pity for your affliction, but it's ok.

God, could I be any more condescending? Maybe if I patted you on the head....

Kara said...

Trot was almost our new kitten's name. I love that guy.

Will not anger the spirits by saying anything elese except SQUEEAL!