this one is for...
(please note... this is a long post, so if you don't want a replay of the ALDS, ALCS and the WS, skip to the dedications)
ok, so after not updating for over 5 months, i'm back... well, physically, i'm back... emotionally??? just like all red sox fans around the world, emotionally, we're about as stable as derek lowe right now (for you non-sox fans, derek lowe is a great pitcher w/ a strong arm, but a weak mind... he constantly yells at himself and prepares for the most important game of his career by singing "if you're happy and you know it clap your hands" in the dugout before the game)...
partially not knowing how to celebrate, partially still exhausted for the lack of sleep since october 5th, and partially not wanting to move because we could wake up at any moment and find out that we didn't really win the world series... but today, october 28th, 2004, after waking up and checking the newspaper and all the news websites, we finally realize that it is true... the red sox have won the world series... but it wasn't that we won the world series, it was the way we won it... we were stylish when we needed to be stylish... we were ugly when we needed to be ugly... we stared down the evil empire (for you non-baseball fans, that's the new york yankees) and made them flinch... and flinch... and flinch... and flinch again... but more on that later... it was how we got there in the first place that many people do not know...
for much of the 2nd half the baseball season, the two hottest teams in the american league were the beloved red sox and the anaheim angels... the 2 teams were neck and neck for the only wildcard spot in the american league... the 2 teams were so hot that even though the red sox beat out the angels for the wildcard, the angels beat out the oakland As for their american league west division... the sox wound up cutting the evil empires double digit lead down to a mere 3 games... and now, the table's set for the playoffs... the evil empire faced off against the minnesota twins while the sox had to play the red hot angels...
now, the mental psyche of the red sox team and fans are unfortunately weak... people that don't believe in curses wind up believing in the curse of the bambino... (and if any non-baseball fans are still reading, why? but if you are, then a history lesson's in store for you... babe ruth used to play for the red sox... they had won the world series 5 of the first 15 years in their existence, with 1918 as the last time they won it... well, when he was sold to the yankees in 1920, the red sox have found all sorts of ways to clutch defeat from the jaws of victory)...
now onto the series against the angels... red sox won the best of 5 series by sweeping the angels, but only after giving up a 6 run lead late in the game only to win it w/ a david ortiz walk off home run in the bottom of the 10th inning... bring on the evil empire!!!
pitching w/ a bum ankle, the yankee-killer schilling did not fare very well in game 1... the sox got down early but just were unable to recover... they came close, but not close enough... could the momentum gained in coming back carry through to game 2? a game 2 where our opening day ace pedro would start? under chants of "who's your daddy", pedro pitched a decent game and gave up 3 runs (in back to back losses in sept. to the yankees, pedro says, "sometimes, you just have to tip your cap to the yankees and call them daddy"... however, the sox could not solve a tougher lieber as they lost 3-1... so, if we don't get down early, and score more than 3 runs, we should be able to come through in game 3, as the series go to boston, right? wrong... amongst the party of the year known as hannah's sweet 16, jocelyn and i were teased and ridiculed by many as our sox got owned 19-8... so, we scored more than the 3 runs, but we let in 19... at that time, it looked like another year of broken hearts for sox fans... down 3 games to 0 in a best of 7 series, no team has ever come came back... heck, no team has ever reached game 6... red sox nation is all but ready to wonder what if again...
enter game 4... down 4-3 in the bottom of the 9th inning, the empire gave the ball to mariano rivera (seriously, only baseball fans are left now... but if not, rivera is the absolute best reliever in baseball history, especially in the world series)... when yankee fans see rivera, they know it's time to celebrate... up to bat was kevin millar... he would eventually draw a walk... in came dave roberts to pinch run... he would steal 2nd base and then eventually score on bill mueller (pronounced miller)'s single to tie the game... both teams would flirt with the victory, but it just does not look like anyone wants it... this was especially bad for the red sox fans, as we know that with a swing of the bat or with an error, our season would be done... but it didn't happen, as david mvp ortiz belts another walk off home run to win the game in the bottom of the 12th... talk about clutch...
game 5 was more of the same situation... even started in the same day, as game 4 wound up ending at nearly 1:30 in the morning... another late new york lead was followed by another blown save against the formerly invincible rivera... and as the sox fans watch inning after inning... "wild pitch" after "wild pitch" by a varitek, who just could not catch a knuckleball thrown by tim wakefield, i started to wonder if sports could or should matter this much... knowing that i had watched around 11 hours of baseball in a 24 hour period already, i had to go on... this would either best the previous night's game (which before this game, was the best game i watched) or end our season in another tease... enter david mvp-you-should-really-just-walk-him ortiz... a broken bat soft popup wound up scoring johnny damon from 2nd base and wins the game in the bottom of the 14th inning... how can i sleep now?
i didn't really sleep... enter game 6... no guts no glory... curt schilling took it literally... pitching w/ the bum ankle that gave him trouble in game 1, schilling allowed dr. morgan to perform a never been done before procedure that i can't describe or understand... but something about holding tendons in place w/ sutures... who dreams these kind of things up? well, it can't hurt i guess, as no one else has an arm left after playing 26 innings of baseball in 2 nights... with a blood soaked sock, a true red sox silenced the yankees and beat them 4-2... following a game was a great interview where curt credited God with everything... gave a great testimony, and disney will make a movie out of this i'm sure... we're in uncharted territory now... we have won 3 straight games against the yankees, and it seems like the series will never end... locked in so many dramatic epic battles together, this has got to be the most unorthodox way of getting to game 7... the sox hope to reverse the curse, the yankees hope to send the sox and their fans home w/ another huge hit much like the 2003 series that also went to game 7... but this game was more than just a well pitched win for the sox... but calls actually went their way... mark belhorn, who hit a 3 run home run was initially credited with a double... after a huddle, they got it right... last year's team would not have gotten such a call... things hit a new low for the yankees as alex rodriguez (a-fraud) tried to cheat his way in... the same person who was involved in a fight w/ the sox back in july tomahawked arroyo, who was about to tag him running to first after a weak ground ball... the ball (and almost all of arroyo's hand) came loose and a-fraud was called save despite not touching the base the first time around... after the ball trickled to the outfield, scoring jeter from first, a-fraud wound up on second... huddle number 2... and score 2 for my boy blue... they got the call right again as a-fraud was ruled out and jeter had to return to first... the look on a-fraud face as he whined was great... players traded to the ex-expos looked better... what was left was a stunned yankee's team...
enter game 7... enter the red sox with all the momentum... enter the red sox with all the baggage... all that history of heartbreak... all those years of being cursed... with a commanding lead late in the game, we even try to give it away... with the crowd silenced due to a lackluster yankee performance, the sox inexplicably called pedro in to pitch... we still have no idea why, and it almost burned us again... with rings of "who's your daddy" from the yankee faithfuls, the evil empire nearly cut the lead in half... but it was a bit too late, as the sox have done the improbable... coming back from 3-0 deficit to win 4-3...
the world series are more anticlimactic... the sox swept the hottest team in the american league in the first round, beat the evil empire after being down 3-0 in the conference finals only to sweep the best team in baseball by shutting down the cardinals easily... 8 straight wins... 8 teams, 1 champion... and the champion was the red sox...
but why am i writing all this? it's been reported over and over and shown over and over... well, it's because of closure... how do you close out winning the 100th world series? how do you celebrate your first win in 86 years? by thanking people... why do i love this team? because they're happy-go-lucky guys who love each other, love to play, and believe it or not, most of them love God too... they play their hardest everyday and pick each other up... when kevin millar arrived, the team didn't socialize... no one played cards together let alone laugh and talked together... now, you can't be around a red sox player without being hugged... the once punkish manny ramirez hugs everyone in site and points to all his teammates... the once cold pedro now is our best cheer leader and inventor of the hair rub... the self-proclaimed idiots played their game and loved it... at the end of every interview, most of them would thank God and give their testimony... even manny, in accepting his mvp award thanked God and said how blessed he was... he also thanked his teammates the whole team deserved to be mvps... they are in my book... so in red sox fashion, i'd like to dedicate this championship season to (please note, i will be ommiting names of many of the people mentioned):
1. for God... because He's in control, so He even love the idiots...
2. for bill buckner... because now he's finally forgiven by so many, and i hope he can forgive the fans as well... (seriously, if you don't know what i'm talking about, click on the x at the upper right of this screen)...
3. for ted williams, the greatest red sox player ever... who left in this prime to fight a war before coming back to play... he's never won a world series...
4. for nomah... sorry nomah... you should have a ring too...
5. for the men sitting in the same table as me during gideon's graduation party, who told me over and over and over that the sox were done... that the angels are a much better team and that we had no chance...
6. for lillian and drew for having their wedding in boston, which allowed me to at least stop by fenway that weekend ...
7. for joseph's friend at the wedding that took the cbc picture, who asked the crowd who's a red sox fan... proud of my "idiots", i raised my hand only to have him yell a "get out"...
8. for a-fraud, for starting the fight on july 24th against jason varitek that got our team to bond and play great baseball down the stretch... for looking like a fool on television as the whole country saw what you said... for the tomahawk chop you did on bronson that exposed you for the fraud that you are...
9. for the yankee fans at my house the other day, when during game 1 of the world series between the cards and the RED SOX when they kept telling me that the yankees rule... not this season, my friend...
10. for the people who gave this team no respect... i wish i had the phone calls and conversations recorded to the people who have told me that the sox would lose in the worst ways possible... at the hand of the yankees... and when that didn't happen, for telling me that they'll lose to the hands of our former ace roger clemens and the houston astros... well, sorry, but you have to make the world series first...
11. for clement... i wish you were here buddy... bizarro world is starting... the summer of love that saw me get married has turned into the fall of love... i noticed that you tried to call me many times from taiwan, but i want to let you know that our rule for the project we're working on is that no cell phones are allowed in that room... security reasons... so call me at my desk at 703-456-2818...
12. for jesse... for watching those heartbreaking games with me in the past... i wish we got to see some of the games that they won together...
13. for thomas... thanks for giving us johnny damon, mark belhorn, keith foulk and terry francona...
14. for jocelyn... nice red socks... where can i get some?
15. for fellow red sox fans... years and years of heartache was wiped away this year be cause "we believed"...
16. for my coworker the twins fan, who after each game of games 1 through 3 who told me that "i'm ashamed of you guys, the twins put up a better fight than you did"...
17. for pedro martinez, thanks for giving us your prime years... good luck in new york...
18. for kevin millar and the rest of the idiots, thanks for loosing this team up...
19. for david ortiz, thanks for being new york's papi...
20. for jason for introducing me to bill simmons, a true red sox fan... his articles inspired this long one...
21. for drew, who's traveling in south america with nothing but his pack... having fun and sending long distance well wishes to me and the sox for the past 2 months... have fun your last month and i miss you man!!!
22. for yankee fans... without you guys, it wouldn't be fun... but i know if you're a true fan, you'd start to hate steinbrenner soon too... because i know you will trade gary sheffield, a-fraud and kevin brown for paul o'neill, scott brosius and andy pettitte any day... the 2000-2004 yankees are like the snyder redskins... no one gives these guys respect... 1998 yankees, now there's a team that i respect even as a sox fan...
23. last, but not least, to my wonderful wife, who stayed up and watched the wreck that i was every game... who learned baseball so that she could watch the games with me... for cheering on the red sox just because that's my favorite team... for considering naming our kid johnny-orlando-manny-david--kevin-jason-trot-bill-mark lee... unless, of course, he's born in a national league hospital, where he will be named johnny-orlando-manny-david-jason-trot-bill-mark-pedro-curt-tim-derek lee...
if you're still reading by this point, you've read far enough to note some of the sarcasm and bitterness... it's not meant to be mean or directed at anyone... it's just a sox fan's final way to say that we beat the yankees and then won the world series... but like i said before, the sox have not won in my life time, and we don't know how to celebrate... | 
