Getting Through Baseball
So I have to admit, I believe the Boston Red Sox were cursed. Not from 1918-2004, but during the 2005 season. The reason for this curse? The attendance of a BU student from Western MA... yup, me. After the unbelievable highs of seeing ALCS Game 5 (with Papi's 14th inning hit ending almost 6 hours of ulcer-inducing agony) and WS Game 1 (another back-and forth nailbiter) live and in person, how could the 2005 season go so wrong?
Opening Day 2005- shiny new rings and a snazzy new flag, but the Sox lose. They continued to do so every game I went to this season, up to and including the heartbreaking Game 3 loss of the ALDS that allowed the now-AL Champion ChiSox to complete the sweep.
At this point, you're probably wondering- Beth, where on earth are you going with this? And to be honest, I wish I knew. Being a baseball fan was far more taxing this year than it should have been for a fan of the team who shocked the world (but not their fans) in October 2004. This was a team that was losing to the Orioles of all people for a good couple of months, then wrested away control of the East for most of the rest of the season, only to lose it in the home stretch and be forced to settle for the wild card on the sole basis that the MFY won 10/19 games between the two, as close as it could possibly be in their favor.
But the BoSox are no longer a playoff team this year, pure and simple. And the one message that we can learn from last year's successes and this year's defeat is that maybe, just maybe, the dynasty is dead in baseball. Since 2000, no champion has repeated. From 2002-2004, the Series was won by a Wild Card team that a little more than a decade ago would have been "playing golf right now (this is better)". The Yankees and BoSox were knocked out in the first round, as were the Atlanta Braves (well, no one was surprised there, but still). This year's WS representatives are a former 15-30 team that's never been there and is trying to prove they belong atop baseball, and a team who hasn't been there in 46 years and who have as much temporal and emotional baggage looming over them as last year's champs. So what if your favorite team isn't in the running this season. The past few years just go to show that they damn well may be next year- heck, even the Orioles have a shot. Baseball is exciting again, even when you watch your team get its ass handed to them all the time, if only because there's so much to cheer for and so much to admire. Those individual wins and losses don't matter in the face of The Game, and even your own personal curse can be forgotten in the excitement of a pennant race. Let's face it- we all live for this.
Opening Day 2005- shiny new rings and a snazzy new flag, but the Sox lose. They continued to do so every game I went to this season, up to and including the heartbreaking Game 3 loss of the ALDS that allowed the now-AL Champion ChiSox to complete the sweep.
At this point, you're probably wondering- Beth, where on earth are you going with this? And to be honest, I wish I knew. Being a baseball fan was far more taxing this year than it should have been for a fan of the team who shocked the world (but not their fans) in October 2004. This was a team that was losing to the Orioles of all people for a good couple of months, then wrested away control of the East for most of the rest of the season, only to lose it in the home stretch and be forced to settle for the wild card on the sole basis that the MFY won 10/19 games between the two, as close as it could possibly be in their favor.
But the BoSox are no longer a playoff team this year, pure and simple. And the one message that we can learn from last year's successes and this year's defeat is that maybe, just maybe, the dynasty is dead in baseball. Since 2000, no champion has repeated. From 2002-2004, the Series was won by a Wild Card team that a little more than a decade ago would have been "playing golf right now (this is better)". The Yankees and BoSox were knocked out in the first round, as were the Atlanta Braves (well, no one was surprised there, but still). This year's WS representatives are a former 15-30 team that's never been there and is trying to prove they belong atop baseball, and a team who hasn't been there in 46 years and who have as much temporal and emotional baggage looming over them as last year's champs. So what if your favorite team isn't in the running this season. The past few years just go to show that they damn well may be next year- heck, even the Orioles have a shot. Baseball is exciting again, even when you watch your team get its ass handed to them all the time, if only because there's so much to cheer for and so much to admire. Those individual wins and losses don't matter in the face of The Game, and even your own personal curse can be forgotten in the excitement of a pennant race. Let's face it- we all live for this.
posted by BAC at 6:07 PM
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