I’ve been struggling with how to sum up this World Series ever since Sunday. ESPN’s The Sports Guy did it for me:
“I was thinking about a second World Series, and even better, the serenity that came with it. The 2004 run wasn’t about winning as much as surviving and enduring; those final four games against the Yankees were more like life experiences, and the World Series against St. Louis wasn’t about baseball as much as family and hope and belief and life and death and everything else that makes sports so unique. This time around, if you loved the Red Sox, you simply watched the games and savored the chance to follow such a likable, entertaining team. You didn’t have to worry about Fox bringing up Babe Ruth every 30 seconds; you weren’t worrying about the various ways the Sox could potentially break your heart; and you weren’t thinking about things like, “Am I hyperventilating right now?” and “Should I nudge my Dad to make sure he’s still alive?”
No, you were marvelling at the little things that make baseball so great — like Pedroia’s freakishly fast hands at second base, Manny’s surreal ability to turn a two-strike count into an advantage, Youkilis grinding down relievers with those 11-pitch at-bats, Beckett practically snarling as he waits for his next sign. There was even a signature moment of the playoffs: Drew’s improbable grand slam at the beginning of Game 6, the unforgettable instant when everything started to make sense even as absolutely nothing was making sense. This turned out to be a very good team that peaked at the perfect time, and unlike every other Red Sox season in my lifetime, I expected the breaks to go our way and never really worried about jinxing them.”
Speaking for myself, the jinx was still in play. There were only two places in the house I could sit during games, and I had to start off with the same beer (thank you, Sapporo). When it was all over on Sunday night we celebrated, but it was definitely different than 2004.
In the two days since I’ve found myself going back to a thread on the Sons of Sam Horn message board. A thread that started after the 2004 Red Sox had come back to tie the ALCS at three games apiece. The thread began before Game 7. As the greatest comeback in sports history was realized, and the World Series began, the thread continued to grow. When the last post went up the thread was over 50 pages long, and would eventually be enshrined in the Hall of Fame. It still gets me teary: “Win it For“
After they won in 2004 I didn’t know what to do. I sat there taking pictures of the celebration on TV. So here we go with 2007…
