How ’bout those Red Sox
History said it could never be done. Nobody thought it would happen. It wasn’t supposed to happen. It should have been impossible. This October, the impossible fairy tale happened. The Boston Red Sox beat the New York Yankees.
This archived article was written by: Sterling Mumford
History said it could never be done. Nobody thought it would happen. It wasn’t supposed to happen. It should have been impossible. This October, the impossible fairy tale happened. The Boston Red Sox beat the New York Yankees.
After 86-years of absolute torture, the Red Sox rewrote history and defied any logic that was possible. The Red Sox have not won a World Series since 1918. Two years later they sold the best baseball player in history, Herman “Babe” Ruth, to the Yankees for cash. Since that day the Yankees have won 26-World Series rings, while the Red Sox have not one a single title. The curse of the Bambino is what they call the curse on the Red Sox. That curse took a cataclysmic hit this October.
The curse of the Bambino took place when Boston sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees for cash to put on a broadway show. Since then, the Red Sox have never won a world series and the Yankees have won 26. Thats what you get when you sell the greatest player in history.
On October 16, the Red Sox looked like once again they where going to be put away by their arch rivals the Yankees. After a 19-8 massacre, the Yankees were looking to sweep the series after their two wins in New York earlier in the week. They even had banners above the dugout saying, “Mission Accomplished”. Even in game four of the American League Championship Series game it looked like the Yankees where going to put the Red Sox in another year of despair.
Up 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth, with Yankee closer Marion Rivera one of the greatest closers in baseball history on the mound tried to shut down Boston. Kevin Millar drew a bases empty-walk. He was replaced by Dave Roberts, who on the next pitch stole second base. Bill Mueller then hit a single up the middle to score Roberts and send the game into extra innings. Remember, the Red Sox are fighting 86 years of history. In the bottom of the 12th inning, David Ortiz hit a two-run home run to give Boston a victory in style.
The very next game the Yankees had a lead again going into the eighth inning this time and blew it again. David Ortiz won the game again with a bloop single into center field in the bottom of the 14th inning. Ortiz had just won two games for the Red Sox with his bat in the same calendar day. A day where Ortiz wrote himself into history, making himself part of Red Sox lore.
The two teams had just played their selves right into the history books. Game three of the series was the longest nine-inning game in postseason history. Game four tied the ALCS record for longest inning and then game five became the longest game in postseason history with it going five hours and 49 minutes. Both ball clubs were tired, exhausted but heading back to New York one team still had a mission to accomplish.
Game six will go down as won of the gutsiest performances ever. Curt Schilling, who has a torn tendon in his ankle, bucked up and pitched one of the greatest games of his career, giving all Boston fans hope. With a little help from the umpires by reversing two calls that helped the Red Sox, they pushed the series to seven games. Something no other team in baseball history has done after being down 0-3 in the series.
With history on the line, the Red Sox came out slugging in Game seven, the final and decisive game. With Ortiz hitting a two-run shot in the first inning, followed by Johnny Damon’s Grand Slam in the second the Red Sox where pulling away and writing themselves in a history book that had kept them on a tight leash. Damon who struggled throughout the series hit another home run later in the game. Mark Bellhorn, who hit the home run to score the winning runs in game six, also homered.
The Boston Red Sox had done something no other baseball team has ever done. Win a series after going down 3-0. This year’s ALCS has got to be one of the greatest comebacks ever. It will be talked about for a long, long time. You can’t give all the credit to the Red Sox though. The Yankees did pull the biggest choke ever. They were three outs away in game four and five outs away in game five. No matter what sport or anywhere in the world, when a team goes up three games to none, the Yankees wiup three games to none, the Yankees will always be mentioned.
Is the curse of the Bambino over? Some people say it is same say it isn’t. The Red Sox need to win the World Series to put away any doubt that the Red Sox Nation might have. They did however put 86 years of frustration against the Yankees out the window. So whether or not the curse is broken, the Red Sox fans are ready to bring a championship that has eluded them for so many years.
