RED SOX WIN WORLD SERIES

Like so many Red Sox fans I'm still stunned and amazed this morning. I first started following the Red Sox closely in 1974. They fell apart that year down the stretch, if I remember correctly. Then came the agony and ecstasy of 1975, 1977, 1978 and on and on. I was in the Army on leave for the 1986 World Series. I remember getting on my knees in front of the TV for that last inning of the 6th game. That game made me a believer in 'the curse'. Even though I am a rational person, a person who does not believe in UFOs or vampires (I don't listen to Art Bell), I do believe in the mystical qualities of baseball. Which is why I believe the way in which this all happened is so significant.

Consider that the Red Sox and Yankees rivalry has reached a new level of intensity following the Yankees victory in extra innings of Game 7 of last year's ALCS. That led to the Sox firing their manager and spending the off-season with two related goals in mind....beat the Yankees and win the World Series. They got Schilling and Foulke and tried to get A-Rod. They Yankees beat them on that one, but that only seemed to intensify the rivalry. Remember, there were scalpers selling tickets for spring training games at outrageous prices because of the insane demand. Every regular season series between the two teams had playoff-level intensity. All the energy of decades of rivalry seemed to concentrate towards one point...the meeting of the two teams in the ALCS.

On a highway overpass, I believe on Storrow Drive in Boston, there is an old sign that says REVERSE CURVE. Some years ago a graffiti artist altered it to say REVERSE THE CURSE. This has since become a rallying cry for Red Sox Nation. When the Sox went down 3-0 during the ALCS, it seemed as if nothing had changed. But consider that what we saw in the series was a reversal, a reverse sweep if you will. The Sox swept the Yankees, not by winning the first four games of a seven game series, but by winning the last four games...a reverse sweep. Consider also that this was the most amazing comeback in the HISTORY OF SPORTS!! One cannot imagine a more devastating defeat for the Yankees. Thus, the curse is reversed. Oh, by the way, it also just so happens that this was the 100th World Series (the Boston American League team...not yet called the Red Sox...won the first one in 1903), the fourth and clinching games was played on the anniversary of Game 7 of the 1986 World Series, and there was a total eclipse of the Moon during the game. Coincidence? I don't think so.

I join the rest of Red Sox nation in congratulating our heroes for getting it done when all those great Sox teams of the past couldn't do it. I also join all those who, like me, have relatives who spent their entire lives waiting for this day and didn't live to see it in expressing my belief that somehow, some way, they know their dream came true.