Red Sox Nation

Last night Matt and I finally watched the movie Fever Pitch. I am not going to go on about why it takes us so long to see movies, I'll leave that for another post. Ever since this movie came out, I've wanted to see it. (On video of course, I rarely see movies in the theater - it's too pricey).

Anyway, the idea of a movie depicting the love affair that Bostonians and all New Englanders have with the Red Sox sounded like fun and I wanted to see how they would do it. I have to say that for the most part I liked the movie. There were some stupid, and what I thought were inappropriate lines that really didn't need to be there, but on the whole I enjoyed it.

It did a pretty good job of capturing the true fever that covers the area during baseball season. I remember my little brother John asking me way back when it came out if people were really that into the Sox.* I told him that I hadn't seen the movie yet, but if they portrayed people as being a little insane about baseball it would be about right.

You see before moving to Cambridge, I'm ashamed to admit, I knew nothing about the Red Sox and the Curse of the Bambino. I had never even heard the phrase "Red Sox Nation." It took only a short while for me to understand that there really is an obsession woven in the fabric of the Bostonian society. At first I thought it was just the quirkiness of my office mate, until I found out that it was like a disease that pervaded the entire northeastern seaboard.

I moved to Cambridge in November 2003. In January, the Patriots won the Superbowl. On my lunch break, I ran out to the Common and watched part of the victory parade. At one point, an entire block of people erupted in a chant of "Yankees Suck, Yankees Suck, Yankees Suck." I was so confused. This is football, right? Baseball doesn't start until later on in the year....

St. Patrick's day rolls around. Matt and I go to a Celtics game, which they won by the way. As we are leaving the Fleet Center weaving through the crowd, a large group of people spontaneously break out into the "Yankees Suck" chant. There are vendors selling T-shirts that say "Steinbrenner ruined baseball." Huh? I don't get it. We're at a basketball game.

Finally baseball season rolls around and truly, it is the only thing people can talk about. Red Sox this, Red Sox that. "It's their year." they'd say or "This is the one." Oh brother, I would think. If they haven't won for 86 years, they probably aren't going to do this year, right?

Skip to the playoffs against the Yankees. I will never forget the conversation I had with a coworker the day after the Red Sox lost their third game in the series. She was concerned about an event that was scheduled on the night that Game 6 would be on if the series continued. "We'll have to cancel this event" she said, "there's no way we can keep it on the night of Game 6." And I thought, "Isn't that cute? She actually believes that there is going to be a Game 6. Surely, she must realize that the Red Sox will never make it to a Game 6." I chuckled inside and fought back a smile at her unfailing hope that I found to be so naive and ludicrous.**

Well, you all know what happened. The Red Sox defied historical precedent and came back from the three game deficit to win the series and then win the World Series and I became a believer. It was crazy. After each game, people would rush out into the streets cheering. Cars honking horns as they drove along. Everyone was happy. Their step was a little lighter, they smiled a little more, they broke out into laughter and you could tell they were just thinking about it. It was an amazing aura to behold. Unfortunately (for the Red Sox fans who are Democrats), the sheer joy was devastated shortly thereafter when John Kerry lost the Presidential election, but that is a different post altogether. Talk about a seesaw of emotions for the People's Republic of Massachusetts (Cambridge specifically).

I live in Northern Virginia now and have fond memories of that baseball season. When they found out that we lived in Boston for a while, people invariably ask me "Are you a Red Sox fan?" My usual answer is, "well, you have to be." And it's almost true. You really don't have much of a choice; of course you are a Red Sox fan. And so for the rest of my life I will probably always root for the Red Sox. But don't ask me if they ever face off with the Cubs in the World Series, cause who knows which team I will root for.

*Like most people, John sees movies when they are new.

**It should also be noted that the Yankees beat the Red Sox in Game 3 an embarrassing 19-8. We drove our good friend Archie (who is "kissing 80" by the way, and thus has been disappointed many times by the Red Sox) to stake conference the day after the game. Of course, we commiserated over the Red Sox loss. He described the game in these exact words: "the greatest travesty in the history of mankind." I kid you not.