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I posted a tweet today about feeling old because today is the 34th anniversary of Carlton Fisk’s famous walk-off home run in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series. A friend responded to my tweet by reminding me that the Sox lost Game 7.
My response takes longer than 140 characters:
To @BCubbison:
Game 7 of the 1975 World Series was a painful memory, just one of many for the fans of what was once the most snake bit team in pro sports :
Losing the 1946 World Series in Game 7 when Enos Slaughter scored the winning run in Game 7 of the 1946 Series, running from first to home on a single, allegedly because Johnny Pesky hesitated on throwing the relay home.
Losing the 1948 pennant in a one game playoff to Cleveland when Ted Williams was flustered by the “Boudreau shift.”
Losing the 1949 pennant to New York by losing the last two games of the year to the Yankees.
Losing the 1967 World Series in Game 7 to the Cardinals when light hitting Julian Javier hit a home run off an exhausted Jim Lonborg, pitching on short rest.
Losing the 1978 pennant to the Yankees in a one game playoff, featuring the pop fly home run by less than light hitting Bucky “F***ing” Dent.
Losing Games 6 and 7 of the 1986 World Series to the N.Y. Mets–both blown by the Sox in horrific fashion. (Vin Scully’s call of Game 6: “So the winning run is at second base, with two outs, three and two to Mookie Wilson. (A) little roller up along first… behind the bag! It gets through Buckner! Here comes Knight, and the Mets win it!”)
Losing the 2003 ALCS to the Yankees when Grady Little left an exhausted Pedro Martinez in too long and light hitting Aaron Boone homered for the win.
That was then, this is now. 2 World Championships, 2 American League pennants, 6 playoff appearances in the past 7 years. The Sox are arguably the best team of the new millennium. Especially since coming from down 3 games to-none to beat the Yankees in 2004, the old hurts don’t hurt as much. Sox fans were able to let go of the pain and the fatalism. I, like many Red Sox fans, made a pilgrimage to my father’s grave to let him know that the Sox had finally won–his 76 years overlapped the Sox’s 86 years of futility. He saw many games at Fenway in the 1940’s while in the Navy and stationed in Portsmouth N.H.
So the short answer to your tweet is–1975 was a hell of a Series, the Sox played well, but the Reds played a little better. I still remember that I hit my elbow on the drop ceiling in my parent’s basement when I leapt out of my chair as Fisk waved his homer fair. It’s still the greatest Series ever–and my Sox took the ‘75 Reds (perhaps the greatest team ever–certainly the best team of the 1970’s) to seven games and almost won the damn thing. (I’m so much calmer now, I will not even mention Larry Barnett’s missed call on Ed Armbrister’s interference that cost us Game 3.)
The Red Sox traded my favorite player, Manny Ramirez, on Thursday in a
three team deal that sent Manny to the Dodgers, Craig Hansen and
Brandon Moss to Pittsburgh and Jason Bay to Boston.
I responded in the manner of the Kubler-Ross stages of grief:
Denial: All the newspapers said it was coming, so I stopped reading the
papers.
Anger: How could they trade Manny! I stopped wearing my omnipresent
Red Sox cap for the weekend.
Bargaining: I skipped this one and went right to:
Depression: O.M.G. What if he ends up as a free agent DH next year for
the MF’ing Yankees?
Acceptance: Did you see the weekend Jason Bay had? Triple, HR and the
kind of defensive plays Manny couldn’t have pulled off.
OK: Manny was increasingly disruptive, his productivity was declining
and
he increasingly sat out against tough pitchers. In modern baseball,
you have to
act while you can and get something for your asset before free agency
strands
you with nothing. Bay looks like a good acquisition.
However, I think a lot of people are grieving for the idea of the
“Idiots”–the
group of shaggy-haired, non-conformists who broke through the World
Championship drought of 86 years. 2004 is only a few years ago, but
almost
the entire lineup is gone.
What’s left is a solid club, a perennial championship contender. Just
a little less
fun to watch.
Good luck Manny. Don’t sign with the MFY or I take back everything
good I said.
Clay Buchholz pitched Pawtucket to a victory over the Syracuse Chiefs last night.
I went to see the young Red Sox phenom and got
a chance to also see Mike Timlin, the iron man of the Red Sox’s
bullpen in both of their championship seasons.
Buchholz was not dominant last night in his five innings, although he
gave up only a couple of hits and no runs.
Second baseman Joe Thurston was the star of the game, with two RBI’s
and several nice plays in the field.
The infield bailed Buchholz out with three double plays and errorless
play in the field. Timlin came in to relieve
Buchholz in the sixth and set down the home team 1-2-3. I think he
threw all of six pitches. He looks healthy.
Even though the game was played through a persistent drizzle, I had a
great time. There were tons of Sox fans out
flying the colors. In Boston, there is some sniping about poseurs
and folks jumping on the bandwagon.
The blogs are aflame with debates on being a “real” Sox fan. For
those of us in the hinterlands of Red Sox
Nation, the debate is silly. I don’t care if you’re wearing a pink
Sox hat or don’t know the 1967 Impossible Dream team
starting line up. All I know, there were more Ortiz, Papelbon.
Lowell, Dice K, Lester, Ramirez (even a Derek Lowe!)
shirts in evidence last night than Posada, Jeter and A-Rod shirts. In
the middle of Yankee country.
Curt Schilling is set to undergo shoulder surgery today, something troubling
for any major league baseball pitcher, but especially so for someone 42 years old.
Even Curt’s own blog , not to mention all the news and internet coverage, hints that this may be the end of his career.
I thought he was one of the most interesting people in sports,
someone willing to speak his mind, someone intelligent enough to put
thought behind the words and demonstrate his clearly thought-out
philosophy and world view. I wasn’t thrilled with the right-wing
politics, but it was refreshing to hear a player discuss something other
than pre-chewed cliches.
There were many historic moments in the greatest comeback in sports playoff
history: Big Papi’s two walk-off hits, Damon’s grand slam, Dave Robert’s
steal: but above them all is the bloody sock. Curt had his ankle
sheath sewn into his bone to allow him the strength to push off on
his right foot when he pitched: not once, but twice. He shut down
the Yankees to tie the playoff series at 3-3 (after the Sox had been
down 0-3) and cruised through the Cardinals to win Game 2 of the 2004
World Series.
Like everyone else, I hope this isn’t the end, just another in the
series of amazing comebacks by Curt Schilling. If it isn’t to be,
all I can offer is my profound thanks for 2004 and Curt’s
contributions to the victory that changed everything. It’s a Red Sox
Nation now, no little thanks to the courage and talent of Curt
Schilling.

Need a big, gregarious slugger to reproduce the famous Babe Ruth “called shot” during a promotion during the All Star Game home run derby? At Yankee Stadium? The Yankees are furious that State Farm went with Big Papi instead of someone wearing pinstripes.
It’s a Red Sox Nation, baby! Who’s the Babe cursing now?
Back in the 1980’s, Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post wrote a book about baseball called Why Time Begins On Opening Day. I only read excerpts of the book, so maybe that’s why I have always recalled the title as Life Begins On Opening Day.
I like my title better. Spring: the earth is unthawing, plant life starts growing and baseball starts. When I was a kid, spring meant little league sign ups and just tossing the ball around in the back yard (or if you had three guys, monkey in the middle–the better to practice your rundown skills, both defensively and as a base runner.)
As an adult, I may get in some catch every now and again, but baseball is now largely rooting for the Red Sox. And life began again today, albeit at 6 in the morning and in the Tokyo Dome. The Sox beat the Oakland A’s 6-5 in 10 innings, thanks to a two-run double by Manny Ramirez. It’s a weird way to begin the year–fly to Japan to play the first two regular season games of the year, then fly back to the United States and play a few more exhibition/pre-season games.
Oh well, our magic number over the Yankees is now . . .
