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October 29, 2004

Now What?

So the Red Sox are World Champions, and the Curse is dead. No more "1918" chants at ballgames. No more replays of Enos Slaughter, Bob Gibson, Bucky Dent, Bill Buckner, and Aaron Boone. In a sense, we're no longer special, because what made us unique is now gone. And apparently some people think that's a bad thing (presumably not Red Sox fans). What a crock.

Let's put things in perspective. We're still at war against a global enemy who would like little more than to see us all put to death. We've got two Godawful candidates running for President, and the rules say one of them has to win. The world still suffers from the four horsemen of war, disease, famine and pestilence. Boston's World Series win clearly doesn't do a damn thing for any of that. Hell, it doesn't even do much on a smaller scale. I still have the same bills. I'm still stuck in El Paso, 600 miles from my wife and thousands of miles from the rest of my family. So what's the big deal?

For eighty-five years, the Boston Red Sox failed to win a title. That's not the longest drought in history; the Cubs are coming up on the centennial of their last victory. But unlike the Cubs, Boston has been consistently competitive since the late 1960s. 2004 was our fourth appearance in the World Series since 1966, and that doesn't even mention our other close calls in 1978 and 2003. Each time, the Sox had a chance to win the Series, and each time they fell short, most painfully in 1986 when the Mets' scoreboard broadcast the fateful "Congratulations Boston Red Sox World Champions 1986." The Curse of the Bambino was a typical human invention in an attempt to explain the inexplicable, no different than the Greek Apollo carrying the Sun across the sky or the theory that thunder was the gods bowling. What else, after all, could explain the Red Sox' uncanny ability to fall just short of greatness?

Yet they persevered. Despite all of those failure, despite the belief by many people that Boston simply could never reach its goal, they went on. Last year could have crushed the city, to come so very close only to fall short yet again. Instead, they moved forward and vanquished a still-greater demon, coming back from an 0-3 deficit to win eight straight games, a feat never before seen in baseball history.

The Boston Red Sox won a World Championship. And if we can do that, we can do anything.