Old is New Again

[8 Yaz 67]

Hello, Red Sox fans! I'm an older guy, but I'm new here and I'm taking the advice of the forum admin and introducing myself. I've been a diehard Red Sox fan since 1965 when my Dad took me and my Brother to Fenway Park for a double-header against the Angels. It was a beautiful spring day and we got to the park early to watch BP. I was 6-years old and my little Brother was only 4! My poor Dad. I don't know what he was thinking. He sure was optimistic. After watching about a half-hour or so of infield and BP, my brother asked my Dad if we were leaving soon. Can you picture that? We're at a double-header and before BP of the first game is done my brother has had enough. It's funny now. But it must have been pretty frustrating for my Dad at the time. We did make it through the first game which the Sox won and to about the 4th-inning of the second before we bailed. I don't remember the outcome of the second game. But I recall taking the T and a bus back to my Nana's in Watertown. My brother and I used the red, white & blue megaphone popcorn containers we got at Fenway to announce the results of game one to everyone we passed on the streets.

 

I remember being in the 3rd-grade in 1967 and watching the last games of the season in the classroom at school. Back then MLB played many of the games during the day and the nuns at Our Lady of Victories were faithful Red Sox fans. School work became an impossible nightmare while the Sox were in the middle of the impossible dream. The nuns were nice enough to bring a TV into the classroom so we all could watch the games instead of doing schoolwork!

 

I also remember being very young and listening to some of the Red Sox west coast games on the radio at night in bed. I would have my transistor radio right up tight to my ear and I'd be under the blanket so my Mom wouldn't catch me. Some of those games were pretty late for a school night. Too often the Red Sox would have a decent lead going into the last couple of innings and then blow it. I seem to recall pitchers like Ray Culp, Sonny Siebert, Sparky Lyle or maybe Lee Stange on the mound and Gerry Moses behind the plate. The Sox would have maybe a one-run lead and then they'd walk or hit an Angels or Athletics batter. The runner would wind-up on first and be taking a lead. Ned Martin or Ken Coleman the Red Sox broadcasters would be calling the play-by-play. I'd be pretty tired and trying to stay awake to hear the final out of the game and of course hoping for a Red Sox victory. I had the extra nervous energy from trying to avoid my Mom catching me and making me turn off my radio. Then the announcers would say something like this. "The count's 2-balls, 1-strike, 1-out and man on first. Culp checks Cardenal the runner at first. He winds, throws...there goes Cardenal, the pitch is in the dirt. Moses digs it out and pegs the ball...it got away from him and sails into right-center. Cardenal's rounding third. He's going to score easily. There's the tying run." Of course the opponent,in this case the Angels, would go on to score the go ahead or winning run. I'd be lying there in disbelief with tears welling in my eyes. I'd have a lump in my throat and of course a broken heart. I really lived and died on this team and this sort of thing would happen all too often. Even Yaz or Boomer would pop-out or whiff too often in the clutch. I'll tell you, Big Papi is worth his weight in gold to me!

 

As a kid I use to think I had some weird influence on the outcome of the games. I guess I still do. If I didn't pay attention with 100% concentration, I could be the reason they'd lose. If I did something bad, God got me back by giving the Sox a loss. The Red Sox weren't cursed, I was!

 

Well I guess 2004 proved we're not cursed; at least anymore! In fact I feel blessed. In 1991 I got to take my son to his first game and we attend at least a couple of games together each year now. When I was a kid my parents took me to a game every year for my birthday. My son is expecting his first son to be born very soon and I can't wait to take my grandson to his first game with his dad!

 

My wife and I watch every game together on TV thanks to the DVR. She and I got married in 2004 and I attribute the Red Sox World Series victory to her! Can you imagine she first started watching the Red Sox in 2004! They certainly have had a great record since she became a fan and started watching. She is a great fan, too. She knows a lot about every player and understands just about everthing about the game from asking many good questions. I'm so lucky she's turned into a real fanatic. She never misses a game and even watches replays of the 2004 post season frequently on DVD. Even our dog watches the games with great attention. He holds a stuffed baseball in his mouth and watches every pitch from the couch. Whenever the Red Sox score or get a good hit he barks and jumps with great enthusiasim. Oddly he knows the difference between a Red Sox hit and there opponent's. He love it when they all jump together in a group at home plate!

 

Okay, that's enough...or really too much! Hello All and Go Red Sox in 2008!!!!!!!!!!

[Thumper]

Nice story, welcome to TalkSox.

[zackredsox]

Welcome.

[a700hitter]

Great story. We are the same age. I was also in the third grade during the Impossible Dream season. If your wife is good luck for the Sox, I would urge you to keep her happy. It's nice that you and your son share the Red Sox bond. My son and I do too. We live on Long Island in NY. In 1996, when he was 11 years old, all of my son's friends were going nuts with the Yankees. I told him that he could root for the Yankees and enjoy it with his friends... that he didn't have to root for the Sox because I did. He looked at me in disbelief and said: "I can't root for the Yankees. I hate them." The Red Sox bond became permanent at that instant. Every year we go to Ft. Myers for about a week of ST, take two trips to Boston, one or two to see the Sox in Baltimore, and we go to Philly if they are playing there. Welcome to TalkSox. It's a Red Sox family of sorts.

[8 Yaz 67]

Thanks all for the welcomes. 700, I love your avatar! The Godfather is my absolute favorite movie. I was just watching 1 & 2 yesterday on DVD. Poor Luca, not only did he choke, but he also really messed-up his hand pretty good. Do you think the Yankees will copy Luca's sleepping arrangements, as well as, his choking ability? I'd have to bet that there is still a little room amongst the fishes in the old Hudson for the Yanks.

[a700hitter]

Thanks all for the welcomes. 700' date=' I love your avatar! The Godfather is my absolute favorite movie. I was just watching 1 & 2 yesterday on DVD. Poor Luca, not only did he choke, but he also really messed-up his hand pretty good. Do you think the Yankees will copy Luca's sleepping arrangements, as well as, his choking ability? I'd have to bet that there is still a little room amongst the fishes in the old Hudson for the Yanks.[/quote']I like the way you think, 8 Yaz 67.