The hearts of Red Sox fans across the nation are finally beating at a normal rate after their beloved, formerly cursed heroes are sitting pretty in Major League Baseball's World Series. For some fanatics, the three-year wait between the Red Sox's last World Series appearance has felt like a century. But then again, how can we forget the terror and tragedy of waiting 81 years for the rain to stop and the sun to shine?
There was no "Cowboy Up" this year; only a looming expectation that with an intimidating pitching staff and a frightening batting order, there would be no losing. What team would not cringe to see a lineup consisting of Josh Beckett, Curt Schilling, Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, Mike Lowell and Jonathan Papelbon? The team is scary, and nothing would get in their way.
Yet, even with this scary lineup, failure is always in the back of the mind of every single Red Sox fan. We have seen it many times before - whether it be an errant baseball dribbling through an unnamed first baseman's legs or a walk-off home run in the American League Division Series by a player no one can remember - when everything runs smoothly, something will go wrong.
It almost happened this year when the Red Sox barely escaped blowing a 14-and-a-half game lead on the Yankees. Red Sox fans across the nation cringed to look out at the Green Monster scoreboard and see the Eastern Division leaders' standings decrease as the dog days of summer came to a close. Even after they made the playoffs and successfully romped the Angels in the first round, the Red Sox fell behind the unheralded Cleveland Indians 3-1 in the ALDS Championship, and the hearts of Red Sox fans across the nation began to palpitate with anxiety.
Each time the Red Sox appeared down this year, they came back and disproved us skeptical fans. With the Red Sox success this year and its success over the past five years, a dirty little question has been popping up in the minds of many Red Sox fans: Has the team that overfills opposing teams' stadiums erased its cherished underdog image and replaced it with the image of a crushing powerhouse? The Red Sox should knock off the Colorado Rockies in a timely and clean fashion, yet, when this happens, are the Red Sox going to be considered the new, dare I say it, Evil Empire?
I can't believe I just said that. My mother would kill me. Erase it from your memory. Even if, somehow, the Red Sox do not defeat the raw, streaking Colorado Rockies, the Red Sox will always be loved. This is what makes it the greatest team in baseball.
Though he was criticized for his comments, Ramirez put it perfectly: "[If] it doesn't happen, so who cares? There's always next year." We fans are outrageously committed to our beloved Bean Town Bombers. This is what makes the Red Sox so great.
Though we may get frustrated when Daisuke Matsuzaka, the $100-million teddy bear, falters under the pressures of Major League Baseball, we will never shun him. The Fenway Faithful have heart and compassion, unlike the men in pinstripes, who are bombarded in the tabloids if they do not perform up to their business-like standards. We laugh in our successes and we cry in our failures. This is Red Sox nation.
