The Red Sox and the World Series

The calendar year of 1986 was an amazing one for New England sports. The '85 Patriots started things off in January of '86 by making an improbable run to the Superbowl where they got decimated by the great Chicago Bears team. The '85/'86 Celtics team won the NBA title in 6 games over the Houston Rockets and are now considered one of the greatest teams of all time. The '85/'86 Bruins made the Stanley Cup finals where they were out-classed by the great Edmonton Oilers team that included Gretzky and Messier among other greats.

And then there was the tragedy that was the 1986 Red Sox.

I was 7 years old that summer and with all the excitement in the city about the other 3 teams making the finals earlier that year, sports was becoming a big deal to me. The Red Sox won their division, came back from down 3-1 against the Angels in the ALCS to get to the world series and were up 3-2 in the series against the Mets going back to Shea Stadium only needing one win to clinch their first world series since 1918. Then in game 6, the unthinkable happened. With 2 outs in the bottom of the 10th inning, the Red Sox only needed 1 out, up by two runs and no Mets on base. Somehow the wheels came off and the Mets scored 3 runs capped off by the famous Bill Buckner error behind first base to force game 7 which seemed destined to be won by the Mets. (The Red Sox were up 3-0 after 5 and a half innings in game 7 before losing 8-5 in the end.) I was just old enough to be heart-broken and I became a Red Sox fan for life, inheriting all the pain and suffering of a team that couldn't seem to win the world series under any circumstances.

18 years later, the 2004 Red Sox changed everything. They became the first team to ever come back from down 3-0 to win a series, and they swept the Cardinals to win their first world series in 86 years.

And now they're back. Instead of dreading the next Red Sox heartbreak, I'm confident and looking forward to celebrating again. I'm trying to remind myself to really absorb the experience this time. It was 18 years in between world series appearances last time and I'll never know how long it will be after this season before they're back again. Josh Becket is going to be throwing strike one to Willy Tavares in a little over one hour from now and I'll be enjoying every pitch after that one.