October 28 04

Oh my god, the Red Sox win it”

okay, fine, that sounded better when Bob Uecker (and for the record, yes, that is how he spells his name…i checked) said it about the Indians in Major League, but i found it ever so fitting this morning.

Boston had waited 86 years for this. The Curse of the Bambino is no longer.

To quote Jim Caple, “Yes, the unthinkable came true. The sun rose in the west, hell froze over and the Red Sox won the World Series. Go ahead. Pinch yourself. You’re not dreaming.”

A little bit of history for you:

The Curse of the Bambino was a tongue-in-cheek explanation for the failure of the Boston Red Sox baseball team to win the World Series for 86 years after they sold Babe Ruth, to the New York Yankees. The flip side of Boston’s “curse” was New York’s success — after the sale, the once lackluster Yankees became one of the most successful franchises in North American professional sports.

Prior to Ruth leaving Boston, the Red Sox had won five World Series, with Ruth an important part (as a pitcher) of the 1915, 1916, and 1918 teams, whereas the Yankees hadn’t been in the World Series. After the sale, the Yankees had won 26 World Series by the start of the 2004 season, while the Red Sox had been to the Series only four times and lost each time 3 games to 4.

The Yankees’ success rate since the sale of Ruth is stunning: They have won 17 more World Series than the second-most-successful teams, the Oakland Athletics and St. Louis Cardinals (each tied with 9 championships). Ruth (by then more a slugger than pitcher) was an essential part of the 1923, 1927, 1928 and 1932 titles.

In 2004, the Red Sox met the Yankees in the American League Championship Series. After losing the first three, including a 19‑8 drubbing at Fenway, the Red Sox staged the greatest comeback in baseball playoff history, winning the next four games.

The Red Sox then met the St. Louis Cardinals, the team to whom they lost the 1946 World Series and 1967 World Series. In the 2004 World Series with a four game sweep to victory, the Red Sox successfully ended the eighty-six year title drought — and with it, the so-called “curse.” The fourth and final game of the series took place in the somewhat fitting complete darkness of a total lunar eclipse. In an altogether appropriate end to the “Curse of the Bambino,” the final out of the game was made on Cardinals shortstop Edgar Renteria – who wore Babe Ruth’s old uniform number, 3.

On a lighter note, here are my most favorite quotes from Major League, the funniest baseball movie ever:

1. “I’ve never heard of half of these guys and the ones I do know are way past their prime.”
“Most of these guys never had a prime.”
“This guy here is dead.”
“Cross him off then.”

2. “That’s all we got, one goddamn hit?”
“You can’t say goddamn on the air.”
“Don’t worry, nobody is listening anyway.”

3. “Heywood leads the league in most offensive categories, including nose hair. When this guy sneezes, he looks like a party favor.”

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  1. “Go Sox!” as my husband had Taylor trained to say! 🙂
    ~Sara

    Comment by Anonymous on October 28, 2004
  2. I’m a New Yorker (so by default oppossed to the Red Sox) and a Yankee fan. But even the majority of us here in NY (or at least where I work/live) are happy for Boston! No team ever deserved it more! 8 straight wins in a row! “Go Sox!” is right!

    Comment by chisparoja on October 28, 2004
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