The Boston Red Sox: The Most Beloved Team in All of Sports
If there was a team in all of sports that commanded such passion, such heartache, such glory, and stirs every kind of emotion it would be the Boston Red Sox.
Looking from the outside, the Red Sox are just another sports team. They’ve won, they’ve lost, they’ve won, they’ve…
What’s so special about the Red Sox?
The Chicago Cubs have a longer dry spell than the Red Sox did to win the World Series. (Currently at 104 years). The Chicago Whites Sox took 88 years until they won it in 2005. The Red Sox only had an 86 year dry spell.
What makes the Red Sox special is how they overcame their dry spell. When the White Sox won, they did not do it in spectacular fashion. Their curse did not benefit another team as did the Curse of the Bambino did for the Red Sox and the New York Yankees.
The 2004 Red Sox first traded their franchise player, Nomar Garciaparra, midway through the season. Then they swept the Anaheim Angels in the ALDS to setup a rematch of the 2003 ALCS with the Yankees.
The Red Sox and the Yankees have the greatest rivalry in sports and it all came together first in 2003. The ALCS went all the way to Game 7, and it ended with Aaron Boone’s walk-off home run to send the Yankees back to the World Series.
The 2004 ALCS created a lot of drama. Even if you aren’t a Red Sox fan, you felt it in your bones that 2004 was going to be special.
It all began in 1918, the Red Sox came off their fifth World Series championship and to save money, Harry Frazee, then owner of the Red Sox, sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees for a reported $100,000. It instantly made the Yankees a World Series juggernaut. Between 1918 to 2004, the Red Sox did not win a single World Series. During that same time span, the Yankees won 26 World Series. This was known as the Curse of the Bambino.
The 2004 ALCS had so much hype that the first three games of the series were easy New York victories. The hype had gotten to the Red Sox and they were on the verge of spending another winter without a World Series championship.
However, games 4, 5, 6, and 7 were different. They won games 4 and 5 in extra innings, game 6 in a Pedro Martinez gem, and game 7 in a blowout. The Red Sox made history. They became the first and only MLB team to come back from an 0-3 hole to win a series. The curse wasn’t broken, but they got rid of the New York demon that haunted them for nearly a century.
The 2004 Red Sox would sweep the St. Louis Cardinals and claim their sixth World Series championship.
There were many books, songs, parades, and a movie made about the 2004 Boston Red Sox. The White Sox had a longer dry spell, but we did not remember many books, any songs, numerous parades, or any movie made for them.
The Red Sox continue to captivate the hearts and minds of all of sports. The Red Sox are the only team to have an official “Nation”. They have the largest fan base in all of North American sports. I see fans wearing Red Sox jerseys to games where the Red Sox are not even playing! There are Red Sox fans during basketball, hockey, soccer, and football games.
Fenway Park is the only stadium in all of sports that has 40 year wait list for tickets. The park packs over 110% of its seats. Fans have to literally fight for seats they have already bought. It is also a fact that fans at Fenway Park have the highest average IQ then any team in history! (maybe because it is in a city with Harvard and MIT, and very close to Yale and Brown) It is also the oldest park in the Western Hemisphere.
More men have proposed during a Red Sox game then any sporting event aside from soccer. The Red Sox are the single greatest heart breaker! Many times have the Red Sox been to the World Series before 2004 and each time it ended in failure. From Pesky to Buckner, all of Red Sox Nation held their breath for 86 years. To quote the title Bill Simmon’s book, “Now I can die in peace.”
Even during a bad season like this year, Red Sox fans are still as loyal as ever. They are the most beloved team in all of sports.
The Boston Red Sox
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