Darn Yankees!

Well, just like Cub fans Red Sox fans felt the agony of defeat instead of the joy of victory. The fairy tale story is officially dead. What a wrenching heartbreaking game for the Red Sox faithful.

When the game started I was in home church (bible study) and Red Sox fans were nervous. After they checked the score, it was 4-0 in the sixth inning. Someone said: "it is over" figuring that Martinez would hold the lead. I told him that it was never over, reminding him of the Arizona Diamondbacks who came back on Mariano Rivera. He remained confident. As people filtered out we turned the game on and watched as Giambi hit a home run. The nervousness increased. After Ortiz hit his homer to make it 5-2 people relaxed a bit. But as the Yankees began to hit Pedro, the Sox fans in the room began to squirm. I wondered alound whether they would keep Martinez in as he was clearly losing steam. A friend offered that they would leave him in until someone got on base and then he would be done. Sure enough, Martinez came out for the 8th inning. When Jeeter hit a double everyone was sure that Pedro was gone but he remained. As the comeback continued the Sox fans in the room began to get angry at manager Grady Little. "What is he thinking?", everyone asked. With the game tied at 5-5 there was nothing to do but hope Boston could create some magic to regain the momentum. My friend was trying desperately to will the Boston hitters to get on base, to somehow mentally push the Red sox to win. I thought she had it for a minute when Jeeter almost dropped the bat in a bunt attempt but the Sox couldn't generate any hits. After midnight I decided I need to head home. We got in the car and listened to the radio broadcast. As I heard the announcer describe Aaron Boone's home run, I thought about the stab of pain that was causing right now in my friends back at their house. I thought of all the fans crushed by the weight of that swing watching the hated Yankees celebrate yet another victory and trip to the World Series. I must admit, however, that I also felt a bit of excitement and admiration for a team and franchise that always seems to get it done. I am not a Yankees fan by any stretch of the imagination, but it is hard not to smile a rye smile when you think of the Yankees beating the Red Sox yet again and jubilation that Boone's homer caused in New York and around the world.

Onto the world series . . .