I'm a huge baseball fan, and Boston is entirely to blame. Before I moved up there for college, I'd been living in college basketball country with a family of football fans. Baseball wasn't in the picture. But living in a city that lives and breathes its Sox... it was enough to turn me into a lifelong fan. I loved the game, it turned out. I loved the rules and the history and the plays and how all the pieces come together like intricate and beautiful (and dirty and rough) clockwork. It was my kinda game, and I loved that discovery. But it's not just any baseball, see, it's Red Sox baseball. Here's why.
First, there is Fenway Park. No other place like it in the world. I've spent spring birthdays there wearing two coats, I've sweated buckets in the summer, I've endured the obstructed views and the tiny seats, I've lived for frigid October, I've camped out for playoff tickets, I've flown across the country to celebrate the team's first World Series win in 86 years, and I have loved every minute of it. The place is magic.
Second, there's the team. There's Papi and Manny hugging at home plate. There's Pedro pitching, which means you go get more beer when the Sox bat. There are random guys like Trot Nixon and Brian Daubach, players I always loved more than I could justify. There's grinning while watching El Guapo, and yelling when Johnny went to New York. And there will always be Nomar. Here's my original Nomar Garciaparra bobblehead doll (notice the misspelling of his name - classic). Nomar was my first-ever baseball crush, and when he rejoined the Sox for a day last month just so that he could retire in a Sox jersey, well... color me crushed again. I love this team.
Saving the best for last... there are the fans. Red Sox Nation is a formidable place, and one I'm proud to be a part of. There's crazy sports radio and spontaneous cheering in bars and a knowing way between us when we meet on the street. Red Sox Nation is a collective movement, a culture, and a way of life. Conveying this more than I ever could, there is five-year-old Joshua Sacco. This kid is good. He just made it onto my To Kidnap list alongside Sasha Obama, even.
I can't quit you, Sox. And I never will.
I hate that my husband and I don't follow baseball! Growing up in the Midwest we followed football and basketball religiously, but never had a MLB team in Indiana. Now that we live in CA, everyone follows a team and we feel really left out. Maybe this is our year to become baseball people??
ReplyDeleteWell said, as usual.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I'm a San Francisco Giants fan.
reason #712 why i locked it down...
ReplyDeleteOMG. I could not care less about baseball, but that little boy? I'll take him!
ReplyDeleteRed Sox fans are everywhere! I like Red Sox fans that lived in Boston though, so you pass the test...I can't stand the bandwagon fans since they 2004. This is the blissful time when us Orioles fans can have hope that we'll be good this year. Okay, I am not the best baseball watcher, but I do like to go to games and eat hot dogs and people watch, much to the embarrassment of Roomie:)
ReplyDeleteI am yankees born and bred, but I can appreciate a cute kid when I see one! the too short tie is to die for!!
ReplyDeleteI am happy to say that the only MLB game I've ever been to is at Fenway to see the Redsox with Maggie :) And the only baseball t-shirt I've ever owned was a Garciparra shirt! (Lost it to the ex.) The closest we have here in Raleigh are the Durham Bulls which are pretty fun but nothing like MLB. So I'm a Redsox fan via Mags!
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