This Red Sox fan knows why the curse is gone. Maybe.
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How many Red Sox fans felt it? How many got that little twinge in the eighth inning Monday night? Come on, you know the feeling. Without going into detail, the ‘tortured ones’ can fill in personal spine-tingling horror stories connected with the years, say ... 1967, 1975, 1978, 1986, etc., etc., etc.
So the table was set, top of the eighth inning in Game 4 of the American League divisional series Monday night:
- Boston is holding a 2-1 best-of-five series lead at home and leads Game 4, 2-0.
- Two Angels are out, and the third is down 0-2 on the count.
- Four outs away from knocking off the best team in the American League.
Then it begins ...
Mark Teixeira fights back from the two-strike count and walks. Vladimir Guerrero walks. A passed ball puts runners on second and third, but not one of those ‘boo-boo’ passed balls. It was one of those, ‘Oh no!’ passed balls. Boston catcher Jason Varitek leaned outside, apparently expecting a breaking pitch, and the sizzling fastball didn’t even warm leather on its way to the backstop. A few pitches later, the tying runs score on a Torii Hunter single.
And there go the butterflies in the Sox fans’ stomachs.
Two were out. One hit. Two runs? Tied game?? Time to tie one on?!?!
Then as a Sox follower, the sure sign of disaster followed -- Boston got out of the jam.
In case some don’t understand what goes through the depressed mind of a Sox follower from the 20th century, this is what races around the head: ‘Oh geez, now after that seemingly game-saving tease, the Sox let up a run in the top of the ninth, they go back to Anaheim for Game 5 Wednesday, and the California sweep to open the series goes for naught.’
When the Angels put a runner on third with one out in the ninth inning, the pessimism was confirmed. The tell-tale signs were right.
Then the unthinkable happens. Erick Aybar misses a bunt on a suicide squeeze attempt, Reggie Willits is tagged out, and the Red Sox go on to win in the bottom of the ninth. They advance to play for the American League pennant for the fourth time in six seasons.
What in the 21st century is going on? Well, as far as some can tell, the once-cursed Boston Red Sox seem to be the only entity that was affected by the once-feared Y2K phenomenon.
-- Athan Atsales
