Carly Simon said “These are the good old days,” and if you’re a Red Sox fan, those words hold truth. We had all day yesterday to bask in the afterglow of Josh Beckett’s third post-season gem. A performance that not only extended the season and all of our hopes, but also brought the boys home to Fenway, where they seem to live larger. A place where our own hopes get a little stronger. And today, we get to dream of what may come when the lights at Fenway burst to life and the Red Sox and Indians take their places on the emerald battle field one more time.
Your homework today, kids, is to simply enjoy this, enjoy and what could be. The gritty Curt Schilling, in what could be his last game in a Red Sox uniform, taking the hill against the young stud. Manny, Ortiz and Lowell trying to carry their team one step closer to a championship. The oft-maligned new kids in town – Lugo and Drew – trying to shake off the tarnish of bad seasons and earn some October redemption. And the future of the Sox – Pedroia, Ellsbury, Papelbon – living out their dreams for the first time and trying to be the spark that ignites this team to Sunday and beyond. All great stories to be played out in nine innings a few short hours from now.
Enjoy it. If you haven’t already seen the Globe and the Herald, go get them, grab another coffee, and read every Red Sox article. If you’ve already read the papers, read them again. The local sports writers have ratcheted their game up a notch in October as well, and there is a lot of great writing. I leave you with an excerpt from Gordon Edes, because I couldn’t capture the mood any better:
It was quiet on a damp Yawkey Way yesterday afternoon, on a day that was more late August sticky than mid-October crisp.Fenway Park had the feel of an old-time amusement park drawing to the end of another long summer, just before the cars on the Ferris wheel are taken down, the cotton candy stands are boarded up, and the roller coaster is shuttered.
But the ancient ballpark is not yet ready to call it quits for the season, and neither are its primary occupants. The funhouse will be packed to overflowing tonight, when the Red Sox, given a reprieve when Josh Beckett pitched a game for the ages Thursday night in Cleveland, attempt to stave off winter one more time against the Indians in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series.
See you tonight. And tomorrow night.
