If life was like the movies, then the last playoff game I ever took in with Dad would have been game three of the 2003 ALDS. We were in the bleachers, freezing our asses off and loving every minute of it, when Trot went yard and shit went nuts. It was back in the days when we were still trying to get our arms around the idea of a Sox “come back.” The crowd was pumped, the chicks well-oiled, and “Dirty Water” never sounded louder or more of a call to arms when it pummelled us from the Fenway loudspeakers. I had winter gloves, my lucky cap, a dangerously high blood alcohol content and eyes as wide as a planet. “This could be the year,” Dad and I chortled back and forth as we bounded down the street with the masses. It was a f@#king glorious night and still ranks as the single greatest game I’ve ever attended.
Alas, it didn’t end there. Dad also scored tickets to game five of the 2003 ALCS, but that contest was devoid of any sort of magic, unless you find magic in watching David Wells sit on our offense and squeeze the very life from it. I remember shuffling out of the park with Dad, both of us nervously anticipating what the next two games in New York would bring, but neither of us daring to speak it. Let’s just say the mood around the Fens was decidedly different from just a couple weeks earlier.
Why drudge this up now? Well, knucklehead, another postseason will soon be upon us, and if you’re looking to score tickets, you can register at redsox.com for the chance to buy ALDS, ALCS and World Series tickets. Through some bizarre partnership with SI, you also get signed up for a subscription for life or something like that, so make sure not to check the SI “special offer” box if you’re not interested. The registration period for ALDS tix runs through Monday at noon, so get on that, Padre. And good luck.
