I met my wife in the summer of 1995 and the Red Sox were having a playoff year. Her birthday fell on game one of the division playoff against Cleveland, and although I had kept her from the Red Sox all summer, the pictures from her birthday party show the Red Sox game in the background and me wearing my 1986 Red Sox AL Champions shirt. We lost that game in extra innings and went on to get swept in the series. It was our 13th straight postseason loss.
By 1998, we were living over 1000 miles apart from each other, but on her birthday, she came to visit. As it appeared our relationship was ready to go to the next level, I told her about 1986 and 1988, 1990, and 1995 and how we had lost 13 straight playoff games. She asked a lot about the rules of the game and by the time game 4 came around she had a decent grip on the game. Down 2 games to 1, game 4 fell on her birthday. In the 8th inning, with the Red Sox in the lead, Tom Gordon came in to pitch and the TV showed something like Gordon had not blown a save in something like 40 consecutive attempts and had only 1 blown save the entire year. She was standing and cheering, (she didn't know better), but I remained seated and I looked over to Debbie and said, "just watch, he will blow this one."
She didn't understand how I could be so negative, but within 2 minutes, he had blown the game and the Red Sox were done for another year. That was when I told her about 1918 and how long it had been since we won.
By the time the Red Sox made the playoffs in 99, we were married and now she couldn't escape the pull of the Sox. Down 2-0 in the Indian series we came back to win 3 in a row and we both cheered when Pedro came in (in relief) and pitched 6 innings of no hit ball. During our series with the Yankees, I properly introduced her to my "summer family", the Red Sox. I brought out old VHS tapes of old games and showed her Fisk and Yaz, and I even replayed the Buckner game for her. During this time, I was nervous, sort of like a kid when you take your girlfriend home to meet the parents. You hope they like each other or your life can really be miserable. Then in game 4 of the Yankee series, when the game started to get out of hand, my "summer family" embarrassed me. After Offerman was called out on a phantom tag by Chuck Knoblauch of the Yankees, the Red Sox fans started throwing trash on the field and the game was placed on hold. I told her it was just 81 years of frustration boiling over and that we are all not like that. I don't think it bothered her, but at the time, I thought she may not like the Sox because of that one incident. But I didn't need to worry, the Red Sox were just starting to pull her in.
Starting in 2000, we have made nearly every game in Texas when the Sox play the Rangers, and through the years, we have witnessed the longest game in Ranger history (18 innings and one where my wife was yelled at by security to quit standing on her seat - twice) and we have witnessed the coldest game in Ranger history (opening series 2007). She cried when Aaron Boone beat us in 2003 and she cheered and cried again when that ball was "underhanded to first" in 2004. She is a Red Sox fan. They got her too.
By 1998, we were living over 1000 miles apart from each other, but on her birthday, she came to visit. As it appeared our relationship was ready to go to the next level, I told her about 1986 and 1988, 1990, and 1995 and how we had lost 13 straight playoff games. She asked a lot about the rules of the game and by the time game 4 came around she had a decent grip on the game. Down 2 games to 1, game 4 fell on her birthday. In the 8th inning, with the Red Sox in the lead, Tom Gordon came in to pitch and the TV showed something like Gordon had not blown a save in something like 40 consecutive attempts and had only 1 blown save the entire year. She was standing and cheering, (she didn't know better), but I remained seated and I looked over to Debbie and said, "just watch, he will blow this one."
She didn't understand how I could be so negative, but within 2 minutes, he had blown the game and the Red Sox were done for another year. That was when I told her about 1918 and how long it had been since we won.
By the time the Red Sox made the playoffs in 99, we were married and now she couldn't escape the pull of the Sox. Down 2-0 in the Indian series we came back to win 3 in a row and we both cheered when Pedro came in (in relief) and pitched 6 innings of no hit ball. During our series with the Yankees, I properly introduced her to my "summer family", the Red Sox. I brought out old VHS tapes of old games and showed her Fisk and Yaz, and I even replayed the Buckner game for her. During this time, I was nervous, sort of like a kid when you take your girlfriend home to meet the parents. You hope they like each other or your life can really be miserable. Then in game 4 of the Yankee series, when the game started to get out of hand, my "summer family" embarrassed me. After Offerman was called out on a phantom tag by Chuck Knoblauch of the Yankees, the Red Sox fans started throwing trash on the field and the game was placed on hold. I told her it was just 81 years of frustration boiling over and that we are all not like that. I don't think it bothered her, but at the time, I thought she may not like the Sox because of that one incident. But I didn't need to worry, the Red Sox were just starting to pull her in.
Starting in 2000, we have made nearly every game in Texas when the Sox play the Rangers, and through the years, we have witnessed the longest game in Ranger history (18 innings and one where my wife was yelled at by security to quit standing on her seat - twice) and we have witnessed the coldest game in Ranger history (opening series 2007). She cried when Aaron Boone beat us in 2003 and she cheered and cried again when that ball was "underhanded to first" in 2004. She is a Red Sox fan. They got her too.
1 comment:
How lucky you are that your wife embraces the drama that is the Red Sox. She is one of a kind, she must love you very much.
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