HOW ABOUT THEM RED SOX!

Anyone who knows me knows that I don’t particularly like baseball. But I love a good story. And last night the Red Sox win over the Yankees was a fantastic chapter in a really great story. So for the rest of this season I’m officially in. I also have a crush on the hairy Damon guy. I don’t know why because I’m not particularly into the hirsute, but he looks a little bit wild and I like it.

My favorite book, The Brothers K by David James Duncan, addresses the obsessive love of the game by a true fan. It’s a book about a family, but their love of baseball and each other is woven throughout the book. They’re Yankee fans and it was in this book that I learned about Roger Maris and his record of 61* homeruns. There’s actually an interesting conversation between the characters about whether the * belongs there or not. Baseball fans are different from fans of other games. Their dedication and love for their teams run deep. I they can discourse passionately about things like that asterisk. They remember all the endless stats from over the years and they never ever forget. That Cubs fan that accidentally deflected the ball – I don’t know his name, but every single Cub fan out there does. I guarantee it.

The last time I watched a World Series was probably in the late 90s. I think it was the second year in a row that the Yankees won. And while I’m not a Yankee hater like some, that’s part of why I got bored with baseball. Kind of like the Lakers and basketball. You know let someone else win every once in a while.

Like the Red Sox.

I love the underdogs – when they win. Watching a team lose badly year after year gets really old. But the Red Sox were apparently cursed. And they just won. So I’m keeping the faith that they will go all the way.

On Monday night I was watching the game, well THE game and also the St. Louis v. Houston game and Monday night football as too. I realized that baseball is slow and therefore more suspenseful. There is suspense around the pitcher going against each batter trying to make it through the inning without giving up a hit. Which leads to the suspense of waiting for a hit to happen. Or a stolen base. Or pretty much anything. There are only short staccato bursts of activity in baseball. I am easily bored and distracted. It’s not a good match.

Last night I watched the game as long as I could and then started channel surfing when the tension of waiting got to me. I would flip back and forth and was lucky I caught the grand slam. Woohoo! That was cool. I also tuned into ESPN later and just caught all the highlights which was just as good.

And I still have football on the brain because after the game I called the friend I watched the Monday night game with and left a message, “How about those Redskins.”

Oh well, I got the first part right.

And he knew what I meant.