Redsoxchickie: Just This Side of Stalking

In an effort to get you people to start healing and some of you to be just a wee less bitter, I will be reminding you of all the reasons we came to love the 2003 Red Sox....the epic saga version.

For the first time in a long time we were hypnotized by a group of guys playing a game. That's the thing, these guys were playing a game and having fun. They were likable, endearing and made you want them to win for themselves, rooting for them was fun and quite possibly an Olympic sport in the making during the playoffs. So here's as many of the reasons why we should be thankful for last season and hopeful for the next.

Who's on First???

I generally pride myself on knowing the ins and outs of who the Red Sox have acquired, released and are iffy about during the off-season. This spring I turned on the television and didn't know who the hell was playing in half the positions. Did Mo leave the Mets and come back to Boston? Is it "Miller, Mueller, or Millar"? (I honesty thought there were three because no one was saying Mueller's name right). What screw up is playing second this year? And who the hell let Mendoza in???? Those were the questions we all had in March, but little did we know that we would be worshiping most of these guys come October.

But Isn't Tampa Bay Supposed To Be Our Beeatches?

I should have foreseen the fact that I nearly hyperventilated in the season opener as I watched the bullpen implode giving up the lead in the 9th inning as just the first of many medical issues I would have during the course of the season. The only reason I bring up this loss is because in that same series we go 16 innings against the Devil Ray (a conundrum unto itself) and win...on a Kevin Millar home run. The only thing we knew about this guy was that he was a few hours away from eating lo mien and sipping sake, then he's suddenly one of our 14 first baseman. But from that moment on I knew he'd be my new boyfriend #2 ;)

It Was A Sign.

My first opening day game ever was this year. It was colder than Kobe Bryant's attorney. It rained, snowed, we couldn't hear anything over the PA and they waited until we were in the park and spent $100 in and around Fenway on beer to stave off frostbite to tell us there would be no baseball. So after some wrangling we got tickets for the next night which turned out to be the first game of the season in Fenway because that afternoon game got rained out. Confusing isn't it? Pedro gave up like 8 runs, got booed, and the 3rd base coach has a seizure. Holy freakshow! But technically speaking opening day was actually August 8th which I couldn't go to so then did I really go to opening day?

This Was Literally A Sign

Picture it, Mid-April...Fenway Park, game tied in the 9th. If you're watching TV there's a shot of fans in the Monster Seats. They show one fan holding a sign saying, "Hit It Here Nomar" with a big bull's eye. Nomar is up to bat to start off the 9th. We came back from a 5-0 deficit to tie this game up. No sooner did they show that sign than Nomar launches it into the seats. It was a movie moment if I ever saw one. He is mobbed on by his teammates at home plate. This scene would be repeated about a dozen times in the season with different players being the mob-ie. It never got old.

Bye-Bye Shea and Hello New Guys!!!

I'll be the first to admit I wasn't initially happy that Shea got traded as he was a fan favorite and had some clutch hits under his belt and was a pretty good third/first baseman. But it would soon play out that it was that best trade since Heathcliff Slocumb, baby! Hmmmmm...we lose Shea and get a Korean closer/starter who is well versed in english sign language. How often do you make a trade where the person you got is completely irrelevant to what you already had? This trade put Mueller at third who turns into the batting champion, makes Ortiz the permanent DH/Mr. Clutch, and makes Millar the poster child for frosted highlights on first base, and gives Walker enough breathing room to play second. Can we just go over those 4 guys for a sec? Millar, clutch hitter, solid first baseman and hits the 10,000th home run in history at Fenway. Mueller, unsuspecting batting champion??? Ortiz, have you ever just watched a ball get the tar smacked out of it with your jaw dropped? Walker turned into Mr. October. Theo Epstein for the Nobel Prize anyone?

Run Daddy, Run!

All in all, this game had no real significance other than it had to make you chuckle when you saw, of all people Kevin Millar running around the bases as hard as he could to end up with a inside the park home run. Equally funny was what he said afterward when he was asked about it. I believe he said he assumed everyone in the outfield had collapsed when he saw Cabbage waving him in.

Um, Its 14-0 After The First Inning...Think The Bullpen Can Hold It?

So I had bought tickets in center field for my friend Jen O. as a present for her impeding betrothal so she could gawk at Johnny Damon's butt for the last time as a single woman. It was a miserable mid-summer evening, complete with 90 degree heat and 200% humidity. You sweat if you breathed. So we make sure to be in our seats in ample preparation of Johnny-Fest. Needless to say in one hour, the Sox scored 14 runs against the Marlins, broke like 3 major league records and we had sweat off about 20lbs. It was at that point we felt it was safe to leave the game, despite the bullpen, to go home shower and watch the rest of the game in air condition splendor. Who knew they would score 11 more runs???

I'm Starting To Like This National League Thing.

Every year the All-Star Break is combined with us playing the National League teams. This is the point the point in the year that usually signals the 2nd half collapse of my boys for the last 3 years. After this year's face-offs we actually had a winning record. This still didn't make us feel all that comfy when we rolled into the land of Cheese Steaks on Labor Day to make up a game as we started an important road trip. Everybody points to this game as the "turning point" of the season...whatever works. It was an absolutely horrid game that was so bad I was channel flipping between that and a Discovery Channel show about building motorcycles (I'm fairly certain I could weld together a gas tank for a Harley now). Dumb-dumb that I am I shut my TV off to leave only to miss Trot Nixon's game winning grand slam. That game taught me to never, ever give up no matter how painful the potential loss could be.

Giambi/Mendoza Does Something For A Change.

It took him 562 tries but Jeremy Giambi finally got a hit. And what was creepier was the fact it was against the Yankees and we actually won the game because of him. Mendoza starts a game against the Yankees and actually pitches well. Unfortunately both would prove completely useless for the rest of the season but I'm trying to look on the bright side.

Sweeping Seattle

Amid crunch time, when playoff contenders are born and the Tigers keep losing, we had to face Seattle who were are main competition for the Wild Card spot in August. I'm not sure how it happened really, it's all just a blur, but I know I was there for one game where I got nice and fried in the sun. We sweeped Seattle. We sweeped Seattle? It was at that moment people in New England let themselves dare to imagine what playing in October might be like.

Cornrows, Mullets, and Ugly, Ugly Bald Men

Rarely are the Red sox the kind of team that gets along well with one another. I've witnessed more dugout tantrums and fistfights for my liking. This team would have none of that. These guys got along so well they swapped hair stylists. Millar decided to experiment with cornrows, luckily it only lasted a day. Damon hopped on the cornrow bandwagon too, but anything other than the nasty mullet was a welcome change. Is there anything scarier that a white man with cornrows? Yes, it's called 25 men with ugly bald heads. They were so cute, but then they had to go show team unity and shave their heads....could they have just grown playoff beards instead? I love Millar but as a baldie? Oooof!

Clinching

Although it had only been 4 years since the Sox had been in the playoffs, it felt as if it had been decades. The night we played Baltimore, in our last chance to clinch the wild card spot at home, you somehow felt that these guys were going to make damned well sure that the fans got what they came to see. And so they teed off against Oriole pitching and made it possible to celebrate with Fenway as the background. I'll never forget seeing Nomar and the others running around the field, soaked in Bud Light and champagne, slapping hands with the fans that wouldn't leave because they wanted to congratulate the guys that worked so hard all year to get where they were going. In return you could tell that my boys wanted to celebrate with the fans because they felt like the fans had helped them all season long. Most teams would have taken a bow, gone into the champagne shower in the clubhouse, and then gone home or to a bar and party. To these guys the only place to celebrate was Fenway and the only people to celebrate with was us. That was the epitome of why we loved these guys.

Holy Crap! :O

Four years ago we came back from a 2-0 deficit in the first round of the playoffs to beat the Cleveland Indians. So when were down 2-0 against Oakland this year, I don't think anyone, myself including thought it could possibly happen again. The first game was a painful, painful loss. I mean who bunts in that situation?!?!?!? The second one was just heartbreaking because it put us on the brink of elimination. We seemed destined to be swept in Fenway in the third game. The score was 1-1 in extra innings and somehow I always feel in that situation it will always end badly. I had spent the night at a wedding huddled over cell phones to find out the score, which is kinda rude I know, but that's the chance you take when you plan a wedding in October in this neck of the woods. I had finally left and was listening to the game on the radio. The announcers matter-of-factly that Trot has hit a fly ball to center...but then they get more excited as they realize that this ball had a chance to get out of the park. Finally its called a home run, the Red Sox win and I almost drive off the road because I'm so happy. From then on it seemed a done deal, we were gonna win this mo' fo' of a series one way or the other. And then came the Fifth game. A note to pitchers, having "Mr. Lucky" embroidered on your glove has got to be bad karma on so many levels. Fast forward to the bottom of the ninth with 2 outs, bases loaded and the Sox have a one run lead. Derek Lowe has come in the game to close it out. The man who went mental and couldn't close a barn door 2 years ago now has the fate of the playoff resting in his hands...literally. Sitting at home all you could do was pray he didn't make the "Derek Lowe Face". Again this was one of those situations I was convinced would only end badly. There was going to be a two run scoring base hit and the game would be over. I was so tense that whole inning I was convinced a massive MI was inevitable. I swear that 9th inning lasted 3 days. But somehow, Lowe strikes out the last batter to win the game and the series. It was a good day to be a Red Sox fan.

And so concluded the wild, wacky and always entertaining season. So many guys had career years it was obscene. We can only pray that they have even better years next year. Somehow I think these guys will be ok. Some teams would never recover from their loss in the ALCS, but these guys? I think they're gonna be in the mood to kick a little ass!