The classic move would be for the Sox to come back, win three games in a row, then lose the climactic 7th game. But this isn’t a classic Red Sox team. The old Red Sox would have blown Game 4 or Game 5, and they definitely would have choked in Game 6. With the old Red Sox, Bellhorn’s homer gets ruled a double, A-Rod definitely gets called safe at first base, and Miguel Cairo clears the bases for the game-winner in the ninth.
Here’s the point: Those things haven’t been happening. Sometimes you pass a point where history becomes a factor — like with the Patriots three years ago, when the diehards kept waiting for the Other Shoe to drop, and we were waiting and waiting, and suddenly Vinatieri’s final kick split the uprights, the most liberating feeling you can imagine. That’s the thing about baggage as a sports fan — you can shed this stuff. You just need a few breaks. This Boston team is getting them.
I’m still thinking that the odds are in the Yankees favor… no way the Sox can pull off 4 straight against the Yanks, including 2 at the Bronx.
That’s why they play the games, I guess. 
One other note from the Simmons column, regarding ARod:
6. The Buckner-Armbrister flashback play in Game 6 clearly exposed A-Rod as a liar and cheater of the highest order — the kind who would turn over an “R” in Scrabble and pretend it’s a blank letter. Warrants mentioning.
Yup, I agree… how can you sit there for 10 minutes arguing something you know is untrue… that’s not competitive fire, that’s cheating. AFraud! love it!
October 21st, 2004 at 11:20 AM
Simmons is right. The umps making the right call with the A-Rod play was the turning point. When the play happened, I thought that it was the Beginning of the End for the Sox, but when it was overturned, there was a sense that the curse-or-whatever wouldn’t impact the Sox this year like it has in the past.