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The Series that never was
By Ben Birnell
Published:
Monday, October 20, 2003
Being both a Cubs fan and a Red Sox fan is probably pretty crazy, right?
I mean, hey, if you wanna die early in life, be a Cubs or Sox fan. I think I'm on that track. I mean, which two teams in Major League Baseball are responsible for the most heartache in its storied history? That's right, say it with me boys and girls, "the Cubs and BoSox."
For the better part of 19 years, I've been a fan of both teams; I've celebrated their triumphs, agonized with their defeats and come to hate "the jinx" (oh yeah, there's a jinx,folks). After this postseason, I'm beginning to wonder if I should start the search of a new favorite team. No folks, this is not the entry of a fair-weather fan, this, my friends, is the testimony of a kid who's losing his mind because his two favorite teams can't win a championship.
To get the full idea of how much of a fan I am of these two teams, you have to realize how much I've followed these teams since birth. I have pictures in Cubs outfits. Ever sense I was old enough to know what was going on, I've watched the Cubs on WGN TV with my dad. It became a ritual. I am no fair-weather fan of those boys. The Red Sox, forget it. I have about eight different Red Sox hats because I kept outgrowing them. I have the jersey (which now is unfortunately too small). The Sox come to the Metrodome, guess who's there? Me, with a bright fluorescent sign pleading for Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra to hit me a home run. Yeah, I'm a borderline Red Sox groupie. Ask anyone, I'm probably one of the biggest fans of the Sox anywhere. Seriously, I bleed BoSox red and Cubbie blue. Then came this season. Theo Epstein, the prodigy himself, got a roster and bullpen worth drooling over. The Cubs kidnapped Dusty Baker from the Giants and got a pitching duo that you couldn't duplicate.
I can guarantee you this is the most postseason baseball I've EVER watched. The Cubs and Red Sox both on their way to World Series? Someone call the Devil and make sure his home isn't freezing over. Had Babe Ruth finally given up on the jinx? Believe it folks, they were on the way. Then came those pesky fish (the Marlins) and George Stienbrenner and his cast of sellouts (yes, the Yankees). You could feel the collective air coming out every fan of these two teams in the world. From the point that I realized these two teams had a chance, I was on the edge of my seat almost every night, hoping and praying. If either team lost, it took me forever to fall asleep that night.
Then came those pesky game sixes and sevens. It drove me nuts. I would just like to state here and now I HATE the Yankees. Jeremy Giambi is a SELLOUT and Derek Jeter is nothing compared to Nomar Garciaparra, bad wrist and all.
I personally thought this was the year. Yes, like every other Sox fan out there. It's ALWAYS their year. This time they were just a little bit closer.
What about game seven you ask? Nobody's fault. Not Grady Little's. Not Pedro's. Someone had to lose and it just happened to be the Cubs. Unfortunately in dramatic fashion. Was I happy about it? Heck no. I was mad. To the point that while I'm writing this, it still doesn't sit well with me. It took my dad two days to call me afterward, strictly because he knew I wasn't going to be too happy to talk about it.
The Cubs however, on paper had their series with the Marlins won from the beginning. Better pitching, better coaching and just a better roster all around. Fast forward to game six. Now the Cubs had a chance to close the series out in game five with a 3-1 lead. Instead, they blew that game (serving up the curse anyone?). That eighth inning, I still shake my head about. With one out, a foul ball down the third base line is now infamous like little Jeffery Maier at Yankee Stadium in '96. It was not Steve Bartman's (the fan) fault for trying to catch that ball. That's a natural reaction, folks. What helped lose that game was Alex Gonzales and the routine grounder to short. Yup, he bobbled it and led to the breakdown that has let the Yanks play the Marlins.
This postseason was probably the greatest since I've been alive. Because a team other than the Yankees, a team that truly deserved to be there, almost made it. For a few days in October, two teams gave me a reason to smile and reason to come to the point of tears. Never have I had such an empty feeling in my life, but at the same just a happy feeling. It's odd, you don't have to play the game to feel the same way Pedro Martinez looked after that 11th inning homer. Like I said, I'm no fair-weather fan here. Because neither team is in the World Series, I will refuse to watch anything related to the Series this year. The Yankees and the Marlins don't deserve it.
Oh well, there's always next year.
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