Do I, as a fan, honestly believe that what I do has any impact on a baseball game being played hours away by grown men who will never know my name? I don’t. But has that stopped me from developing a variety of quirks, habits, and superstitions over the years? It hasn’t.
A Great Article By Jack Keller.
I grew up taking the train from our home in Connecticut with my mom, to NYC, and during those 45 minutes before iPhones and even cd players… we had a thing called the newspaper.. and there were basically only two sections that I would read. 1) The funnies (http://garfieldminusgarfield.net) and 2) the sports section.
I grew up with my mom pointing out what an RBI meant, Hits, Homers, Batting Average. And I would check it DAILY… see who was close to batting .300 and who were below the Mendoza line. I was born in 1989, which means that I had the (un)lucky childhood of seeing the Yankees win perennially, but boy oh boy was rooting for the underdog so much more fun, and stressful. I’m surprised there were not any balding, diehard, 8-year-olds. We had Nomar and his 3 minute bat and glove routine between pitches, Pedro buzzing people by the ear, Jose Offerman, Brian Daubach and a whole other bunch of forgetful names and woeful september collapses. We all knew if we could score a run, pedro would win… but the guys the only pitcher to throw a no-hitter through 9 and still lose the game in extras.
Any who.. point being.. over the years I grew my own superstitions, nothing specific, but I’d get this uncanny feeling that my daily karma would affect their win loss record. Like.. If I were to accidently litter, I would start walking away and then think to myself, “If I don’t go pick that up, the sox will lose” Seriously, baseball made me a better person, if not a weirder person.So I picked up those bottle caps and would hold on to them for hours until I could find a receptacle. I mean I’d be willing to risk having a chewing gum glued pocket than to piss off the baseball gods. This ties in to the superstition of not saying the word ‘no hitter; during a no-hitter. So many times, like clockwork, do I see an announcer, or a friend, look at the score, say.. “oh! he’s throwing a no-no..” and the VERY NEXT PITCH.. base hit.. up the middle… or a bloop.. or w/e.
I know, i know.. there is no way my actions could affect their play. And i know that thousands of baseball… even sports fans get overly attached to something bigger than themselves. But its fascinating.. isnt it?
Like.. the sox were down by like 5 runs one day.. and I was pissed and grumpy.. and i started kicking off my shoes and I took off my right sock and then all of a sudden.. base hit.. sooo.. I sat there motionless.. for like 2 minutes until… another base hit.. followed by another.. and a few runs and half an hour later.. I’m still frozen on the couch with a sock in my hand afraid to move.. did it work? kinda.. but we still lost the game, maybe I twitched or something. Or someone else near Fenway missed the garbage can and ruined it for the rest of us. Ha.
So I’m in Law School now, just my luck, the year I leave Boston after 7 years of being there, they make it to the World Series. So I’m flooded with reading, and there is another sox fan at this small NC school (Elon) and it was Game 6 of the ALCS, the sox were down in the middle innings. So we both decided to leave the library to catch dinner separately and come back to the library and finish studying for our Property midterm the next morning. Oy was I stressing out, I would not have been in a good mood had they forced a game 7, and to study with that nervousness would be.. really tough. So, I try to do anything i could to get the sox bats hot. I did push ups, showered, threw my sox T on, lucky underwear (superman boxers), favorite hat, and went back to the library. As I walk in, I kid you not, that same friend, Chris, had changed his clothes also.. Authentic Sox Jersey, both sporting our beards and we just laughed at each other that we kinda.. just had to do this.
My only remaining question is.. If the sox win the World Series… Do I get to shave? or Do i have to keep it for another full season… heck.. If it meant we’d get a handful of rings in a row… is it worth it? The job interviews. The lack of girlfriends.. I might have to stay in the south and apply to Duck Dynasty to maintain the Red Sox Dynasty.
Quick World Series Predictions: The Birds and the Beards.
Potential Sox MVP: Ellsbury
Key player to watch: Xander Bogaerts
Key Pitching Perfomance: Jake Peavy <Will he control his nerves>
Key Pinch Hitter: Daniel Nava
Sox win in 5.
Jules Toraby 
