 |
 MIKE ANDREWS signed AUTOGRAPH mlb BOSTON RED SOX RW54438 $0.95 Time Remaining: 1d 5h 40m |
 Stephen Edwin King Red Sox Signed Official Major League Baseball COA PROOF $1,000.00 Time Remaining: 22d 9h 47m Buy It Now for only: $1,000.00 |
 MARK WAHLBERG signed SPORTS ILLUSTRATED The Fighter Departed RED SOX ENTOURAGE $39.96 Time Remaining: 2d 15h 42m Buy It Now for only: $39.96 |
 Boris Babe Martin SIGNED AL Baseball 1944 53 BROWNS RED SOX JSA H02314 $269.00 Time Remaining: 6d 14h 11m Buy It Now for only: $269.00 |
 1975 AL CHAMPS Red Sox Team 22 SIGNED AL Baseball CARL YASTRZEMSKI JIM RICE $306.00 Time Remaining: 6h 56m Buy It Now for only: $306.00 |
 Roger Doc Cramer SIGNED Scarce Official NL Baseball JSA G49122 RED SOX AS $215.00 Time Remaining: 2d 8h 56m Buy It Now for only: $215.00 |
 NEW Carlton Fisk SIGNED CUSTOM Framed 16X20 RED SOX MM $159.00 Time Remaining: 2d 8h 41m Buy It Now for only: $159.00 |
 New Carl Yastrzemski SIGNED AUTO Custom Framed 16x20 Photo RED SOX $185.00 Time Remaining: 2d 19h 25m Buy It Now for only: $185.00 |
 John Williams Signed Fenway Park 100th anniversary ball Boston Red Sox Star Wars $499.00 Time Remaining: 26d 12h 45m Buy It Now for only: $499.00 |
 Heidi Watney NESN Red Sox Autograph Signed Baseball $24.99 Time Remaining: 18d 15h 43m Buy It Now for only: $24.99 |
 Red Sox World Series 2007 Autographed Wines $200,000.00 Time Remaining: 14d 19h 17m Buy It Now for only: $200,000.00 |
 Boston Red Sox DAVE BOO FERRISS Signed 3x5 AUTOGRAPH $7.99 Time Remaining: 6d 19h 9m Buy It Now for only: $7.99 |
 Coco Crisp Boston Red Sox 8X10 AUTOGRAPH 1 $15.00 Time Remaining: 4d 13h 26m Buy It Now for only: $15.00 |
 Donnie Wahlberg Signed Inscribed PSA DNA Autographed Rawlings Baseball Red Sox $0.99 Time Remaining: 9d 8h 53m |
 JUSTIN MASTERSON RED SOX SIGNED 06 BOWMAN GOLD RC QTY $11.00 Time Remaining: 3d 18h 17m Buy It Now for only: $11.00 |
 Joe Manganiello signed 8x10 photo True Blood COA Red Soxs $79.99 Time Remaining: 14d 8h 10m Buy It Now for only: $79.99 |
 Coco Crisp Red Sox ONE 8X10 AUTOGRAPH $25.00 Time Remaining: 22d 23h 29m Buy It Now for only: $25.00 |
 Coco Crisp Red Sox TWO 8X10 AUTOGRAPH $25.00 Time Remaining: 22d 23h 31m Buy It Now for only: $25.00 |
 BEN AFFLECK SIGNED 2004 WORLD SERIES BASEBALL 1 RED SOX PSA DNA $169.99 Time Remaining: 7d 21h 2m Buy It Now for only: $169.99 |
 RYAN KALISH RED SOX SIGNED RARE PHOTO IP COA $16.99 Time Remaining: 7d 18h 31m Buy It Now for only: $16.99 |
 STEPHEN KING SIGNED AUTO OML BASEBALL RED SOX W PROOF $350.00 Time Remaining: 2d 8h 23m Buy It Now for only: $350.00 |
 Matt Damon Red Sox Signed Framed 16x20 Photo Display JSA $71.99 Time Remaining: 10d 10h 45m Buy It Now for only: $71.99 |
 Luke Wilson Autographed Signed Boston Red Sox Shirt Photo UACC RD COA $79.65 Time Remaining: 1d 5h 25m Buy It Now for only: $79.65 |
 JIMMY FALLON SIGNED LATE NIGHT WITH NBC 8X10 PHOTO COA FEVER PITCH RED SOX $67.99 Time Remaining: 22h 44m Buy It Now for only: $67.99 |
 Matt Damon signed Boston Red Sox FAN of FENWAY Baseball $140.00 Time Remaining: 25d 12h 50m Buy It Now for only: $140.00 |
 TIM ROBBINS hand signed BOSTON RED SOX 8X10 PHOTO COA $60.00 Time Remaining: 15d 20h 43m Buy It Now for only: $60.00 |
What Makes the Red Sox so "Fenway Faithful"
What is it about the Red Sox? Why is it that no matter what happened in the previous season; win, lose, or draw, Red Sox fans are still lining up at the ticket booth in the freezing cold and snow on the first day of sales to buy tickets?
We love them, we hate them, but we are never indifferent to them. Every season begins with a clean slate, a sense of hope for a first place division title, a pennant, or the brass ring--the World Series. Many seasons end in failure. We swear we will never watch again; that we will never allow ourselves to be sucked in for more disappointment, pain, and sorrow. Yet, here we are, excited for Spring training, Pitchers and Catchers, and of course, opening day.
We bring our children to the ball yard at Fenway Park, the way we used to introduce our children to church. It is the Cathedral of baseball. Each of us remembers our first trip to Fenway, just as surely as we remember our first day of school, our high school graduation, our wedding and all the important moments in our lives. It is a sight we never take for granted, walking up the ramp and seeing the park, the green monster scoreboard, the Citgo sign, the Pesky pole, and now the Carlton Fisk pole, the Coca-Cola bottles that were added in the eighties to much consternation, but have since become a new icon of the Fenway faithful. It never grows old, that view of Fenway Park every time you see it unfold before your eyes.
Growing up, I remember the whole family sitting around the black and white, console TV, with our coffee table littered with popcorn, beer and soda cans. The grown-ups alternately standing up shouting and cheering, then screaming, "you bums," while throwing popcorn at the screen. Now, I'm the one yelling and cheering or throwing nerf balls at the digital color widescreen. How many times did we go to the beach, lake, or park, and listen as someone invariably had a transistor radio blaring the game for all to hear.
The Red Sox are as much a part of summer as the beach, flip-flops, t-shirts, and shorts. In fact, you would be hard-pressed to go anywhere in New England and not see many people wearing Red Sox t-shirts or caps. With the possible exception of Connecticut, where they think they're supposed to be Yankees fans.
I have an entire room of my house devoted to Red Sox memorabilia: books, photos, signs, pez dispensers, signed baseballs, bobble heads, a chess set, a checker board, a dart board, yearbooks, programs, rugs, blankets, coasters, even a Curt Schilling Jack-in-the-box; not to mention at least ten t-shirts, five game shirts, two jackets, three sweatshirts, three pairs of shorts, a pair of flip-flops, and a pair of socks, all with the Red Sox Logo on them. Even my cell-phone case, my fanny-pack, and my back pack all have a Red Sox logo on them. I'm quite sure I'm not the only one. I love the Red Sox. I hate the Red Sox. I am forever bound to the Red Sox by my ancestry, and my bloodline as a New Englander. I am a part of Red Sox Nation, a group of people addicted to suffering yet ever hopeful.
So why do we do it? At least two generations of fans died never seeing the Red Sox win a world series, my own parents included, yet they instilled in us a love for this team that simply will not die. Every one of us who witnessed the World Series Victory in 2004, took a moment to think about all those who died never seeing what we saw. I, too, witnessed the 1967 loss, the 1975 loss, the 1978 sudden death playoff loss, the 1986 loss. It is precisely because of the suffering that we love the Red Sox so much. We began the last century with five World Series victories in eighteen years. Then nothing but ‘almost' for the rest of the century. The names Johnny Pesky, Carlton Fisk, Carl Yaztremski, Rico Petrocelli,Jim Lonborg, Luis Tiant, "Oil Can" Boyd, Jim Rice, Jerry Remy, Butch Hobson, to name a few, became the stuff of legends. As anyone who has ever been in a casino and won big on the first try knows, there is a conviction that it can happen again. If, after every ten losses, it is followed by two cherries instead of three, one finds themselves more certain than ever that a victory is just a handle pull away.
Now, I'm waiting for the day that my Grandson is old enough to take to the "Cathedral" and introduce him to the new era of Red Sox history. The era that has seen two World Series victories. Lovable losers no more. His legends will be Schilling, Lowe, Ramirez, Varitek, Ortiz, Millar, Roberts, Foulke, Wakefield, Beckett, Matsuzaka, Youkilis and Pedroia.
If it takes them another 86 years to win a world series, he too will anguish and suffer the heartbreak and disappointment that previous generations of Red Sox fans have suffered. But, I guarantee that he will be standing there, every year, lining up for tickets, just as we have.
About the Author
Michele Keith is a freelance writer. She majored in English and History. She also studied Biology, Chemistry, Biotechnology, and Forensic Science. She has worked a professional Stage Manager and a Pharmacy Technician. She lives in Maine and is currently working on her first book.
Phillies head into interesting series with Red Sox