Now, having said that, you must also understand that loving the Yankees comes with a deep, dark, unending HATRED of the Boston Red Sox and anything associated with them. When I got married, in 1998, I found it quite amusing that my wife's mother's side of the family were all from Massachusetts. I considered it a "gift", from the Baseball Gods, that I was placed in the position of being welcomed into a family of Red Sox fans in the heart of the latest Yankees' dynasty. After all, what were 1998, 1999 and 2000 for, if not spending World Series winning years in Massachusetts for holidays and such? Even 2003, in which we lost the World Series to the Marlins, was wonderful fun as I made sure to replay the Aaron Boone HR over and over and over for them.
2004 was when they began to exact a bit of payback. It was disastrous, embarrassing, disgraceful, and more, to watch my beloved Yankees throw away a 3-0 lead in the ALCS and then have Boston sweep away the Cardinals. But, I prepared a pre-emptive strike. I congratulated them and admitted how badly the Yankees choked before they had a chance to rub it in. They thought I was just being polite, but how much fun is gloating when the other person first admits their team blew it? There IS a method to my madness.
2007 was another year in which the Red Sox somehow managed to play a National League patsy and win a Championship. I, again, made the pre-emptive strike and offered congratulations to Red Sox Nation, before they could get to me. In 2009, however, the Earth returned to it's axis, the Baseball World returned to normal and our home celebrated its first Yankees' World Championship since both my sons were born. As Frank once sang: "...I'm top of the list...King of the hill...A #1..." AHHHHHH, it was nice to be back where we belonged. Even 2010 was ok, the Yankees fell two games short of the World Series, but the Sox failed to even make the playoffs. It was then, apparently, The Baseball Gods decided to have a little fun at our expense.
This spring Ryan (my ten year old) and I were assigned to his Minor League team, named... you guessed it...THE RED SOX...Ugh...I could think of nothing worse than us having to go out and wear Red Sox gear and actually root FOR Red Sox wins. How could this happen? What had we done to deserve this? I thought the U.S. Constitution forbade cruel and unusual punishment. Ryan asked if we could have a jersey and hat burning party after the season was over. AFTER? I didn't even want to begin a season this way. My family and friends, however, thought it fantastically ironic and my voice and e-mail boxes were flooded with jokes, laughter and hysterical comments. There was no denying, this was going to be a long season.
We blew through the regular season, compiling a 9-1 record and winning the "President's Trophy" for best record. However, Ryan was seriously injured during a game for our town travel team when a pitched ball hit him squarely in the instep of the right foot. He hobbled down to first, then limped into second before being pulled from the game. He went home and riced (rested/iced/compressed/elevated) and tried to play for the Red Sox the next day. He played two innings, had one AB and barely made it to first on a single, when he asked me to take him out of the game and take him to the hospital. Long story short: he had a stress fracture and was on crutches for three weeks and in a cast for two. After having the cast removed, the poor kid had developed Planters Faciitis and his season was officially over. He did go to every remaining game, on crutches, in his cast and in full uniform, cheering his team on, running the scorebook and, when he got out of the cast, warmed up the outfielders and helped run the dugout. He made the best of a bad situation and I will always be EXTREMELY proud of him.
That being said, our Red Sox made the playoffs as the #1 seed, in a double elimination tournament. We beat the Twins, the Royals and the Giants to arrive in the Championship Game with no losses. That meant that we had to be beaten twice, which hadn't happened all season, to lose the championship. Well, we met the Giants for the championship and they played a great game, coming back with 4 runs in the last inning to beat us 5-3, setting up a "winner take all, loser go home" final game. Needless to say, it was NOT a fun weekend around the two of us.
The day of the deciding game, our team came ready to play and had a focus I have never seen from ten year olds. I had one player tell me we were going to score 6 in the first two innings and then bury the Giants in the second half of the game. Well, they scored three in the first, two in the second, one in the third and six in the fourth en route to a 12-0 victory. THE RED SOX WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP AND RYAN AND I WERE RIDICULOUSLY EXCITED...Wait, did I just say that? How the hell did THAT happen? Now we had to "suffer" the ultimate indignity: tried and true, through and through, Yankees' fans winning a Championship in Red Sox gear...
You know what? The Baseball Gods obviously have a warped sense of humor, but I would NEVER trade this for anything. I have been waiting since the day Ryan was born to have him play on a championship baseball team and for me to be coaching that same team. It's something every baseball loving dad wants for his son and him. So, I am very happy to tell everyone that Ryan and I are:
2011 RAMSEY MINOR LEAGUE CHAMPION RED SOX....
It's a feeling I never want to end and that I want over and over for us and I'm pretty sure he'll agree. I don't think we'll be having that jersey/hat burning party after all and we now want to make sure that his little brother, Brendan, gets his day in the sun...Soon.
I just have one thing to ask of The Baseball Gods:
PLEASE DON'T PUT HIM ON THE METS...I DO NOT WANT TO GO THROUGH THIS AGAIN....
