Reversing curses and putting ghosts to rest!

For full effect the Boston Red Sox may have wished to tempt the fates and let this years World Series go the full seven games, a feat which would have brought the last night of baseball to Halloween, a most appropriate night for the reverse of a curse or the release of a ghost.

But alas, even the bravest Red Sox heart surely would not want to risk the unmentionable, so in almost workmanlike fashion the Red Sox accomplished in four games what countless past players, managers, owners and fans have long dreamed of, a World Series championship and the long, long anticipated end of the “curse”.

In a rather boring four games the Red Sox managed to send the St. Louis Cardinals packing despite some unusual statistics that would surely spell doom to any other team trying to win a championship. In the first two games of the series the Sox, committed four errors per game, surely the first time a team has fumbled the play eight times in eighteen innings and still walked away with a victory. When they weren’t stumbling on the field they were stranding them on the base paths, countless times Red Sox runners would be left on one, two or even all three bags, as Cardinal pitchers managed to wriggle out of trouble. Any other team might find that situation a sure fire recipe for disaster, but whatever Baseball Gods were smiling this year gazed down and let the miscues slide. Never once did the Red Sox trail the Cards, never did St. Louis ever look to be on the verge of coming back. A sweep quick and simple, bringing with it the end of the longest period of hand wringing in sports history.

St. Louis came out flat and while deserving of a kinder fate in the first game, in the end they were no match for Destiny’s Children this year. St. Louis couldn’t compare on the mound which is where this series was won and lost. Schilling, Foulke, Matrinez, Lowe, they all performed well and provided the Sox with the kind of pitching they needed to put away the Cards early.

Johnny Damon broke out of a slump as the Yankee series was ending and carried his offence over to the Cards; David Ortiz made the exclamation points when they needed to be made. Over all the Sox, hit well, pitched well and despite the fielding miscues, managed to make the outs when they were needed most.

After the thrilling comeback of the Yankee series, with the drama of a game seven showdown in the house of Ruth, there was really no drama left to mine from the Sox and the Cards. It was pedestrian baseball (and not only due to the amount of walks), devoid of rivalry, rebellion or seemingly relevance. The Cards but mere stand ins for the team surely had to lose, for history to be complete!

But Red Sox fans won’t remember the details only the sweet result of a universe finally exorcising itself from the ghost of 1918. For Yaz and Clemens, Fisk and the Spaceman, Doerr and Smith, anyone really who toiled in the Red Sox Colours, closure came on Wednesday night. One can only imagine the relief, maybe even joy of Bill Buckner, never again to be reminded of that rolling ball travelling through his legs, down the first base line and forever rolling until now. Bill Buckner can rest easy, the weight lifting on that moment, as much as the spirit of the Babe has finally released its grip on 1918. From three outs away from elimination to World Series champions, an ending for the truly faithful!

Superstitions come and go in baseball, and this legend has carried more distance than a David Ortiz blast to right field. But for Red Sox fans a night that featured an eclipse of the moon bathed in what else but red, would be more than enough of a sign to reverse a curse and bust a Ghost.

The parade starts on Saturday in Boston, they may be finished with the partying by then, but then again perhaps they’ll just carry on through Friday night and onto Sunday. Trick or Treat night in Boston, is all Treat this year, its all Treat!