Springtime, Sunshine, Apple Pie and Red Sox Baseball

I grew up on Boston Red Sox baseball --- down south!

Early on in our house, there would be talk of the Red Sox!

Talk of the long dry spell, that one crazy trade, and, of course...

talk of the curse!

I, instinctively, knew to boo/hiss at every mention of the New York Yankees, from a very young age.

The Red Sox were my Dad's team, that made them, "my team"!

I didn't ask why they were "our team", until much later in life!

How did a little boy from a small town in South Carolina become a fan of a team from Boston, Mass?

Turns out - he became a fan of the character of many of the players. He was young, and more than likely, wouldn't have been able to define, "character" -- but he knew it when he saw it!

They were his heroes, for all of the right reasons; the ones he followed, the stats he tracked, the ones he cheered the loudest for.

As a result - he became a fan of the team!

My Dad's all time favorite player was Ted Williams.

• Ted Williams, 'Teddy Baseball', batted .406 in 1941. He retired in 1960 with a batting average of .344. Impressive! But, that wasn't all that impressed my Dad about this man. Ted Williams was at his peak, when he left baseball and went off to war. Twice! He served in both WWII and the Korean War, as a Marine Corp pilot.

Teddy Baseball was continuing to kick butt, but instead of doing it on the four-platted clay diamond... it was in service to his Country!

During the Korean War, Boston Red Sox player, Ted Williams' aircraft was hit and was on fire. His radio wasn't working & so he was unable to receive calls from fellow pilots, alerting him of the fire, frantically attempting to have him abort.

He crash landed at 200 mph; on fire, no landing gear, no brakes (finally aborting) before the entire aircraft went up in flames!

What came next?

It was back to baseball where he would create more smoke and fire, but, this time --- with the crack of his bat.

• Dad also spoke of Bobby Doerr, Johnny Pesky and DiMaggio.... DiMaggio? Yes! There was more than one baseball-playing DiMaggio, and Dad believes that Dom DiMaggio never got the credit due him.

  
  

• Williams, DiMaggio, Doerr, Pesky and many from other teams as well - took time away from the game they so loved, to fight for the Country they loved even more!

  
  

They all Served in WWII and/or in the Korean War.

They were heroes, who also excelled at baseball, and they all made an impression on my Dad, early on in his life.

• Later would come Carl Yastrzemski "Yaz", Carlton Fiske, Fred Lynne, Frank Malzone, Dustin Pedroia, to name a few who grabbed and kept his attention. He loved how they loved to play the game! Fearless... as if the blood of his childhood baseball heroes ran through their veins....

As a teenager, my Dad joined the Air Force. Before shipping off to England, he was stationed in New England for a time.

He was closer to Boston, Mass than he'd ever been before; close enough to take in a few games of his beloved Red Sox.

I mentioned the long dry spell, the crazy trade, the curse?

Well, that all finally ended [broke] in 2004 when the Boston Red Sox won the American League Championship!

It didn’t look good, they were down three games to the New York Yankees [who else?]

But they came back to take it!

They faced the National League Champions, the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series, and the rest is History!

The "Curse of the Bambino", finally died that day, with a lot of help from the big bat of Big Papi, David Ortiz!

My Dad was back in South Carolina at the time (I, in Florida) and we were on the phone a lot during that particular season.

There have been plenty of seasons since, to cheer for - many which have disappointed.

But, that's baseball, right?

Any time our Red Sox wrap up a sweep against the New York Yankees, lead in their division or have a stand-out player... it's worthy of a phone call to talk about it!

We loved to talk about Dustin Pedroia. My personal favorite Red Sox player.

Sadly, injuries ended his season and eventually, his career - much too soon!

He played baseball with a fiery passion, as if his life (and other's) depended on it... as baseball ought to be played!

He exuded baseball!

I miss him being in the game.

What each new season brings, remains to be seen.

If we can manage to keep out the curses, the long dry spells and the politics...

The rivalries?

Nah --- those get to stay!

Let's go Red Sox!

#Americana

#ilovebaseball