Confession: I'm a Red Sox Fan
By Ken Parks, April 6, 2009

I did not realize I was going to be considered one of God’s most despicable and lowly creatures on the face of the earth; a Red Sox fan.

I was 12 years old, and I made the decision based solely upon the team that was closest to where I lived. It was either the New York Yankees or the Boston Red Sox. I had no knowledge of the history of baseball. I knew very little about one of the greatest baseball players of all time, Babe Ruth. When I was told we lived closest to Boston, that’s when I made the choice. I started a life-long love-hate relationship with a hapless team from Bean town..

It was the winter of 1966. And as a neophyte Red Sox fan, I was not aware of their glorious past (sarcasm), especially of their previous season, whereby they lost a league leading 90 games and finished 9th. Once the league standings were discovered, I thought I picked well; the Yankees finished dead last and only 4 percentage points behind my newly chosen baseball team.

I did not have the ability to foresee the future, And, 1967 was an odyssey of sorts. One of my favorites, Tony Conigliaro, was hit by pitch in the face by fastball pitcher Jack Hamilton of the California Angels. Tony’s severe eye injury had New England fans believing another losing season, the tenth in a row. But we became excited about the prospects of our Ted Williams replacement, Carl Yastrzemski. The spark was ignited, and Yaz seemed to have single-handedly carried the team to the pennant, winning the MVP award and the only player since to win the coveted Triple Crown (most RBIs, most homeruns and highest batting average). The Red Sox would take it to game 7 of the World Series, but the Cardinals and Bob Gibson was too much.

In 1967, I learned about the infamous “Curse of the Bambino” and it would come to haunt Red Sox fans for several decades.

There was the World Series of 1967, 1975, and 1986, all of which were lost in the seventh game. There was the Boston Massacre of 1978. The year 1986 was the most convincing that there was a “Curse.” I became a Red Sox closet fan. When baseball fans asked, “Well, Ken, who’s your favorite team?” I would pause, embarrassed to say I was a Red Sox fan, and then tell a white lie, “Oh, I don’t have a favorite team. I just watch a few games here and there.” Remembering the ground ball through the legs of Billy Buckner would bring tears to these aged eyes. I thought for sure, I would never hear the words, “The Boston Red Sox… World Champions.”

The years 1987 through 2003 would find the Sox contending but never make it to the ultimate finale.

In 2004, newly acquired Curt Schilling vowed to bring a World Series title to the team that seemed to be forever attached with “The Curse of the Bambino.” And he did not disappoint. Schilling’s 21-6 pitching record, and his bloody sox heroics brought the Yankees down to their knees, and the rest of the story would seem to be a dream come true. The Red Sox became the only team in baseball history to come back and win after a 3-0 deficit. It was amazing and to do it against our arch rivals, the New York Yankees. The World Series was anti-climatic, and the Red Sox won four straight.

Like most old-timer Red Sox fans, I admitted, “I can now go to my grave in peace… The Boston Red Sox are WORLD CHAMPIONS!”