October 19, 2004

Stupid, Cruel, Beautiful Hope

I don't know how it's possible but it is - I've been watching the Red Sox and Yankees for 37 of the past 29 hours. You'd think that's mathematically impossible, but that's the case.

Anyway, I started last night at home, still wounded from the Yankees 37-8 win on Saturday (well, it might as well have been; I'm pretty sure Matsui went 11-for-12 with 8 doubles and 18 RBI) thinking the way all true and good Sox fans do -- "Please, kill us now" -- but I got sucked in good as they hung on and tied it in the 9th (I almost called my Dad to see if he was still conscious after Dave Roberts stole a base as part of the rally (I believe the 1st Red Sox steal since 1983)). Then I got sucked WAY in when Big Papi homered to end it.

And tonight...well, nothing in my 30+ years was ever quite like tonight. Yes, that was me sitting 20 rows right behind home plate. HarperCollins, the wonderful publisher of such wonderful books as Russell Banks' new novel, sent my bookstore some tickets. And you should totally read Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver trilogy, too.

So there I am, daring to hope that the Sox can smack New York again and send the series back to the Bronx. And damned if they didn't. Well, if you read "smacked" as "put everyone through 6 hours of nailbiting horrifying tension and then finally won it on a David Ortiz single just when we were all about ready to collapse". For Sox fans, they're one and the same. God, I love beating the Yankees.

So we bought another 24 hours of cruel, beautiful hope. And now I'm hoping other things too. I hope Kerry wins 39 states and Bush slinks back to Texas forever. I hope my year-long emotional funk may be picking up. I hope the Pacific is as beautiful as it is in my dreams. I hope.

Comments

What you missed by being there in person was the crowd shots all through the game. I have never in my life seen so many people with their faces literally covered with clothing or hands, or their eyes closed. Lots of people with hands clasped in prayer. It was painful to watch the crowd, never mind the game.

Posted by: Jody at October 19, 2004 10:06 AM

I may very well have been one of those people.

Posted by: michael at October 19, 2004 10:54 AM

I think I chewed all my fingers off, which means I'm typing with my toes.

Posted by: V-bunny at October 19, 2004 03:06 PM

Can't wait to see the photos you took. Are you going to post them to your flickr account soon? :)

Posted by: Sooz at October 19, 2004 05:27 PM

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