Bill Nowlin - From the Babe to the Beards: The Boston Red Sox in the World Series

Much of the content in this book was originally published in The Boston Red Sox World Series Encyclopedia by Bill Nowlin and Jim Prime (Rounder Books, 2008). This book has been updated and dozens more photographs have been added.

Copyright 2014 by Bill Nowlin and Jim Prime

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover design by Owen Corrigan
Cover photo credit: Library of Congress/Bain News Service and Boston Public Library (top) and Associated Press (bottom)

All player profile photographs are supplied by the Boston Public Library, Boston Red Sox, Library of Congress, and Bill Nowlin.

ISBN: 978-1-61321-727-6
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-61321-732-0

Printed in China

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

W e hope that this book rapidly becomes outdated. We would enjoy nothing better than to update it every year.

Were hoping, first of all, that the Red Sox win the World Series again in 2014. And then keep piling up championships like cordwood, though perhaps pausingwith gracious generosityso that Cubs fans might enjoy that taste of victory that weve savored since 2004. And then back to the winning, until we pass 27 and leave the Yankees in the dust.

The Red Sox are trying to be the team of the twenty-first century. Yankees fans can wallow in the glories of the past. In this century, the Red Sox hold a 3-1 edge. Thats not a bad start. Kids born in 2001 are already more than twelve years old. They might not even know what its all about. A curse? 1918?

The older among us, grizzled souls that we are, can remember some of the calamitous defeats of days gone by.

Four times in a row, the Red Sox took World Series to a Game Seven, and lost every time. That builds character, in teams and in fans. The Red Sox have won their last three World Series with relative ease, without one of them requiring a Game Seven. Will todays Sox kids grow up with a feeling of entitlement? Lets hope to Heaven they carry themselves with more humility than Yankees fans from the Olden Days. After all, those who dont learn from the past are condemned to relive it.

Not only did Boston lose every World Series after 1918 through 1986, there were plenty of times the Sox fell just short of reaching the Fall Classicjust one win short in 1948, 1949, 1972, 1978, and 2003. There was a great deal of agony, and very little ecstasy in those finishes. Those who say that anticipation is better than realization are fooling themselves.

It is true that recalling the years the Red Sox made the Series, but ultimately lost out, just doesnt seem as painful anymore. A few short years ago, no one wanted to hear about 1918 ever again. The sarcastic chants1918! 1918!from Yankee fans cut like a knife and the date became a profanity of sorts. The scars have healed now, and there really do exist sentient human beings who cant exactly remember the details of 2003. Grady Little? Who was that?

In this book we are able to offer a deeper context, and look at past disappointments with less angst and more perspective. Suddenly, somehow, its OK to talk about 1918. And why not? After all we won that year too. And even 1986. We can now look back at that year instead of flashing back to it. Sort of. For those of you who lived through it, try reading the 1986 entry without closing the book at Game Six. It can be done. In fact weve done it without the benefit of intoxicants of any kind. It doesnt feel as bad now that we have tasted sweet victory. It made the recent victories all the sweeter, in fact.

We now take nothing for granted and savor every success. Lets just make sure that we wear our victory mantle with dignity, so that the phrase obnoxious Red Sox fan is oxymoronic. Because there are already enough morons around.

Yes, the history of the Red Sox and the World Series is more than a little unusualthe first two Series they played both ran eight games long (not seven), and the first two of the twenty-first century were four-game sweeps. A remnant of humility should be prompted by the realization that the 2013 world championship win was the first one won and celebrated at Fenway Park in ninety-five years. Both 2004 and 2007 were clinched on the road.

There was one Fall Classic that was over before autumn began, played to completion on September 11. In 1915, Babe Ruth himself was given but one brief pinch-hitting appearance in the first game and was never called on again. And in 1916 and 1918, Ruth contributed but as a starting pitcher with a 3-0 record and an earned run average of 0.87. Babe the hitter had but a single hit in the three World Series combined.

There are the visual moments that stick with usFisks home run in Game Six of the 1975 World Series, the ball that got through Buckners legs in Game Six, 1986, Papelbon leaping into the air after the final out in 07. There have been well over 100 World Series played to date, and some dramatic ones, but somehow the ones involving the Red Sox seem to stand outand not just in New England or Red Sox Nation.

Since 86, the Sox have been in the postseason twelve times. The first four times they were swept, or virtually swept, in the first round, for a record of 1-14. In 1999, they made it to the second round but lost there, 1-4. In 2008, they beat the Angels in the first round and then took the LCS into the seventh game, before losing to Tampa Bay.

Four times theyve won at least one series with three consecutive backs-to-the-wall elimination game victoriesin 1999, 2004, 2007, and 2008. That didnt happen in 2013. They were never even down a game in the Division Series, winning it in four games. They were never down a game in the ALCS. And though they were down two games to one to the Cardinals at one point in 2013, they never faced an elimination game.

And things felt different this time around. It used to be that Red Sox fans lived in fear. You knew better than to get your hopes up too high. Watching a game or listening on radio, there was an ominous cloud hanging low overhead: if something could go wrong, it would. It was just a matter of time. An endless waiting for the other cleat to drop. In 2013, there was some of that, especially in the first half or maybe the first three-quarters of the season. As they got to the playoffs, the cloud seemed to lighten and lift. A ray of sunshine appeared. You know, they could actually win this! Anyone over thirty knew not to get too hopeful, but the familiar foreboding that something would go wrong may not have burdened us as badly. Looking ahead to the next game, or the next inning, Sox fans could watch the game unfold without such a heavy history weighing us down.