Boston Red Sox

I'm guessing I became a Red Sox fan around 1960-61 when Carl Yaztrzemski joined the team.  Up to that time, the only other Carl I had ever run across was Carl Schultz who owned a little bar/grocery a couple miles east of us.  It was one of those ma & pa places that sold eggs, milk, and bologna.  So, I looked high and low for another Carl, and voila . . . there he was in the form of a tough-as-nails baseball player.

Up to then, I had been a Milwaukee Braves fan and adored Hank Aaron.  I even remembered the hollow feeling I got after watching Wally Post from the Cincinnati Reds beat Hammerin' Hank on a grainy episode of Home Run Derby beamed to our rural home from Channel 13 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.  I was later exonerated for jumping ships when the Braves moved to Atlanta.  I still don't like them anymore.

So, I followed Car & the Bosox through one disappointing season after another.  We came close in '67, making it to the Series against Bob Gibson & the dreaded Cardinals (who had beaten us in '46).  I bent my teacher's arm to let me listen on a transistor radio with an earphone and remember letting out a muffled yelp when Yaz hit a home run.  We lost in 7, but at least Yaz won the Triple Crown.    Back then, games were played during the day coz MLB didn't follow the dictates of the networks.

I started college in '68 and remember watching the awesome Tigers whoop up on the Cardinals.  Denny McLain was 31-8 that year (yes, he had 39 decisions), but he only got one of the wins.  Mickey Lolich won three for the Tigers. To this day, I think of the Cardinals as the Yankees of the National League.

In '75, we pushed the Big Red Machine to 7 games, losing again.  Little did I know that it would be another

So, I watched Yaz play through the '83 season, compiling a .285 batting average over 23 years.  Sure wish I could meet him if I ever get to Fenway Park.  I only wish he could've played on a championship team.  But Yaz helped in the shadows as Boston won three World Series titles in '04, '07 and again in '13, the last time destroying the Cardinals in six games.  It's a very good time to be a Red Sox fan.

By the way, as hard as it sounds to believe, I only saw the Bosox for the first time (other than a few of them during the '65 All-Star Game at Met Stadium) the summer of  '13.  Ryan Dempster started, and they creamed the Twins.  In his usual fashion, David Ortiz lit up the stadium.

So, my next big thing is to see Fenway in person.  With any kind of luck, that'll happen in 2014, and I'll be wearing my Red Sox jacket!  I'll keep you posted.