Can it get any better than this?
The Chicago Cubs and the Boston Red Sox are both in the MLB playoffs.
Could this be the year? Could this be the year the Sox break the curse of the Bambino? Could this be the year the Cubbies finally break the 94-year drought?
What if they face each other in the World Series?
I can see it now. Harry Carey will come back to life and throw a drunken party with Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. (He will insist that Ben invite J-Lo.)
The last time the Cubs and Red Sox faced off in the Series was 1918. Boy, that was a great year. Woodrow Wilson was in office, World War I had come to an end and Babe Ruth and the Boston Red Sox won the Series. It seems just like yesterday, doesn’t it?
And good ole 1908, ah yes. My boy Theodore Roosevelt was in the White House, and the Cubbies took home the series in five games against Ty Cobb and the Detroit Tigers.
I should be pulling against this scenario. I promised the entire sports staff that if the Cubs and Red Sox end up in the Fall Classic, I would take them all out to dinner – ON ME!
But who can pull against that to happen? Unless you happen to be a diehard fan of an opposing team, this is great. It would be the greatest thing for baseball since the 1998 home run chase.
To make things better, the Cubs and the BoSox both have to get past the greatest teams of this generation – the Atlanta Braves for the Cubs and the New York Yankees for the Sox – to win it all.
If the Red Sox beat the Oakland A’s and the Yankees come back and beat the Twins, the Red Sox would have to beat the Yankees in order to break “The Curse.” Could it get any better than that?
Everybody knows about “The Curse.” After The Babe posted two straight 20-win seasons and hit more home runs than anyone had ever seen, the Red Sox did what any sane organization would do (I state with a sarcastic chuckle) – they sold Ruth to the Yankees for $125,000 in 1920, and the curse was set.
And boy was it. Does anyone remember Bill “I let the ball roll through my legs to lose the series” Buckner?
Boston returned to the Series four more times throughout the years but were never able to get over the curse.
The Cubs, on the other hand, reached the World Series six times since their back-to-back championships of 1907 and 1908, but their story is the same.
I’m not a fan of either team. I criticized Sammy Sosa throughout the season, calling him a cheater. And if both teams succeed, it will put a big dent in my pocket book.
But I can’t help but pull for both teams to reach the spotlight in October. It could possibly win back the many fans who have dismissed baseball (for many reasons) over the years. Baseball could once again be more than just a ‘past’time.