Witness a Red Sox fan, satisfied after a late-inning win from his favorite team, tuning in to listen to the Yankees and Rangers.
He sits in his couch, happy, he thinks, that the hated Yankees are losing badly to the usually inept Rangers. Little does he know, he is about to embark on a trek around the bases of… the Twilight Zone.
Because the Yankees begin to rally, and this Red Sox fan thinks, "If they pull out the win, the Sox will be 2.5 games up in the Wild Card." The thoughts of such a lead begin to grow, as each improbable Yankee hit brings the score closer.
The fan finds himself more and more drawn into rooting for players he has heretofore detested, with names like Matsui, Cano and Swisher. The Yankees draw closer. 10-7, 10-8, now 10-9. Still only one out. Tying run on second. Winning run on first.
Is this really happening? Has this Red Sox fan fleetingly, for these few minutes late at night, in the solitude of his own living room, where no one will ever know, become a Yankee fan? John Sterling's voice quavers louder. The fan moves to the edge of his seat. Could he cheer a Yankee hit? Is it possible?
Line drive double play. Game over. Rangers win. I guess we'll never know.
9 replies on “Rod Serling, John Sterling. That’s Not a Coincidence.”
I may be in the minority, but I am still holding out for a division win… After all on this date in 1978, the Boston Red Sox held a larger lead then the Yankees currently enjoy… so anything is possible.
Because this is the only thread today …
Globe reporting that one of the players going back to the Mets is Chris Carter. So now we have Billy Wagner for Bronson Arroyo.
TJ, the one thing that washes out your parallelism is that Don Zimmer isn’t managing this Yankees team. The main reason the ’78 Sox fell apart is because Zimmer played his regulars every inning, every game. And then he went to work for the Yankees.
If the Sox lose a spot in the playoffs by the webbing of Elvis Andrus’ glove, so be it. That would suck.
But remember that every minute of Yankee fan pain is a gift, no matter what the months-down-the-road collateral damage from that pain might be.
I’m still holding out for a scenario where the Rangers win the AL West and the Sox win the AL East/Wildcard. So I’m rooting for both the Sox and Rangers, and against the Yankees/Angels.
I’m with TJ… The Yanx have got to start reverting to the mean at some point. So I’m rooting for the Rangers to knock a couple of games off the Yankee lead, giving the Sox a chance to even things up in the final rivalry series of the regular season. Plus I’d much rather see the Bombers have to struggle with the Angels in the 1st round, though Boston does seem to have the Halos’ number in the postseason.
i hate to think that the only solace i may take in the 2009 season is cc getting lit up twice in the ALDS. it takes me back to being a pre-2004 sox fan where i took more joy in yankee dismay than anything my own team does.
I’ll leave all the hoping and wishing to you guys…hope the Yankees play the Angels, hope the Angels lose the west, etc…I’m just grateful the Yankees are playing well YTD. You guys have a few titles in the bank, it’s been 9 years for us. Just make the playoffs and go from there.
Any chance of a Sox gamer? It may need multiple people to keep track of all the passed balls tonight.