I’m feeling a little down and out as the 2014 Red Sox season comes to an all-too-early-end this coming weekend. I find myself reminiscing back to Opening Day and the giddiness that comes with new possibilities, green grass, crisp white uniforms, cold beer, Sweet Caroline, the boys of summer, and magical nights inside the hallowed grounds of the one and only Fenway Park.
Opening Days, especially those that involve a ring ceremony, always give me the chills. I can’t get enough of the sound of the crowd, the vivid colors that blend together to paint a portrait like none other, and the goosebumps. I’ve been fortunate to breathe in the awesomeness of Opening Days from the field. To look up and around….to pan the crowd…and see it in almost slow motion. It may come as no surprise that I may possibly be the world’s biggest sap, but Opening Day gets to me in a way that I have trouble putting into words. So, it isn’t supposed to end this way. The years with no post season play feel like a year without Christmas, July 4th, beach days, and grapefruit beer. The horror.
For me, it isn’t just the baseball. The post season is about the camaraderie that is palpable while ordering your morning coffee after a late night win, while coexisting with strangers during mundane errands prior to rushing home for the first pitch, or while cheering on the Sox at a local bar. Never mind the 9 inning marriage of 37,400 fans cheering on the team inside the park! It is impossible to not feel like all of Red Sox Nation are immediate best friends come late September and October….if, that is, we’ve made it. Which, of course, we haven’t.
With no wild card run, American League Divisional Series, American League Championship Series….and, sigh, no World Series….I’m feeling like I’ve just arrived to a luxurious beach vacation and the weather forecast is calling for 7 straight days of torrential rain. And that, my friends, may be an understatement.
Sure, we’ll fill these fall days with plenty of fun…but, something will be missing for sure.
Good Morning Gloucester 