Replay: World Series

2004 was a big year for my family. We moved to Kansas from Alabama, I started third grade in a new school and my littlest sister Kate was born a couple months after we moved And, the Red Sox finally broke the “Curse of the Bambino” by beating the St. Louis Cardinals in the 98th World Series.

Normally, I could care less about who is playing in the World Series. But in 2004, it was my dad’s team, the St. Louis Cardinals, versus my mom’s team, the Boston Red Sox. For the weeks the teams were playing, my mom and dad would taunt each other and constantly try to get my sisters and I on their sides. After much consideration, I ended up choosing the Red Sox as my team to root for because I wanted them to finally win a World Series. At that time, the Red Sox hadn’t won a single World Series after trading Babe Ruth, nicknamed Bambino, to the New York Yankees.

That year, I started to learn about the various baseball players to keep up with my dad when he was watching the game. Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz (Big Poppy) and Johnny Damon will always be my favorite Red Sox players, even though Ramirez and Damon are now with other teams. And I’ll always consider Albert Pujols one of the best baseball players ever.

It might be obvious that I’m not into the game because of my affinity for the sport. I’m into the game for the evenings spent with family on our two tan couches, laughing at my dad for acting like he could play baseball better than the pros with the amount of yelling he does at his Cardinals. An evening spent watching the World Series is time spent with the family.

Go Sox.