Better Days

Watched Ken Burns' "The Tenth Inning" tonight and when they got to the 2003 ALCS I got a knot in my stomach the size of Pluto. Yeah, I knew the Boone HR was coming but it still doesn't stop hurting no matter how many times I see it.

And when they got to the 2004 ALCS the knot magically reappeared. Even though I knew they won. And I'd swear that every time I see the Roberts steal of second it gets closer and closer.

What always gets me? Is watching Wake, head hanging down, walk off the field after giving up the home run to Boone. And then I remember him standing on the mound in New York one year later, tears coming out of his eyes while Schilling dumps a beer on his head and then I start getting misty eyed. 'Cause out of every guy who played on that '03 team that had a part in shocking the world I've always felt the best for Timmy.

And tonight, while I watched the same footage I've seen hundreds of time over the last 6 years I realized something.

I realized my kids will never know of a time when the Red Sox HADN'T won the World Series. And so far, not once but TWICE in their lifetimes.

I gotta say.

That is one awesome feeling.