Being a Red Sox fan isn't just something you do between the months of April and October. It is a year-long, actually, a life-long experience that will make you laugh, cry (tears of joy and sadness), celebrate and kiss strangers in the street.
Your bad hair days will be covered by your Red Sox hat, Sunday afternoons will be spent on Yawkey Way and your favorite meal will be a Fenway Frank. The great city of Boston has an energy that you can literally feel when you are walking the streets. This energy is a passion and a love that the citizens have for their home. They are #BostonStrong, which we have all discovered is basically a synonym for invincible. This passion that reverberates throughout the narrow and windy streets is for all their sports teams. The Bruins fill the Garden every night, the Celtics are the home of basketball legends, and Tom Brady is a god.
But the Red Sox are the heartbeat of this city ,and the heart of it all is Fenway Park. However, being a Red Sox fan hasn't always been easy, and it still isn't sometimes. They can make you love life one day and hate it the next. Here are some examples of what it's like to ride the emotional roller coaster also know as the Boston Red Sox.
Our 86-Year drought.
As much as we try to forget, we never really can. Unless you are around ten years old, the majority of your life as a Red Sox fan was spent in pain, especially for our parents who may have spent an upwards of 40 years waiting for that elusive World Series and suffering the loss of being so close so many times (1986 ... 2003 ...).
2004 was the best year ever.
Ah, 2004, seems like it was just yesterday ... but it was actually 11 years ago (holy sh*t, I'm old). But arguably this was the greatest year of any Red Sox fan's life. The wait was over. Years and years of agony were erased, the Curse of the Bambino was no more. Tears were shed, and celebrations were taken to a new extreme (please refer back to my example of kissing random people in the street earlier in this article, also freaking duckboats). I remember smiling for an entire year nonstop.
When we made history.
We made history, coming back to beat the Yankees after being down 0-3 in the American League Championship Series in 2004. We thought it was over, another disappointment in our journey as Red Sox fans. But that series taught us all to believe when we had every reason to give up. We went from the deep dark depths of depression to top of the world in a matter of four straight wins. Beating the Yankees made it even sweeter. It was one the proudest moments of my life, even though I actually had nothing to do with it. I still get emotional thinking about it.
Missing out on social events because you have a game to watch.
My FOMO is way worse for the Red Sox than it is for anything else. Sorry, friends. Big Papi needs me.
Having to deal with your favorite player leaving.
Do not get emotionally attached to baseball players, because they will leave and you will die. Or they will just become absolute traitors and go to the Yankees. Johnny Freakin' Damon ... Jacoby Freakin' Ellsbury.
God, your Jesus-like good looks disgust me.
Yup, you actually can hate that face.
Going through buying tickets for the season.
The day has finally arrived: regular season tickets go on sale. It's time to have every computer in your house open, get your refresh buttons ready and wait for the clock to strike 10 a.m. This experience is just a small preview for the emotional roller coaster for the season ahead. In a span of 15 minutes, you experience stomach-churning nerves, frustration and sadness when you don't get seats for the Green Monster and pure elation when you finally get through the never-ending waiting room, and you can start looking forward to your day(s) at Fenway.
Still having Pedro separation anxiety.
Personally, Pedro Martinez was my favorite Red Sox player of all time. He is a Boston sports legend, amazing pitcher and athlete and overall perfect human being. Him leaving and going to the Mets was one of the hardest and lowest moments during my ride on the Red Sox Emotional Roller Coaster. However, we can never forget the things Pedro did for the Sox, and I am forever grateful. You better believe I will be at his Hall of Fame induction and that I will name my first born son Pedro, no matter how weird it sounds with my last name.
Yankees fans.
Do I really need to elaborate on this one? A Yankees fan can make you feel a type of anger you cannot even describe. I don't care if you are my spouse, if you are a Yankees fan, I will hate you during baseball season. Oh wait, I'd never marry a Yankees fan. LOL. Hating the Yankees is in our blood, just like hating the Red Sox is in theirs. They constantly bring up the "27 Rings" comeback, but I don't care if you are one of the most decorated dynasties in the history of professional sports, you're tacky, and I hate you. Plus, pinstripes are never a good look.
No Matter What Happens You Will Never Stop Loving The Sox
Being a Red Sox fan is a lifestyle that can take a real emotional toll. But, no matter how many times they make you turn your television off in anger or how many times they lose in a way that only the Red Sox can, you will never stop loving them because there is nothing like a night at Fenway or watching them win the World Series. Even if we don't win it this year, just use the phrase that Red Sox fans have been saying for decades "There's always next year!" We didn't win for 86 years. We can handle anything. Go Sox!