Friday, October 27, 2006

"I've Lived To See It Happen!"

At 11:40 PM on October 27, 2004, the waiting finally ended.

I was in a jam-packed Riviera Cafe and Sports Bar in the West Village. When Keith Foulke flipped the ball to Doug Mientkiewicz to get that final out, the bar simply exploded, with people hugging, jumping around, and a few tears were shed as well. For ten minutes, the bar was sheer pandemonium. I remember yelling out moments after the title was won to no one in particular, "I've lived to see it happen!" and "Whenever God wants me, I'm ready to go!!"

We celebrated long into the night (and I didn't get home until after 5 in the morning). I'll never forget the looks on my friends faces as we were drinking into the night. It seemed like none of us could truly believe what we had seen over the past four games. The Red Sox had swept the Cardinals, and were now the champions.

And NO ONE can ever take that away. Never.

It was two years ago today.

In what will become a yearly tradition for me, I will pull out Game 4 of the 2004 World Series from my DVD box set and enjoy that bottom of the ninth in its entirety later tonight.

It hardly seems like two calendar years have gone by since the Red Sox won it all.

When I finish watching, I'll lift a glass to the 2004 World Champions.

Thank you, Red Sox.

5 comments:

Suldog said...

I'll be driving down the street and - for whatever reason - 2004 will pop into my head. I still smile.

BklynSoxFan said...

Oh yes, Suldog, I know that feeling very well. A day hasn't gone by, even in the dead of winter, when those wonderful memories of 2004 hasn't popped into my head...

Michael Leggett said...

The Wonders Of It All!

Even in all that, S'r Sunglasses never took off his shades;

& Yankees Fans ran away, until Jason found his lucky syringes;

& one thing never changes, is that FOX found a way to promote "Fever Pitch" BEFORE ITS' RELEASE;

Boston went crazy;

& so did a Red Sox Outpost in NYC & there are 12 of them between Manhattan & Brooklyn;

The Tears of Joy & The Rememberences flowed as freely as the beer.

Christine E. said...

Right there with you, Suldog...:-)

and then I get ANOTHER smile on my face when I remember that the Yankees have not won a WS since 2000! LOL

Hopefully the Tigers will make this a series....pretty dull right now...

Peter N said...

And the Yankees have spent close to ONE BILLION DOLLARS on players since their last rings. Thanks Georgie!!!!