It’s
game 3 in the 2004 American League Championship Series, Boston Red Sox Vs. The
New York Yankees. The Sox are down 8 to 17, and no hope of winning. My family
is feeling down and can barely watch the pitiful game, we are angry at the team
and we are dreading to hear all the boasting from the Yankee fans the next day. My mother, who is not a baseball fan by any
means, is also watching the game with us when she notices that the whole team puts
their hat backwards, this was a superstitious ritual the team did during the
game. She asks us why the players did this. My father then goes on to explain
that the team hadn’t won a world series in 86 years, since 1918, even though
they were the most successful baseball franchise in the early years. He also
explained that they stopped winning when Babe Ruth, who was also called The Bambino, was traded to the New York
Yankees in 1920. Since then they claimed they were cursed by the trade and
called it The Curse of the Bambino.
Just
the previous year, 2003, the Red Sox found themselves in a similar situation. They once more played the Yankees in the American
League Championship Series. Boston held a 5-2 lead in
Game 7 on the 8th inning, just 5 outs from winning the game, when the
Yankees tie the game and eventually score the tie breaking home run in the 11th
Inning and the Red Sox didn’t proceed to the World Series.
My mother saw the desperate and sad faces of the players and thought “If only one player or one of their family members believed in
Jesus and his power, the "curse" would be broken and they would win!” This thought lay heavy on her heart as
we saw the Red Sox lose game 3. The Yankees were just one game away from
entering the World Series.
On
Sunday, the next day, while my family is getting ready to attend our 5:00pm
service the Red Sox are also getting ready to play game 4 at 8:00pm and all bets are on the
Yankees sweeping the series, especially after winning 19 to 8 the previous
day! My mother hasn't told a soul about her
thought the previous night. As people arrive to church she sees an eerie
familiar face in the crowed. A small boy, about 6 years old, is sitting in the
front seat with his mother, which we will call Anna, and his younger brother. When
my mother gets introduced to Anna, she tells her that the young boy’s father plays
for the Red Sox, and was a very key player. This was obvious since the boy was his spitting image. My mothers heart leaped of shock and excitement! Here it was! The connection God
had revealed to her during the game!
After
the service, around 7:30pm, my mother pulled the Anna to the side and
tells her about the thought God had placed on her heart. When Anna heard she believed
in Gods power and took my mother's word as fruition and that night they prayed
that God would listen to their prayers and that this would be a time of miracles and for
God to glorify himself. That night the Red Sox won their first game in the
series! The Red Sox tied the game in the bottom of the 9th, then
Ortiz scored a home-run with a player on base in the bottom of the 12th and they won 6 to 4.
Every
game after that, the Red Sox had amazing comebacks. Scoring right on time and
winning the game. Each win was celebrated by the father of the boy jumping up
and down out of the dugout pointing to heaven! He knew we were praying, we were
fasting and God was giving them the victory! No other team in the history of
the league had ever, EVER come back from a 0-3 trail to win the series and
the championship. That year the Red Sox went on to sweep the World Series and
finally break the Curse of the Bambino!
There
are theories of how the curse was broken. Some say it had to do with Curt
Schillings bloody socks when he pitched in game 6 of the series and threw it
away in the Yankee stadium. Others say it had to do with a foul ball that hit a
young boy, who lived in the farm that was owned by the Bambino, in the face and knocking
out his two front teeth that broke the curse. However, all I know is that the Red Sox
were trailing 0-3 games and were one game away from being disqualified when my
mom and Anna started praying. If you thought that the 2004 Boston Red Sox World Series win was a miracle, well...you were right.
