Why 2009 is a Special Year

Yesterday on the MLB Channel, they were replaying Game 4 of the 2007 World Series.  I tuned in during the 8^th inning and was very content in watching the final innings.  What made it so much fun was  remembering who I was watching with and things that they were saying as the score changed.   It was a bit emotional to bring back those memories that were still fairly fresh.  And it was even more fun to remember how excited we all were after Papelbon recorded the final strikeout to win the game, and the series. 

Then they showed Manny Ramirez running across the field.  That almost put a damper on my mood – almost.  Not because of how he treated the Red Sox and us fans the following year (although that certainly didn’t help), but because of the news about Ramirez using steroids.  No, you can’t take away our World Series titles.  But it sure would be great to win another one without Manny. 

I’ve found that iIf you start to win too much it’s not as exciting. Let me elaborate: I know I’m not nearly as passionate with the Patriots as I am about the Red Sox, but I know that after the Patriots won their third Super Bowl it wasn’t as exciting for me.  And last year had the Red Sox won the World Series for a second consecutive year, it wouldn’t have been as exciting for me either.  Not to say it wouldn’t have been exciting at all, it just would have been a little less so. 

This year, however, is a different story. 

This year we learned the bad news about Manny.  I haven’t heard from many Yankee fans lately, but I’m sure they’d love to point out that we won both our World Series in the last decade with a player who just got caught using steroids.  While I’d like to believe he wasn’t using them with us, I know it’s a stretch.  To win this year without Manny (and with our beloved Jason Bay) would be an excellent way to show Major League Baseball that we’re the team to beat, with or without Manny. 

This year, we’re fighting for another shot at the pennant after losing it by only a game.  Sure, we had an amazing comeback in Game 5 of the ALCS which certainly lessened the blow.  But it still wasn’t very pleasant to lose an ALCS matchup for the first time since 2003. 

This year is different than last year.  I believe it would be a very special year for us to win the 2009 World Series.  And we certainly have the team to do it.

Keep the Faith.