Zepeleptic Red Sox Fanatic

Since I’m a Led Zeppelin fanatic, and also have a serious life-threatening disease involving obsession of the Boston Red Sox, I’ve decided to tie those two miraculous specimens of life into one article. I’ll tie in a famous Zeppelin song to a specific month in the roller coaster ride of the 2004 Sox. Enjoy…

April: Misty Mountain Hop- A feel good song, almost in a daze at the overflowing early success. This song is about getting high anyway, and I guarantee gloating Red Sox fans were feeling very high after April. You had the sweep in Yankee Stadium, taking care of business in the division, Schilling working his usual magic and Manny hitting near .400.

May: Rock And Roll- The team keeps cruising along, playing with a high tempo, sometimes even too uptight, making plenty of errors in the process. Nomar is still out, but just like this song, it continues at a steady speed right up until the end of the month. Then comes June…

June: Dazed and Confused- Nobody really knew what was going on. Everyone seemed startled and surprised that a team with this lofty payroll could look worse than Homer Simpson’s beer league team out in the field. Nagging injuries to Nomar and Trot slowed us down, and this early hit by Zeppelin perfectly described the state of the Red Sox during the June swoon.

July: How Many More Times- How many more times do Red Sox fans have to take the torture of being second rate to the Yankees? Besides a spark off the bats of Kevin Millar and Bill Mueller in a late-July Yankee series, July has continued to slow the team down. The fans start to wonder if they’ll ever see the Red Sox win a championship…

August: Whole Lotta Love- This famous Zeppelin track just makes you smile, kind of like thinking about the Red Sox in the month of August. They won 13 straight games and 19 of 20 to march up the Wild Card standings and start making believers out of more fans. Everyone was showing the love displayed in this song- with Cabrera joining the team, there were plenty of handshakes to go around.

September- Achilles Last Stand- My favorite Led Zeppelin song. I chose this one because of the Sox last tired effort of catching the Yankees after being down nearly 13 games. They cut it to two with a big win in Yankee Stadium, but never got any closer. The last stand wasn’t enough, and the Sox marched into the playoffs with the Wild Card and tons of momentum.

Wild Card- Going To California- One of the very few songs that I don’t enjoy, but this was an obvious choice as the Sox packed their bags for Anaheim. I sure as hell enjoyed this series, though. After the game is out of reach, Schilling stays out there and ends up tearing a tendon in his right ankle. I remember saying to my dad, “now why the hell would Francona keep him out there up 9-2 in the seventh inning. This is the playoffs, right.” Papi made us all forget about the Schilling injury with a walk-off blast. Bring out the brooms.

ALCS- Stairway To Heaven- A perfect track for a perfect moment. Being down 3-0, throwing my pillow against the wall in disgust, Red Sox Nation on their collective knees, another year gone to waste. Before you know it, Ortiz keeps us alive in a nut-busting Game 4, the game that made Dave Roberts name famous in Boston. Game 5 was another classic, which altered the fans mode from “what a bad season” to “whatever happens, I love this team.” Game 6 had everything, just slowly climbing the stairway to heaven. Schilling’s Willis Reed performance with the bloody sock, A-Rod and his slap, the riot police, Bellhorn busting out of his slump and Foulke pitching the most nervous ninth inning of my lifetime. Game Seven was all money.

World Series- Celebration Day- It all went so fast, didn’t it. Before we gathered our thoughts from the ALCS, the Red Sox had broken the curse and won the World Series. Time to bust out the champagne, party, and most of all, celebrate. That’s it…keep celebrating…no wait, don’t stop.

Season Recap- Thank You- How about giving some congratulatory thanks to everyone involved with the Red Sox. Everyone from Theo down to Mirabelli, from the guys that erected the Ted Williams statue to Joe The Swahili Dude selling programs. Thank you to the guys who made those Red Sox DVD’s. I’ve never had two hours of such dignifying pleasure in my life. Thanks Red Sox, do it again.