How about those Red Sox?

Wow! What a game! What a game! In typical Red Sox fashion they pulled a win out of thin air keeping the ACLS battle alive between Boston and Tampa Bay. Red Sox Nation is known as some of the most loyal fans -- loyal to the end. And frankly one must be because until the end of the last inning you never know what the Sox might do.
The Sox won game one of the ACLS championship against Tampa Bay. However, Tampa Bay came back with a vengeance to win game two at 2 a.m. in the 11th or 12th inning. (I fell asleep around 1:30 and missed the conclusion.) I skipped Tampa's win in game three due to the disappointment and fatigue of game 2. But before turning in for the night, I fell victim to the call and tuned in to game 5 to see if indeed the Sox were saying good-bye to another year of post-season ball. In the 7th inning the score was 0 to 7 - Tampa Bay. I gave a long sigh and agreed with the commentators that perhaps Boston's Swan Song was being sung this evening. As I busied myself in the kitchen cleaning up the last of the evening dishes, Josh called for me to come in to the living room quickly. The Red Sox had gotten one run - so as tradition has it - there would be no shut out at Fenway in the post season. Now there were two men on base and Big Pappy was up to bat. Although, he had not hit well in the last three games, there is always hope. Pappy can hit with the best when he's on! And maybe it was the magic of post-season or the electricity of Red Sox nation screaming their hearts out on home field...or the knowledge that it was do or die -- whatever the motivation, David Ortiz delivered a beautiful, glorious home run in the bottom of the 7th to make the score 4 to 7. And with hope renewed again, the game took off with one of the biggest comebacks I've ever seen. The scoreboard read 0 to 7 in the 7th inning and by the 9th inning, the Sox had clinched victory 8 to 7. Amazing!

Now the story is not over. The boys travel to Tampa today and resume the series with Game 6 on Saturday. It's best out of 7, and the Sox are not out yet. Last night, the Sox were down in this series 1 win and 3 losses, just like in 2004 against the Yankees. Then, they turned a 1 to 3 game losing streak around against the Yankees to win 4 games to 3, so there is always hope. Now, we stand at 2 wins for the Sox, with 2 more to go before reaching the World Series again.

As for us, we're ready to cheer them on. Kate and her special Bear from the West Coast cousins are eagerly awaiting this weekend's face-off. The cousins sent Kate this special Red Sox outfit for her birthday. And in all honesty, I think it's the bear that was the magic touch last night.