After Wednesday night’s dramatics, we received an overwhelming number of e-mails and comments from members of Red Sox Nation scattered all across the country and around the globe. Rather than keep them buried in the commnets box, we wanted to bring ’em to the forefront. So here they are, verbatim, in all their glory. Thanks to everyone who dropped us a line. You’ve made us even prouder to be a part of the Nation.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

I love this site…….I love this team…….and I love this feeling. My 84 year old grandfather went outside tonight when they got the last out and rang the bell in his backyard… that says it all for me

— Aaron

Can’t breathe. World Series.

— Jennifer

The Red Sox won the WORLD SERIES!!!…. I was on the phone with my dad during the final out. He woke me and my brother up in 1986 to watch the final outs, and although there was an 18 year delay, I’m glad I finally got to share it with him. Thank you for your blog Red. You’ve made this year that much more enjoyable. THE RED SOX WON THE WORLD SERIES.

— Geoff in OC

Oh, and now I’m saying it: WE SURVIVED GRADY!

— Steve Brady

This IS Bliss.

— Coco

Hell yes. HELL YES.

— mandy

For my grandfather who died six years ago and never saw the Red Sox win a world series but sat faithfully to watch every game in his favorite chair drinking Miller High Life in his parlor in Lowell, Ma. We did it.

— Steve

I love it. I love everything and everyone.

— Amy

I can’t believe it. The Red Sox. Just won. The World Series.

— Runan61

called my 90 year old grandfather…felt good for us ALL!!!

— Sean McAteer

I am flying up tomorrow for the parade on Friday. I can’t beleive this is happening. I am spent but so happy right now. This is the best day of my life.

— Matthew

where i was: sitting in the front window of my house in san francisco, watching the eclipse and listening to the incomparable jon miller call the game on the radio, 1050 AM. when the final out went down, my boyfriend and i high-fived each other and jumped around the living room. i heard some hoots and hollers from down the street, where a few bars are. i knew there were some outposts of RSN here. congrats to you all, i know this is better than christmas AND your birthday.

— tasha

WE F—–G WON THE WORLD SERIES!

WE BECAME THE FIRST TEAM IN WORLD SERIES HISTORY TO NEVER TRAIL – NOT EVEN FOR ONE INNING!

I LOVE TODAY!

— Annette

When the Red Sox won the World Series (sounds nice doesn’t it?)…

When the Red Sox won the World Series I was in my little flat in Beijing, China, watching a Japanese broadcast, talking on the phone to my husband in Illinois AND my parents in Massachusetts. A truly international experience.

And then I screamed out my window that the Red Sox were world series champs and got a lot of strange looks from the locals…

— Heather

Austin, TX here. I watched the game with a bunch of friends then called my bro back in Beantown.

All I can say is Go Sox!!!!!!!!! Do you know how freaking enjoyable every game will be next year? When the “Defending World Champion Red Sox” take the field? And they show video of Curt’s Sock instead of Buckner? And Papi’s shot instead of Dent’s? And we start yelling “YEAR TWO THOU-SAND” at every Yankees game? And we’ll have Theo running the ship — whose reaction upon winning this was, “Let’s win another!” I freaking love this team!

Hoping to find a cheap priceline ticket to fly up for the parade!!! See you there!!!

— flip

survivor of ’67, ’75. ’78 , ’86, ’03… how sweet it is!

— DG

Bay State Road was a war zone. I had to hide out in the AEPi MIT Frat on the corner of Sherborn and BSR. I watched the game from 48 Buswell in South Campus of BU. Been a Sox fan since I was six years old. Greatest night of my life.

— Stev

SOX WIN!

— Colin

Hi Red. Like I said before, I’ve been reading this blog for months. I love this team. I love Red Sox Nation. I love you. All the way out here in Seattle. SOX WIN! Love you.

— bumpkin

I went and sat in my friends lucky chair. I watched Pats beat Oakland, 2 super bowl victories, game 6 and 7 against the Yankees and the clincher tonight. A Boston team has never lost when I sat in that chair. I’ve lived in LA since 1984 but my heart has always bled for Boston Sports team. This Victory is the sweetest and we’ll probably never see anything like it in our lives. Thanks for your site. I enjoy your writing. The piece on Curts Balls was the best. WE”RE WORLD CHAMPS! God Bless. Peter Barker, Los Angeles

— Peter Barker

Sox b!tch slap the Yankees and win the World F%$#@%&G Series all in one year!!

this is bliss.

From a West Roxbury native who pretended to be Yaz in the school yard it means alot.

Thanks for your great site and Congrats to All

— Bob

If you all were here right now, I’d give you giant hugs even though I don’t know you guys, because that is what Boston was like all night tonight. Share the love, baby.

This is the greatest. I love everything.

— Paul

I can’t believe this is happening. So this is what it feels like to win…

HOLY CRAP WE WON THE WORLD SERIES!!!

If I could sleep right now, I bet it would be my best night’s sleep since exactly 18 years ago.

— Caitriona

i’ve been reading this blog for awhile-all i can say is that i’m only 18,but have been a sox fan for my whole young life. i am so happy right now and i can’t believe how this must feel for some people who have been waiting for this night their whole lives. nevermind kerry and bush, THEO FOR PREZ ’04!!!!! thank you red sox for such an amazing season with the most amazing postseason run i have ever seen…thank you members of RSN for always “keeping the faith” and never giving up. hell, i could get used to this “world champ boston red sox” stuff. goodnite to RSN as i am delirious with happiness but tired as all hell. GO SOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

— Greg Richardson

Washingtom, DC, sitting next to Red’s boss – She forgives you for all the work you haven’t done!!!

— Joe B

At work, in upstate NY. But watched every out. I think I jumped up and down and screamed (but it was okay, everyone know I was gonna)

I think I can forgive Buckner. I think I can watch replays of Dent and Boone. Even Clemens doesn’t bother me tonight.

For me, my dad (a Yankees fan who let me go my own way and even let me eat chicken every day before little league just like Wade Boggs did), my mom (late to the party, but took me to Boston many times in the 80s and 90s) and my best friend who called me after the third out crying tears of joy… this is the best EVER.

We’ll all wake up tomorrow and it won’t be a dream, but I don’t want to go to sleep…

— TK

Perfect

Great season, great night. Thank you Theo – you said it right. Let’s do this again next year.

Thanks to you guys for a GREAT job all year long.

— Damien

Watched the Sox win from Harvard Sq in Cambridge and been crying and laughing and clapping and yelling since then. People were driving down Mass Ave. honking and slowing down to high five people like me out in the street! And calling friends and relatives who have endured with me.

I’m still dumbstruck that this happened. How could they win, without even a hint of concern for superstition or whatever? A SWEEP!

My God! Thank you Sox, thank you RSN, thank you Surviving Grady! For, without you all, I’m sure I would not have survived, would not have made it through the season or the MFY, would surely never have had as much fun as I did, without this site and all of your amazing enthusiasm! Thank you!!!!!!

— Sam

Washington, DC. the Rhino Bar. Best Red Sox bar in DC. 500 people crammed into a little space. Dancing. Screaming. Yelling. Cheering. Miracles do happen! What an amazing season. What an amazing three post season series. So many coincidences. The Sun, moon and stars all agreed that October 27, 2004 the Red Sox would win the World Series!

THE RED SOX WON THE WORLD SERIES!!! THE RED SOX WON THE WORLD SERIES!!!

May 28+ statues be erected around Fenway park of the best baseball team and managers to ever grace the sport.

— Joseph

Let’s do it again!

— Joe

this new identity fits quite nicely, thanks.

if anything, i love the red sox MORE.

— beth

I’ve read the blog most of the year, but I haven’t said a word. But since you asked so nicely…

Watched the game out here in western MA with a few friends. Pretty much collapsed in tears when it was over. I still can’t believe it.

It’s been a great year. Thanks for writing. Let’s do it again next year.

— John

I cannot even begin to describe my state of mind right now, unless ‘spattered all over the floor’ is a valid state of mind.

Blog entry explains all. No more thinky-think for the BFIM tonight. Today. This early morning. Brain-bits go away when peanut man throw ball at happy cute first base standing man. Sleep now, dreams of cylinders made from lots of little flags. Yes.

— Boston Fan in Michigan

This might be better than sex.

— Lone Boston fan in Yankee Land

The Boston Red Sox are 2004 World Series Champions! That sure sounds nice!

The best thing I’ve heard about it is that when they have the home opener at Fenway next April 11th to raise the banner at Fenway Park the Yankee’s will be there to watch it!

— Bill P

Red Sox fan in Pennsylvania! Grew up a Sox fan and have waited for this for 25 years! Have family roots in Mass and thanks Dad!! We did! We believed! We still Believe!

Keep your Sox on!

— Kyle

Awesome!! What can you say!

All around New England (like here in Orono, ME) we are partying like 1918(although I doubt they partied like this then)!!!!!!!

— Jake

sox fan in central ma.

they made it look easy.

— tones

Wow– an electronic high-five to every other elated soul in Red Sox Nation. Derek Lowe is Da Man. The odd man out in the postseason roster, and he wins the clincher in the ALDS, ALCS, and World Series. Like John Smoltz, the guy was written off as a psychological liability, a nervous wreck in the big time, yet he’s the one who rescues us from disaster in Game of the ALCS, sends the Yankees home early in Game 7, and clinches it in the WS. And Foulkie baby– the guy has icewater in his veins. In Game 1 against the Cardinals, if he doesn’t overcome Manny’s errors to blank the Cards like that– when they’d loaded the bases with one out in the top of the eighth– this whole series, and history, takes a markedly different course. And Schilling. And Pedro. And Manny and David and of course, Varitek and Mueller and Bellhorn. Can’t stop naming the contributors– this is a true championship team.

Also a hats off to Galen Carr, Dave Jauss and Jerry DiPoto on the Sox scouting staff. These guys are unsung heroes, and as Dave Gammons over at ESPN noted (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/gammons/story?id=1910209), these were the guys who put together the master strategy against the Cardinals’ lineup, the gameplan that Varitek, Lowe, Pedro, Curt, Foulke, Embree, and Timlin were able to edit as needed. This victory helps to ratify that already historic comeback against the Yankees in the ALCS.

— Wes Ulm

wow…words cannot even describe this feeling of being champion. say it with me THE BOSTON RED SOX WON THE WORLD SERIES. WOW. its unbelieveable. words cant describe it

— dan

Thanks, Red and Denton. This site has helped keep me sane over the last half season.

Thanks, Theo. Thanks, Tito. And all the idiots–25 MVPs. What a *team*.

Unbelievable.

Finally.

— Rick

What a beautiful thing! Been laughing and crying ever since 10.40 CDT last night. Bill Reynolds’s piece in the Prov. Journal today made me cry like a baby – sums it up perfectly. Go read it and cry too. Thank you guys, and thank you Sox. I was at game 3, sad I missed game 4, but overjoyed nevertheless.

— James

Syracuse NY…Lifelong fan in enemy territory, originally from Worcestor. My Dad passed the faith on to me. He’s been gone 15 years, but I know he saw this. I have in turn passed the faith on to my 9 year old son cautiously as I’m sure all will understand. He welcomed it along with all of the baggage. Took him to Fenway in August, he hasn’t stopped smiling since. I am exhausted, both physically and emotionally. But I am seriously considering a 10 hour road trip for the parade. I want my son to remember this season forever, remember the connection it gave him to a grandfather he never met and pass it on to his own children someday. God Bless The Boston Red Sox and All who love them.

— Tim

Greetings from Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada – the home base of Boston Red Sox fans in Atlantic Canada (we’re about 5 hours north of Boston by car). Great site – I checked the post-game commentary after every playoff game and thoroughly enjoyed it. Watched game 4 last night at Rookies Pub & Billiards on Union St. in Uptown Saint John with quite possibly the most hardcore Sox fans in all of the Great White North; The post-game show was great and it was only until they started playing Etta James’ “At Last” right at the end did a few tears start to flow. I only wish I could be down pahtying in Boston, getting wicked retahded off some Sam Adams with the rest of my Red Sox Nation brethren this weekend. Rest assured, the Red Sox fans of Saint John will be there in spirit.

— Paul Barnes

There are no words. This blog got me through the good, bad, and ugly this season. Thank you. Thank the SOX. Thank God.

— Nan

All is light…sweetness and light!

Much love to the Nation!

J-

PS: When do pitchers and catchers report?

— Jeff K

WE DID IT!!!!

“Let there be joy in baseball again, like in the days when Babe Ruth chased an enemy sportswriter down the streets of Boston and ended up getting drunk with him on the waterfront and came back the next day munching on hotdogs & boomed homeruns to the glory of God.” – Jack Kerouac, 1959

Someday I would like to look in the stars and say, ‘Damn, we did it’.- Ted Williams

TED WE DID IT!!! HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN!!!!!!

— Chris P.

Red Sox win the World Series. I love the sound of that. Once the final out was recorded I called every Sox fan I know and we screamed and yelled into the phone. 86 years finally swept away. NO ONE and I mean NO ONE can chant 1918 to any Sox fans. This team throughout the entire season and post season, it’s never over till it’s over. This team deserves it. I love this team. You won’t find a better bunch of “Idiots” than this team. Hell of year. Let this sink in. Let’s all enjoy this one Red Sox Nation.

“After 86 years the Boston Red Sox are World Champions!!”

— Otto

I was at home in Wethersfield CT with my wife. Unfortunately, my 3 year old daughter was fast asleep down the hall so I couldn’t scream like i needed to.

Holy ****! This is amazing.

I work in southwestern CT where the MFY fans greatly outnumber sox fans. I cant even begin to describe how great a feeling it is to have Yankee fans walk up to me all morning to shake my hand and say congratulations. As we speak, one of them just tossed me a BabyRuth candy bar!! Ha! LOL!

Holy ****! This is amazing.

My wife’s 95 year old grandmother has been a life long sox fan. Up until this past spring she has been in great health. Last year, she was so pi**ed when they lost. Unfortunately, she had a stroke earlier this year. She is doing remarkably well, but her cognizence of the moment comes and goes. I plan on visiting her on a daily basis and reminding her that the SOX JUST WON THE SERIES!!! I hope she can at least enjoy this for a few moments.

Holy ****! This is amazing.

Thank you Red Sox. Thank you SG. Thank you Boston. (Pats, Both Uconn hoops teams, and the Sox all in one year, AWESOME!)

BOSTON RED SOX 2004 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS!

— jammer

I want to hug every Sox fan I see within ten thousand miles. Opening Day is going to be one huge group hug.

Can’t believe I stayed home for last night… but I was DEAD tired from the previous four games… I could barely drive myself home, let alone stay out all night anywhere.

Anyone else get the feeling that just like our other team with hearts of champions, the Patriots, the Old Towne Team ain’t quite done yet?

— Steve

THANK GOD! LOVE OUR SOX! That team’s got MOXIE!!

— Jason in DC

So, did anybody feel all depressed and robbed of their identity last night after the game?

Me neither! It feels SOOOOOO freaking good. Like Schilling said…for Teddy, Yaz, Pudge, Looie, Spaceman, etc…they led us to dream. And now the Idiots have brought us the rest of the way!!

Incidentally, was in my locker/apartment in Inwood, NYC last night when the final outs came. Wanted to go to a bar earlier in the game but couldn’t stand to walk away from the screen for a second. Surrounded by wife and in-laws, who aren’t really baseball people, but I got a call from my dad, from two of my huge Red Sox fan buddies from downtown, called a guy from my hometown in TX, and just drowned in all the pure, unadulterated joy. Unbelievable. But we still all believed!!

I hope all the Red Sox fans who have been following the team for years and years without fail, who knew the team before I was even into baseball, really, really enjoy this, because this is really for them, and they so deserve it. The Red Sox have the most faithful fans in baseball, and nobody deserves better than what we’ve gotten to see in the last couple weeks!

— Gaj.

2004 WORLD CHAMPION RED SOX!!!

Still hard to fathom isn’t it? I’m not sure it’s quite sunk in yet. But I watched the game in a big bar in downtown Nashua and when it ended everyone was just screaming and giving high fives to eachother. All the fire trucks from the local firehouse just drove down Main St. with all their lights on, the firemen all yelling. It was surreal. As I walked home there was this big guy coming the other way and even though we didn’t know eachother at all we just shook hands and hugged and said “we did it” and went on our way. I hope I can get into Boston on Saturday. It’s going to be UNBELIEVABLE!!!

P.S. Yankees suck

— Tim

It’s a bit late in the day, but I’ll chip in with my two penn’th: I was sat in my darkened living-room in the suburbs of Paris, hunched over my PC at 5:40am, in the virtual company of the members of the Survivng Grady message board. I’m not quite a card-carrying member of Red Sox Nation, but I love this ballclub and its passionate fans, and it was sweet to share those moments of magic with them. When Foulke lobbed the ball to first, I did the crazy pumped-fist dance thing (in silence) and then headed off to work with a silly grin on my face. What a day. What a team.

— Iain

Where was I? In my living room with my red-headed wife and my 10 year old son. My wife had never followed baseball until last year. She endured my anguish after Game 7 in the Bronx. This year she cut out the red sock pairs logo and hung them in the living room window before the Series started. When Foulke got the grounder and threw out Renteria, she cried…

I’ve never been to New England. The farthest north I’ve ever traveled is DC. So how did I become a Red Sox fan? It was passed to me through my dad and my papaw (as we say down here). In the 1940’s there were no Atlanta Braves. Southerners didn’t have a regional baseball team to root for.

My papaw was an independent Baptist preacher in the mountains of western North Carolina. He lived the austere life his parishoners expected of him. In fact, when my dad played football and baseball in high school, my papaw sat in his car in a gravel lot beside the field and watch…had he been seen in the stands during those games it would’ve sparked rumors around town. Preachers were not to corrupt themselves with worldly events. My dad didn’t fully understand this, and their relationship was somehwat strained.

The one thing they shared in common was listening to baseball games on their battery-powered radio. They lived in one of the remotest parts of the mountains, adjacent to the Great Smokies and Joyce Kilmer National Forest. Radio reception was poor due to the rugged terrain; the only station on which they could pick up baseball games was a Mutual Broadcasting System frequency somewhere up the East coast. They fell in love with the Boston Red Sox * the Dom DiMaggio/Johnny Pesky/Ted Williams Red Sox. And being Southerners, hillbillies, they intuitively hated the New York Yankees. If nothing else the Red Sox were the anti-Yankees.

The Sox were their secret passion, their diversion from the spartan existence of a poor community. Papaw was born in 1918. He never owned a TV, never saw the Red Sox play visually. But he loved to hear their games on the airwaves. He died a relatvely young man, a heart attack victim after preaching a sermon in Harriman, TN, July 1967. I was six years old, sitting in my dad’s lap, watching him grieve silently as the Red Sox lost the Series to the Cards in the fall of that year. We were disappointed, albeit proud, when the Sox lost to the Big Red Machine in ’75. I can’t even remember Bucky Dent. I was in grad school in ’86, and distinctly remember talking to dad on the phone after that fateful game 6. “We’ll win it tomorrow” I said.

Last Wednesday, the 20th, was my 43rd birthday. What a present the Sox

delivered. Last night was even sweeter. I haven’t talked to my dad yet. At 65 he still works * in broadcasting, no less * and he gets up very early in the morning. But I look forward to catching up with him today. And my 5 year old son * he said, “for Halloween all I want to be is a Red Sox baseball man!” I’m glad his little heart won’t be broken this morning.

I can understand that this is largely a New England thing. I do hope, however, that New Englanders will remember that Red Sox Nation includes all kinds of unusual fans in the most unlikely of places. I’m just sorry Papaw wasn’t around to see and hear all of this.

— Chuck

Best. Feeling. Ever.

I was there in ’75. Was there in ’86.

Thank the Lord I was there tonight…

To my shrink: You’re fired!

— Pietro

It’s a beautiful time to be a fan of Boston sports.

It hasn’t fully sunk in. I don’t know how long it’ll take.

All the comebacks, the things that could have happened to derail this team but never happened, the chemistry, the fans, the owners, the scouts, the manager… all of it together got the Red Sox their first World Series in 86 years.

It really was destiny this year.

Red and Denton – great job on the site. This quickly became my favorite fan site for a lot of reasons.

It’s going to be a long, but blissful, postseason. See you on the other side.

— Tom

This was for my grandfather, who took me to opening day in 1946, and for my father, who took me to see Ted Williams many times, and who was there for Ted’s last homer. Wherever they are, they’re smiling.

Thank you for your blog.

Halleluliah!

— John G.

Thanks so much for the website!! Made me laugh, made me cry. They won the freakin’ World Series. We won! I find myself skipping down the halls today and not even realizing it. I have a big goofy grin on my face, and periodically I start to tear up. I am so happy!! Bring it on 2005!!

— Kristen

I cannot fucking believe it but my prediction was right we will see on the green monster next year:

2004 WORLD CHAMPIONS

BOSTON RED SOX

That just looks unbelievable

— Bus

thank you red sox.

thank you bartender.

thank you hubby, for making me a sox fan.

thank you friends, for being there for me.

and thank you surviving grady!! you guys made an already good season even better! keep it up!

i love everyone and everything.

— sarah

This is unbelieveable…..SOX World Champs????

I hope that somebody had the TV on up in heaven for my DAD……..

OH, BTW, F—k you Tim McCarver!

— makkie04

This is disgustingly great.

— Mike Page

Where was I when the world stopped turning? Torn between the DC Bar Scene and the Getting Drunk at Home Scene, I eventually decided to go back to my parents’ house and watch with my dad and sister. The 3 of us have spent many a night together ever since the advent of MLB radio (growing up without cable is tough) listening to the Sox. I was away at college last year for game 7 and I will never forget the sorrowful e-mail my dad wrote me the next day, urging me to “focus on other things” and “take some time off.” In any case it seemed fitting that we all share the moment together – not to mention my mom provided me with 5 glasses of expensive champagne immediately upon the final pitch.

The Cardinals never knew what hit ‘em. The World never knew what hit ‘em. The 2004 Sox are the most lovable, thrilling, amazing, inspired, tenacious, unconventionally but devastatingly attractive, group of guys anyone could assemble, and Theo Epstein is a genius for doing just that. From Manny Ramirez to KEITH FOULKE THE GREATEST MAN ALIVE to David McCarty (my favorite forgotten hero), every single player who took the field all season was 100% in. I’m amazingly thrilled with this outcome, so happy for all of sox nation, and really grateful to Red, Denton, and everyone else who made this website so awesome. As if ANYTHING could make a Red Sox World Series victory even sweeter… somehow you guys pulled it off. Thanks and congrats. (ps- “Jason Varitek, shortstop.” Priceless.)

— lizzie

April 11, 2005.

Opening Day.

Fenway Park.

We hoist the World Series Banner.

And then we play the Yankees.

Be there.

Be VERY there.

— spd rdr

“I don’t believe in curses, I think you make your own destination.”– World Series MVP Manny Ramirez

great site!

— alden

Un-Freaking believable!!!!!! I’m counting down the days till Spring 2005 when we get to display out WS flag right in front of the NY Yankee’s faces!!!!!! Eat that Steinbrenner!!!!!!

— Krista

This is still not completely sinking in. We won?

I’m sure it will finally hit me in January sometime.

— Sean

I spent all of last night smiling and crying. This season, the ups and downs, the tests of our courage and the constant reminders to “keep the faith”… it’s been so fucking worth it.

— Tatiana

OH GOOD GOD! I can not believe it! The Boston Red Sox are WORLD CHAMPIONS!! This makes up for the heartache of ’86 when I watched the ball go thru Buckner’s legs and the not so much of a victory parade go by my high school with Calvin Schiraldi actually smiling and waving (what for? You lost!) We won it all!! God, I love this team!

— Michelle

I feel that tiredness only marathoners and fans of World Series winners must feel. Last night Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica, CA had screaming Red Sox Fans on every corner–TV trucks, police, people honking horns and waving from cars, several “yankees sux!” chants and sloppy, deliriously happy RSN citizens in jubilant celebration. Now I’m back at work, and no one understands why I have huge bags under my eyes and a silly smile on my face. At least I have y’all to share this unbelievable moment in history…

Keep up the amazing work–you guys ROCK.

— Ariel

Holy crap.

— Larry Young

…watching in a bar in central square… called my father up in the bottom of the ninth and said “so far, so good, huh?”– to which he replied “not over yet. not after ’86”.

then after the game, getting doused in champagne by the bartenders. people passing bottles around; one swig for the red sox, another one for me, then pass the bottle along. jumping on a stool and just yelling along with the crowd.

we also charged out into the street, running screaming into the (slow) traffic on mass. ave, high-fiving cars as they drove by. nearly every car had two or three hands stuck out the passenger side, just going down the line of people outside the bar.

walked over to harvard square, got free hotdogs & coffee outside cardullo’s, more watching of the postgame show on the TV outside their window… replays of bucky f’ing dent, bill f’ing buckner, and aaron f’ing boone. meanwhile, what looks like the harvard marching band is playing non-stop, perched on the wall by the harvard square T stop, to an assembled throng.

i woke up this morning only moderately hungover; just enough to not be able to order breakfast coherently. i didn’t mind at all that the guy behind the counter couldn’t take my order, either. he kept asking me every minute “so… what’d you want?”. i finally told him i really didn’t care what i ate– i’d have whatever he could make for me. turns out he’d also been up until 4 celebrating, but his shift started at 6am. i think we just looked at each other and grinned stupidly for about 30 seconds. i got an omelette

it’s a good day today.

— rook

HIS….TOR…..YYY

Didn’t just win….

0-3 to 4-3. RECORD, 1st in Baseball

8 wins in a row in playoffs. RECORD.

Never lost lead in series. T-RECORD.

Led in every first inning. RECORD.

What’d I miss?

FORGET LAST 86YRS, MADE OUR OWN

HIS….TOR….YYY

— Jeff

What am I suppose to do now? I ran around all night like an idiot on campus here, and then I got hugged by a streaker and even that didn’t bother me. I don’t know if I’ve ever been this happy. What am I suppose to do tonight at eight? There aren’t anymore games to watch, and so I guess I’ll do all that homework I’ve been skiping and I know it was worth it.

— Tom Gordon

First of all, I love this website!!!! Second, last night. I’m in college way out in California. I’ve taken over our dorm room with Red Sox articles on the walls. Last night, when they got that last out, all I could do was put my hands over my face and cry. Then, I managed to get my hands to stop trembling enough to call my dad back home in CT. We simply screamed, over and over. I ran outside and called my friends back East, and celebrated with the five or six other people going nuts on my campus. And as I blissfully screamed on the phone with my best friend, who’s in Boston, I looked up and saw an incredible lunar eclipse. The Boston Red Sox won the World Series. Magic.

— Kat

It’s been several hours now, and I’m sure now that I wasn’t dreaming! I hated not being in Boston for this experience, but truly it still feels good out here in Colorado!

I talked to my dad last night and he was as giddy as a 5 year old about it. He just wished that his dad could have been here to see it too!

Bring on next year and lets screw the Yanks again! We’re the Champs, but we still hate you!

— Maura

I’m so jealous of all of you in New England! I’m a transplant from the capital of Red Sox Nation to the US capital, and people here can’t understand how MIND BLOWING this win is!! I had to watch the game alone last night (better than with my yankee-loving friends!) but it didn’t stop me from cheering my head off when Foulke got that last out.

Ignore the Yankees fans who say we need 19 more wins to rival them. That was then, and this is now: the Sox have proved that they are not only better than the Yanks, they’re the Best Team in Baseball!

Not only are these guys great players, but they’re inspiring. After Game 3 of the ALCS, McCarver said that if they didn’t plan on winning the next 4 games, they might as well not show up on Sunday. I had just about given up on them for this season when they proved everyone wrong and defied the odds. Years from now, when I have kids and I’m teaching them never to stop trying, I’m going to make them watch a highlight film of this post season.

— Jeanne

I can’t wait for the ESPN Classic moments, and the DVD, and the books, and hearing people say that the 2004 Boston Red Sox are the only team to ever overcome a 3-0 deficit, and how they are the only team to win 8 straight playoff games.

We rewrote history this week.

— Tom

want to know something strange?

1986 we blew that game.. 86 years we haven’t won a championship now we win and it feels amazing

— John

Does anyone remember the old Batman TV show,the one that had Frank Gorshin as the Riddler? Remember how he would kinda wiggle his fingers and do that manic laugh?

I’m doing that.

— CousinSteve

For a more recent reference, I pulled a C. Montgomery Burns.

“Excellent.”

— Tom

It was my 40th birthday yesterday and I had tickets for Game 6 that I didn’t want to have to use.

Watched the game at home wearing the “lucky” gear and unshaven beard I had worn every game since ALCS #4. DLowe was nails and I was strangely calm and confident through the entire game. Quite a change for me as in game 6 of the LCS I had to walk the dog 4 times to keep my heart rate below 200.

Game 6 in 1986 was the 2nd worst moment of my life but now it’s over and the hurt, longing and frustration are gone.

Replaced by what?

Hope, joy and the expectation of spring when the balls are rolled out onto the green grass in Florida. WITH THE BOSTON RED SOX AS THE DEFENDING WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS.

— John Moore

… At home, watching in excited anticipation.. and we won.. OH, MY GOD we just won the world series!!! Y’know what’ll be even better? The ring ceremony happens in front of New York (if my rumor mill is correct.. oh, I love my hometown, I love the fans, I love the team.. I’m still speechless, and euphoric… but now i need to f*n sleep…. (crash)

— restless angel

I was born in Boston, but moved to San Diego when I was four. I’m only 16, so I (luckily) never had to go through the heartache of Buckner or Bucky F’ing Dent, but it would still kill me to see those replays. Last year was my first year as a die-hard member of RSN, so I do know what heartache feels like. After game 7 of the ALCS last year, I cried myself to sleep. This year, I sat in my family room with my mother – just like last year – and watched my beloved Sox record the last out to win their first World Series in 86 years. I jumped up and just began to cry. That was one of the best moments of my life.

My dad’s a huge Sox fan, too. A pessimistic one, though, and it’s tough to watch an important game with him without getting frustrated. Unfortunately, he couldn’t see the game because he was on a flight back home. He got back a few hours after they won, and as he said to me, “When I left this Earth there was a curse, and when I came back down, it was gone.”

We toasted the Sox with some champagne, then watched the final 3 innings of the game with my dad. Our celebration didn’t end until about 2:30 in the morning, so I ended up not going to my first two classes this morning.

2004 World Series Champions: The Boston Red Sox!

I LOVE IT!

— Anita

We ordered the a bottle of the best champagne the bar had to offer right after the final out.

And I stood in the middle of bar with tears streaming down my face, guzzling champagne.

World Series Champions.

— Jennifer

So my dad is in Arizona playing baseball right now in the men’s senior baseball league world series. who else is playing there? Bill Lee. So when my dad called to talk to me after the game, he put The Spaceman on the phone. Lee was not particularly coherent, as would be expected, and started rambling about how awesome this win was. he said “you’re only 17 so you don’t understand the significance of this. but there are people around that saw us win both times. but they’re about 100 years old.” and i said “and not really all there” and he said “yeah but this is awesome!” and kept rambling some more.

wow. i can’t believe we won.

— Jen

WHOOO! I didn’t even go home last night! I live in Toronto…so I didn’t get to quite parade the streets of Boston like others… but went to a bar and watched the game… then went back to a friend’s house and just literally stayed up the entire night laughing and enjoying the moment with my with my FEW fellow friends who are baseball fans…

Then off to work I went… and I just got home now… sooo i’m getting my first taste of Internet post-Championship Fever.

I’m lovin this!

–Canuckitude

holy. freakin’. cow.

so everyone has these stories, but but adorable little 80 year old gram, up in vermont, watches every game and has for the past 60-odd years. i think if she had the choice, she would have married ted williams instead of my dear old gramps. i call this woman at midnight last night after they won and she was still awake…she took her “nighttime” pill later so she would be able to stay up. how freakin cute is she??

anyway, i was in my evil finance class til 10pm last night, getting text messages from EVERYONE every time something happened in the game. raced home afterward and watched everything else unfold with my roommie…

this is so awesome…less than 24 hours later and i still don’t think it has really set in for everyone how amazing this is.

they did it. we did it. YAY BOSTON!

— bex

I moved home from LA (where I was forced to suffer through MLBTV webcasts) at the begining of September, since that day I was in place to watch every single game from then ’till now. All year long I had this nagging feeling that if I didn’t move home, they Sox were going to the Series. I figured that I’d rater be home and see them lose than be on the wrong coast and watch them win. Luckily I don’t have to worry about that now.

I watched at my brother’s new house, on a 72 inch HD TV with his insane surround sound set up. We made home made french fries and beer battered onion rings, we screamed, the TV was up so loud it shook light bulbs out of the sockets due to the base. When we won, everyone was screaming and passing around the bottle of Knobb Creek (which was our champagne). I went to work today on 3 hours of drunken sleep, unable to speak due to the alcohol and screaming. It’s amazing. Simply amazing.

I found your blog while I was still in California, almost a year ago. I’ve checked it every single day and you’ve never disappointed me. Thanks for a fantastic season and I look forward to the ’05 rants.

— Stephen (back in Mass from SoC)

Long had a soft spot for the Sox, but this is the first year I’ve followed game 1 through 176 (heckuva year to start, eh!)

Great blog, guys. Congrats, Red Sox Nation. Take a moment to reflect on the Yankee Century past as you greet the dawn of Red Sox Millennium.

— Jimb

For dad. Thanks.

— jg

Thoughts from Busch… section 252 row 10 seat 11…

Damon hits one out… Lowe is on… Trot sure has a lovely swing… Keith tosses to first…

The next day… the sun came out in St Louis. I round a corner heading to get some coffee to wake my head up and see that USA today headline “Sox Reverse Curse” It was a beautiful thing.

— nick