Before a pitch is thrown, long-suffering Sox fans (are they ever described any other way?) have scripted the ultimate October scenario: The Red Sox beat the A’s in Round 1, finally overcome the hated Yankees in the ALCS, then beat the longer-suffering Chicago Cubs in the World Series. The Sox have not played the Cubs since 1918, when Babe Ruth and friends bagged Boston’s last championship.
Stephen King has offered that a Sox-Cubs World Series might trigger the apocalypse because it would pit two teams incapable of ultimate victory, but fans in both cities won’t have anything to do with negativity this week. All are convinced the long drought is over.
Whoa. I better get my rapture insurance policy paid up. Go Sox! (“Red Sox ready in Oakland,” Dan Shaughnessy, Boston Globe 10.1.03)