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But one of Garciaparra's last games in a Boston uniform was a season turning point. At home on July 24, the Bosox rallied from a 9-4 deficit to beat the Yankees 11-10 in the ninth on a Mueller homer off Yankee closer Mariano Rivera. The game was marked by a scuffle in which catcher Jason Varitek smacked Rodriguez after the two exchanged heated words. It was the kind of inspiration the team had been seeking. "We've been kind of waiting to have this feeling all year," said Epstein afterward. "Today wasn't really about stats, box scores, fundamentals. Today was really about emotions." The Sox were 52-44 until that point but finished the season on a tear, winning 70% of their last 66 games, to clinch the AL wildcard playoff spot.
There is a downside to the victory, of course. Now that the Sox have won, baseball is deprived of its best narrative. Ahab nails the whale, and Moby Dick is a novella. Red Sox Nation had long believed that otherworldly forces rose when baseball got to October. In this universe, dark spirits open the earth beneath Bill Buckner's feet, and an easy grounder--and the 1986 Series--disappears under his legs. In this universe, Yankee shortstop Bucky Dent, who during the 1978 season couldn't hit a ball into the Charles if he was knee deep in it, wallops a homer that costs the Sox the pennant. In this universe, a bewitched manager leaves his ace pitcher in too long, with catastrophic results. That's why Boston ran skipper Grady Little out of town for sticking with Martinez in last year's implosion in the Bronx. It's what you expect when home plate is a short broom ride from Salem, Mass., where their forebears hung suspected witches just to get their mojo right.
Can Red Sox fans cope with winning? Judging from the continuing delirium, absolutely. Although now they may have to live with another curse: higher expectations. Henry has surely calculated that the Sox can't win the Series every year, or even every other year. A reasonable goal is to be one of the eight teams that makes the playoffs. That means the team always has a 12.5% chance at the title. In other words, Boston ought to win once every eight seasons. For Red Sox fans, who waited 86 years to have their prayers answered, that must sound like tomorrow. --Reported by Sean Gregory/Busch Stadium and Jane Bachman Wulf/Fenway Park