By Keiko Gammel | Staff Writer
Flashback to 2004: it was the 100th World Series finals, and the Boston Red Sox had made it to the end. With a four-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals, the Red Sox were world champions for the first time since 1918. Now, nine years later and another championship under their belt since 2004, the Red Sox are in the playoffs again for the first time in two years, and many think they are in it to win it this time.
Many children have grown up with America’s past-time, sitting around the television with their fathers, watching pitch after pitch, hit after hit, game after game. Johnny Williamson, a senior Economics major, has been one of those kids since he can remember. He was raised a true “Sox fan” growing up in Massachusetts, through the good and the bad. “I’ve been going to the games since I can remember,” Williamson stated, thanking his grandfather for having tickets often.
As a dedicated Bostonian his whole life, he has no doubt that the Red Sox will take this year’s championship trophy back to Boston where he believes it belongs. With their standing season record and “best pitching staff,” as Williamson puts it, the Red Sox are the strongest team in the playoffs compared to the other nine competing.
So who will be fighting at the end? Williamson predicts that Red Sox will take on the Los Angeles Dodgers and defeat them in five games out of a seven game series. He says there is a possibility that the Pittsburgh Pirates, the league’s underdogs, may also work their way to the finals.
Gabe Cretella, a junior Healthcare Administration major, has been playing baseball for over 15 years and he considers the sport to be a huge part of his life. “Baseball has always been something very special to me,” Cretella said. Cretella identifies himself as a true Yankees fan, not just because he’s been to a number of games throughout his life, but because his great-uncle played for the team in 1951, which was first named the New York Giants, so the love for the game hits close to home.
After playing the sport for over a decade, Cretella does have the capability to view the baseball teams in the playoffs in a skill setting rather than favoritism, he still wishes he could substitute the Red Sox for the Yankees in the World Series games. “Being able to go to the Bronx to watch some more games would be a great gift,” Cretella stated. However, knowing there’s no fan substitution, Cretella predicts that it will be the Tigers playing against the Dodgers playing for the title, with the Dodgers coming out on top due to a strong offense, pitching, and an all around great team. “A good team can have all the talent but no bonding. A great team has the talent but is also a family,” Cretella stated.
Not everyone will be tuning in to each game to keep up with the World Series playoffs. Sophomore Danielle Niebuhr, a Healthcare Administration major, does not see the hype with this sport. She would rather turn on a hockey game anyday. Niebuhr describes how hockey has excitement and is fast-paced. “There’s no point where you find yourself drifting away from the action,” she stated. “Baseball doesn’t have that adrenaline factor.”
Niebuhr is not ignorant to the sport at all despite her lack of interest. Like many others, her father is a big fan, specifically a Yankees fan. Growing up, sitting, and watching the game with her father Niebuhr understands the game well and even has been to a few.
Yankees and Red Sox are known rivals whether one is a baseball fanatic or doesn’t follow the sport at all. Niebuhr would like to see the Red Sox defeated in the playoffs, she might not be a diehard fan but Boston is “still the enemy” no matter what the case.
