Letter to the Editor: The best Red Sox season ever? When all things seemed possible

I miss baseball. Fortunately MLB has finally figured out how to put together a shortened 60-game season. Waiting for high salaried players to negotiate favorable terms for the season‘s start has bored me so much that I‘ve almost lost my love for the game. Almost, but not quite. Memories run too deep.

Recently the following question was posed on a social media site: What was the greatest Red Sox season ever? The two most popular answers were”2004” and “1967.” Having attended the 2004 World Series clincher in St. Louis, and the 1967 pennant winner at Fenway, I have my own biased thoughts on the matter.

Sitting in Busch Stadium that October night in 2004, it does not shame me to admit that my eyes were misty when the final out was made and the abominable “curse” finally ended. So much the better that the Yankees were vanquished along the way. The Sox were a good team. But they were a good team the year before, and several years before that. They just could never seem to get over the hump.

In 1966, the Red Sox were awful. During the 1950s and 1960s of my youth, they were bad. Gaining admission to Fenway Park was easy. Walk up to a gate on game day, put your money down and buy a ticket. In September 1966 I once skipped afternoon classes during my freshman year at Stonehill, drove up to a game, and sat three rows behind the visitors’ dugout. 1967 changed all that.

It was a magical year. It was a season of remembering where you were when important games were played, I listened on my bed as Billy Rohr almost no-hit the Yankees in their home opener. I watched Jose Tartabul throw Ken Berry out at the plate at my date’s house and was on a family trip to Maine when Yaz destroyed the White Sox in an important series. While cruising the Ave. one night in my '56 Chevy, the car radio described a hushed Fenway crowd when Tony C was beaned.

My friends and I went to a dozen games that year and always sat in the bleachers behind the Sox bullpen. Bleacher seats cost $1. No expensive concessions for us as we usually packed a bagged lunch. For the final two games Red Sox management raised the bleacher seats to $5 per ticket. We bought two in August just in case those games might be meaningful.

When not at Fenway we listened to Ned Martin and Ken Coleman on the radio. Only weekend, holiday or special games were televised. The season captured everyone’s imagination. Nobody thought that the Sox would win a pennant and go on to the World Series. Summer at the beach was filled with fans. Sun seekers blasted the games on transistor radios.You could walk the beach at Horseneck from one end to the other and not miss a single pitch.

Admittedly, my impressions are heavily influenced by age. In 2004, I was closing in on 60 with two grown children. My wife accompanied me to St. Louis and it was a wonderful experience. After years of baseball heartache there was an overwhelming sense of relief, coupled with a feeling of closure. Like many others, I yearned to share the joy with my deceased Dad who had never seen them win it all.

By contrast, in the summer of 1967 I was 18, with my future in front of me. Optimism abounded and all things seemed possible. After the last out of the pennant winner I leaped off the bullpen roof and onto the Fenway field! (In 2004 I went back to the hotel and watched the TV news in bed.)

When this shortened season begins, my expectations will be low. Still, once the first pitch is thrown I expect the pilot light will flicker on. Meanwhile, memories of 2004, and 1967, will always burn brightly in this fan’s heart.

Edward Costar is a lifelong Fall River resident and a retired educator.