The World Serious

CHICAGO (IL) –- Here’s a test: see how many times you can hit ‘redial’; wait to hear the busy signal on the other end of the line; hang up and hit ‘redial’ again. I can accomplish it roughly 8-10 times in a minute on my phone.

Now try doing it…continuously…for 35 minutes straight.

Why would you possibly want to do that?

Here’s why:

World Series Game #2

Seats 1 and 8

I had previously tried to garner tickets online and got the inevitable ‘thanks for playing’ email for each successive round of the AL Playoffs. Then I saw an item on the Boston Globe website that said individual ticket sales for the World Series would begin on Friday afternoon at 3:00PM, roughly 5 hours before the 1st pitch in the 1st game of the ALCS. Friday afternoon rolled around, it was 2:00PM Chicago time and there was not a lot going on, so I hit the phone and read trade magazines online while robotically hanging up and hitting ‘redial.’

Finally, after 35 minutes — pay dirt!

I ordered a pair at $225 each, the price-point established by MLB.

Who gets the other one? As I related in an “FTS” back in 2004 entitled “RSN” there’s no doubt:

“My dream was for me to somehow be able to scrounge up 2 tickets to a World Series game at The Fens, call him on the phone and say “Hey, Pop, let’s go see a baseball game!” That didn’t happen, but sharing this indescribable experience with my father over the past 10 days was the next best thing.”

Back then, The Sox were in the World Series, but I had no tickets; now I had the tickets…all I needed was for the Sox to beat Tampa Bay to make it all a reality.

I checked with my younger sister the nurse who sees him on a regular basis to determine if our 88 year old father would be able to make the trip from his place in Vermont. She basically said that if I’m up for taking him, he would absolutely love it.

I decided to wait until the outcome was close to being determined before I talked to my Dad about all of this.

I am embarrassed to admit that I gave up on the Red Sox in the 7th inning of Game 5. That’s right; I missed the 2nd best comeback in the history of the MLB post-season! Quite frankly, I hadn’t seen a single freakin’ thing out of the Boston nine that indicated to me that they had any fight left in ‘em. They looked as beaten as a rental car. So I went to bed, putting my Red Sox hat away for the winter in the front hall closet. Imagine what a doofus I felt like when I got up the next morning and saw the headlines on Boston.com. A quick trip to RedSox.com to watch videos of the myriad highlights provided visual proof that the Sox had indeed staged a miracle comeback for the ages to stay alive.

I talked to my Dad before Game 7. I told him that I had been fortunate enuf to get 2 tickets to Game 2 of the World Series and that I really wanted him to come. “Me?” he asked incredulously. He kinda stammered and stuttered and said he really wasn’t sure he could do it. I told him to relax, enjoy the game and just think about it…after all, the Sox still had a sh*tload of work left to do.

Needless to say, the Carmines came up on the short end of a 3-1 score to Tampa Bay. And so now I’ve got 2 tickets to a World Series game that will never happen that I can frame and keep on my desk.

One of these freakin’ years I’ll get it right.

That’s it “From the Swamp.”
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