From Yawkey Way to the stores stocked with all things Sox, World Series buzz is in gear around Fenway.
The excitement brought out longtime fan Mike Correia who decided to take a stroll around the ballpark Monday on his lunch break. But even Correia admits that he didn’t think this year’s Sox would make it this far.
"I had really no expectations," he said. "After the last couple of years, well, I thought these guys are really nice. They seem like good guys. What is that gonna translate into?"
Yet Dorchester resident Larissa Brewster says as far back as April she knew it would translate into wins. According to Brewster, what sold her was the team’s heart.
"Even when they get down, it’s never been more than a game or two and then they get back up, and they don’t give up no matter what," she said.
Like Brewster, Charlie Cawlina says he also never doubted the Sox, even when, according to him, many of his friends gave them a 50/50 shot at best. Cawlina traveled to Florida earlier this year to watch the team’s spring training. He says what he saw then was something bigger than what was on paper.
"Baseball’s more than just talent and how much a guy makes," he said. "I think it’s the way they’ve all come together."
It’s such an attitude that’s also made a believer out of New Yorker — and Mets fan — Mike Cardwell.
"Ortiz, Pedroia, these guys, they get the team to run through walls and do what needs to be done to get the job done," he said. "And to me that’s stuff you don’t see anymore in professional sports."
This is Cardwell’s first time seeing Fenway Park up close. He took the train in early Monday from Syracuse and says as soon as he stepped off the train he could see the pride.
"You see the looks on the fans’ faces and the people’s face," he said. "They’re standing up a little taller, you know, because the Red Sox got it done."
And it’s a feeling that makes even past doubters such as Correia become reflective.
"We are living in a lucky — I say lucky — just a great era of Boston sports," he said. "Starting back from ‘01, I was counting all the different championships we’ve been in since ‘01. Even though we haven’t won ‘em all, just to be here, I mean, unbelievable.
Come Wednesday night, we’ll see if Boston’s luck continues.
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