Impossible Dreams: A Red Sox Collection
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During the "impossible dream" of 1967, Red Sox slugger and the 1963 batting champion, Carl Yastrzemski, led the Red Sox in his break-out season, transforming his young career and elevating himself from All-Star to Most Valuable Player. "Yaz" led the Red Sox in batting average, hits, home runs, runs batted in, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, on-base + slugging, games played, at bat appearances, runs scored, total bases, doubles, base on balls (walks) and extra base hits. He was also named to his fourth All-Star Game, which was the third straight year he received this honor.
Join us in the Grandstand Theater on Wednesday, August 21st, as we screen MLB Network Presents: The Impossible Dream: Red Sox Nation Begins. Prior to the screening, we will hold and artifact spotlight with items from our collection that are currently not on display that correspond with the film.
I had never paid much attention to baseball, until the Boston Red Sox had their "impossible dream" year, 1967. They went from the cellar to the World Series in one heart-wrenching leap. Suddenly, I had dreams of playing on the high school team. In an untypical burst of confidence, I signed up for the tryouts.
The Red Sox wound up winning in five games. Back then, the Dodgers weren't really the Dodgers. They were known by a collection of nicknames, and were often called the Robins because of popular manager Wilbert "Uncle Robbie" Robinson. And Ruth later coached for them.
It's impossible not to imagine all of it -- Alou, the ball and the dreams of every Cub fan -- coming together right above my head. And it's frightening to realize this: I likely would have done the same thing. I would have been Steve Bartman.
It's impossible not to imagine all of it -- Alou, the ball and the dreams of every Cubs fan across the world five outs away from the World Series -- coming together right above my head. And it's frightening to realize this: I likely would have done the same thing.
I argue that it's impossible. That if Bartman loves the Cubs too much, then I love the Cubs too much. "That's why you think this is such a big deal," Lustberg said. "But in the grand scheme of things, it isn't. Nobody cares. And that's what I would try to tell Steve."
For 86 years Boston waited and believed. Years of heartbreak, disaster, close-calls, missed opportunities, cosmic blunders, and still the people of Boston did the impossible: they had hope and hung on.
The Jewish secret of hope is the understanding that it is all for our benefit. All the highs and lows, heartaches and disappointments are coming to help us grow, to make us stronger and better. We live in a big park with a green monster, facing opposition that is real and strong and more than able to beat us. We have the chance to step up to the plate, face the challenges and give it our best shot. Sometimes we can even win and achieve the impossible. 2b1af7f3a8