If you have ever set foot in Boston, Massachusetts, it is only a matter of minutes before you will realize just how much Bostonians love their Red Sox. Don't even expect to get a seat at Fenway Park unless you know someone who has season tickets or you've somehow managed to win them from the radio. Every Red Sox home game has been sold out since May 2003, a major league record. That makes Boston Red Sox tickets a high demand item.
The Boston Red Sox, one of baseball's 8 original teams, dominated from the start by winning the first World Series. The Red Sox went on to win World Series titles in 1912, 1915, 1916, 1918 and then didn't win another title for 86 years. This drought in championship titles has been infamously referred to as the Curse of the Bambino. Much of the Boston Red Sox's history has been over shadowed by this 86 year curse.
Curse of the Bambino refers to when the Sox sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees in the 1919-1920 offseason. After Ruth left, the Sox did not win a single championship. On the other hand, the once dreary Yankees became one of the most successful teams in baseball after the acquisition of Babe Ruth. Several attempts were made to lift the curse, including an exorcism of Fenway Park, finding the piano that Babe Ruth had apparently thrown into a pond near his house, and the spray painting of a sign on Storrow Drive that originally said reverse curve, to reverse curve. The vandalized sign remained hanging until the Red Sox won in 2004.
In 2004, the Red Sox finally won their World Series in 86 years, marking the end of the Curse of the Bambino. This game occurred during a full lunar eclipse, a first in World Series history. Following this historic win, a massive parade was held in Boston with 3 million people in attendance; the largest gathering ever in Boston ever. The Red Sox followed the exact same parade route that the New England Patriots followed in their previous Super Bowl wins and held a sign that proclaimed, "CURSE REVERSED!" After their 2004 World Series win, the Boston Red Sox won the World Series again in 2007, sweeping the Colorado Rockies. Red Sox tickets were always a hot item. Winning yet again made the wait list even longer.
Historically, the Red Sox have had an epic rivalry with the Yankees. Yankee fans used to shout "1918!" when the Red Sox came to play at Yankee Stadium referring to the last time they ever won a championship. "Yankees suck!" can be heard echoing throughout the streets of Boston. Don't even think about wearing Yankee gear in Boston without going unnoticed.
Fans who attend Red Sox games have come to expect and love the seventh inning stretch when they can dance along with Boston native Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline." Closing pitcher Jonathan Papelbon always takes the mound to the Dropkick Murphys' hit, "I'm Shipping Up to Boston." At the conclusion of games, fans exit to the tune of "Dirty Water," a hit by The Standells that references Boston's major river, The Charles.
