The 2018 Red Sox season was about a lot of things: dingers, David Price, damage, to name a few. But for me, and for a lot of women, it has also been a season of big female fandom. From the minute David Ortiz pulled open his jersey to reveal a ‘Girl Power’ tee underneath on the mound at Opening Day, I knew that this would be a special season.
Throughout the season, I did what I always do: watch or listen to every Red Sox game, always live-tweeting, sharing my thoughts and feelings on this team that I love more than anything else in the world.
But this year, for the first time, I was doing it to an audience of thousands. I interacted with my idols, people like David Ortiz and Wade Boggs. I got to talk baseball with the best fan base in sports and share this season with people just like me. I found my place in the big family that is Red Sox Nation, and I found the niche of passionate, diehard female Red Sox fans, too.
And now, to perfectly bookend this banner year, for the first time ever (since 1943), the World Series film will be narrated by a woman. Uzo Aduba, of Orange is the New Black fame, is a BU grad and lifelong Red Sox fan. Next May, she’ll star in a play about female Negro Leagues player Toni Stone. Don’t get me wrong, I love Ben Affleck’s gravelly voice dramatically talking 2013, but I’m so excited to hear a voice like mine getting to narrate one of the greatest baseball seasons in history.
There were so many moments throughout the season when I would catch myself thinking, ‘that hit/pitch/play will definitely make the World Series DVD.’ I knew how special this team was, and I just had a feeling, but I really didn’t want to get ahead of myself. I’m curious to see how they managed to condense the magnitude of 108 wins, all the grand slams, epic strikeouts, the renewed Rivalry, JD Martinez revolutionizing hitting, Alex Cora’s incredible rookie season, all of it into a feature-length film. I can’t wait to watch it on repeat for the next 86 days until the first spring training game.
Baseball is for all of us. It’s the sport I loved as a little girl who was ashamed of her ineptitudes in gym class and math, but wanted to read all the stats off Ted Williams’ baseball card and go to Fenway all the time. It’s the reason I created this website, because fandom should never be confined or defined by gender. It’s something that should and does unite us all, above our differences.
The film drops next week, on December 4th. Here’s to the Red Sox and women in sports.
Photo: Red Sox
Love you for saying “ineptitudes in gym class and math, but wanted to read all the stats off Ted Williams’ baseball card and go to Fenway all the time”. My “line” is numbers make my brain freeze and my hair hurt. But baseball stats I get! All of them. And can explain them. Well, 94% of them. My happiest time is always sitting in my seat at Fenway. Just completed 12 years as a STH. Even the bad times were good.