This is the honest to goodness truth!

I was at the lake last August (2007) and it had flooded due to heavy rain the weeks prior to us going. By time we got there the waters had receded a bit and exposed once hidden lake bed. I was gathering wood for a fire to be built later on in the evening and I stumbled upon a Stick that stood out from the rest.

It was like a beacon of light from a New England Lighthouse, but it’s purpose was not to warn me of danger, but to draw me in like a moth to a light bulb. I was slightly dirty and almost 6 feet tall. It was solid and moderatley heavy and there seemed to be something different about this stick, something I couldn’t quite pick out. The strange thing was that I couldn’t bring myself to put it down or let it leave my site… It felt like what parental instincs must feel like.

It was a stick that was perfect to use as a walking stick… Slightly larger at the top and it gradually got slimmer towards the bottom where a point looked to have been fashioned by someone or something. It reminded me of Moses’ staff.

We headed back into town that sunday and something was keeping me from leaving it at the lake, so I took it home with me… (Stick with me here)

This was in August, the weekend before our series with Anahiem in Boston. Once I had gotten it home, the urge to keep it in my sites 24/7 faded a little. I stood it up in a corner and left it there. That week, I forget who we were playing, but during the first half of the game I was standing up watching the game and decided to us the stick to hold myself up. I noticed that when I was in physical contact with the stick we were playing better, not thinking there was a connection I put it down for a couple of inning and we went 3 up 3 down more then once, I picked it back up and we were getting on base. By the 9th we had cut the deficit but were still down a run… I picked up the stick when Lowell came up to bat… BAM!… GOING GOING, GONE! he tied up the score. Then we got a couple of guys on  and Crisp had a walk-off base hit to score Tek! I was amazed! Even Lucia was a little suprised.

The next time I used the stick was in the series against the Angels… Specifically The game where we were down 5 in the fifth <—-I think. I picked up the stick at the start of the inning and we loaded the bases… I was starting to get a little wierded out… Next batter, Papi. Grand Slam! then two more runs score… now we are up 6-5. ( I have 3 witnesses… Lucia, our friend Jeff and my cousin Aaron. All of them saw the correlation… we were awe struck)

from that point on I have held on to the Mojo Stick during dire situations and it almost always comes through… more often then not.

I have christened the stick “Tessie”… the Mojo Stick.

Believe it or don’t believe it… I know it works and I will continue to use the stick when necessary.

Jonathan Sherman, Gov. RSN of KS, A True Red Sox Fan.

As October begins I find myself struggling to come up with another sport that has a more exciting postseason. I am setting out certain clothes to wear during each series and depending on who is pitching or batting in a certain spot in the lineup will affect my decision on what to wear. Do I wear the shirt I was wearing when Lester threw his No-Hitter, or do I wear the Jersey I was wearing when Youk hit the go-ahead 3 run homer in the 8^th against the Rangers to make the score 19-17? So Many questions! When the NFL playoffs start, I call a few people and see if they want to catch a game or two. Baseball, I find myself making a grocery list of ‘must-haves’ for the games like hotdogs, hot wings, and chips & salsa. I make sure the house is picked up so there aren’t any random items sitting in the middle of the floor when I am running around the house like a lunatic screaming and cheering because Papi just hit a walk-off homer or Ellsbury made another game-saving highlight-reel catch to add to his vault of an already amazing array of Web-Gems.

 

            No, the baseball postseason is different. There is a buildup, an anticipation to the postseason that I do not get for any other sport. It is a postseason filled with lasting memories and images that will never go away. Whether it’s Schilling’s bloody sock, or Papelbon’s leap off the mound after winning the World Series or even last years ALDS against the Angels where Manny hit the walk-off homer and posed at home plate with his hands in the air and everyone in the background of the picture doing the same as if playing Simon Says. Those are images you will never forget.

 

            This is the time when the Red Sox seem to step up their game to another level, a level in which many teams can not match for one reason or another. It might be experience or talent, it could be maturity or the blind confidence they all seem to have. A type of swagger the Red Sox possess in the postseason that is needed to be successful. So I am not worried about Drew or Lowell not playing or not producing because I am confident they will, but if for some reason they are unable, I also know that the Red Sox are great at picking up each others slack and someone will allays step up.

 

            Tonight starts the journey back to another World Series Championship. A journey in which I am looking forward to taking with the Sox, pitch by pitch, inning by inning, game by game, series by series.

 

Jonathan Sherman, Gov. RSN in KS, A True Red Sox Fan.