Diehards fan the passion

By Corey Allen, Globe Correspondent, 10/7/2003

"I'm nervous as hell right now. I got the '86 feeling rolling around in my big body," said Ronnie Jordan, a bouncer at Boston Sports Grille on Canal Street. At about 6 feet 3 inches and 300-plus pounds, Jordan's fear of a repeat of the 1986 World Series, an excruciating loss by the Red Sox in a playoff series, was showing during the tense final inning of the Red Sox' game last night against the Oakland A's.

The Sox flirted with disaster, but Derek Lowe fanned Terrence Long to give Boston a win in the game, 4-3. Boston came back to win the series, 3 games to 2, and earned a date with the Yankees in the American League Championship Series. When Lowe finished off the A's, a surge of energy went from the heart of Boston all the way to Bangor and beyond.

Boston was back in the game, and Jordan was already looking ahead to the series with New York. [David] Wells can talk all he wants," Jordan said. "We want [him]." On the street under North Station's screeching trains, there was an even louder sound. It was the horns of passing drivers, who also were yelling about their excitment for the Sox and their hatred for the Pinstripers."It's been a long time coming," said fan Paul Williams of the Red Sox' quest for a World Series title. "If they can settle the score with the Yankees, it will be [the Sox] and the Cubs, and that will be a hell of a series." "The Cubs haven't [won the Series] since the early 1900s," Williams said. "What better way to have the World Series settled."

Elizabeth Guild and a friend from Maine were outside Boston Beer Works during the game. "We made the big four-hour trek just to see the Red Sox on TV, because it's that much fun," said Guild.

Fan Matt D'Andrea, who had on a Ted Williams shirt and Red Sox skull cap, summed it up well. "It's a birthright to live in this region and live and die by the Sox," he said. "It's about time."