What jinx? Red Sox rule again

By Leila Wai
Advertiser Staff Writer

They shared cheers, hugs and high-fives. But more than anything else, Boston Red Sox fans who gathered at Murphy's Bar & Grill yesterday shared one collective sigh of relief.

At Murphy's Bar & Grill in downtown Honolulu, Red Sox fans celebrate Boston's victory over the Yankees. From left: Lorrie Cozzens; her husband, Mike Jones; and their friend, Jon Rogers. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

"Basically, the elation that I feel is very unfamiliar," said Pearl City's Mike Jones, 34, a Boston transplant who clutched his heart and threw his head back after the final out was recorded.

"I am deeply scarred by a long Red Sox history, which has been continually hindered by that dreaded 'Curse of the Bambino.' "

The curse goes back to 1920 when Boston owner Harry Frazee sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees to help finance his Broadway plays. Two years earlier, Ruth had helped the Red Sox win the World Series.

From then, a curse and a rivalry were born.

It would be Boston's last World Series title. The Yankees have won 26 titles since then.

"Since 1986 I have been afraid to root for them because of two words — Bill Buckner," Jones said.

The Red Sox were on the verge of ending the jinx 18 years ago, but Buckner's fielding gaffe enabled the New York Mets to win the World Series.

Yesterday, Jones called his mother, Pat Mattatall, in Boston, after every important play.

Red Sox players, from left, Alan Embree, Pedro Martinez and Ricky Gutierrez celebrate after Boston defeated the New York Yankees, 10-3, in Game 7 of the American League championship yesterday. Charles Krupa • Associated Press

He said she replied, " 'Yeah, we're part of history. Now stop drinking and go home.' "

Jones refused to stop watching the game to pick up his wife, Lorrie Cozzens, from work.

"I did not want to miss one second, because I feel tonight that my presence supported the team," he said.

Apparently that was OK for Cozzens, who said she had draped a Red Sox T-shirt over her cubicle at work.

"I was listening to the game on the radio at work, and I was running around the office yelling every time they scored," said Cozzens, who is also from Massachusetts.

Even with a sizable lead of 9-3 in the seventh inning, Red Sox fans at Murphy's looked uncomfortable.

With two outs and a 10-3 lead in the ninth inning, some still folded their hands as if in prayer; others nervously cracked their knuckles or chomped on their gum, their faces painted with concern.

"I'm enough of a Red Sox sufferer to know it ain't over till it's over," attorney Tom Fagan, 59, of Hawai'i Kai said.

Fagan and his wife, Marilyn, are both from Boston, and moved to Hawai'i 20 years ago.

"The whole city (of Boston) is one big fan — you can just feel it," said Marilyn. "They are so exciting, they renewed my fanship."

Not everyone was stressed. Brian Torphy, 21, and Stephen Banks, 25, both with the Coast Guard, found time for a game of shuffleboard with Boston ahead 8-1 in the fourth inning.

"If it was close, I'd be sitting at the bar," said Torphy, who wouldn't discuss the possibility of a happy ending for fear of jinxing the outcome.

Shouts of "Let's go, Red Sox!" broke out at intervals throughout the game. When the handful of Yankees fans tried to respond, they were quickly silenced with boos.

Murphy's owner Don Murphy said he was a fan of both teams, but "it was about time" for the Red Sox to win, and "business-wise, it will be better."

He said the majority of his customers were Red Sox fans because "they want it so bad. Yankees fans will wait until the World Series to come out."

One fan in particular knew firsthand how well the Red Sox were playing.

Former University of Hawai'i and Roosevelt High pitcher Matt Apana played in 1996 with Boston pitcher Derek Lowe and catcher Jason Varitek while with the Port City Roosters in Wilmington, N.C., as part of the Seattle Mariners' AA minor league baseball team.

"I'm rooting for Boston because of those guys," he said. "I know (Lowe) was on because his sinker was moving down. That's his money pitch; that's his out pitch."

Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2457.