all i want for christmas

Many wmtc readers may not realize how much time and energy I spend thinking about baseball. Or maybe you do.

As we head into the final month of the baseball season - and on the eve of a huge series between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees - I want to repeat something I've been saying nearly as long as I've been blogging.

Ever since my religious conversion (some would say exorcism) in the summer of 2003, I have wanted only two things.

One, for the Red Sox to win the division. The Yankees have ended their season on top of the American League East for the past 9 years (and 10 of the last 11 years). Even in 2004, when the Red Sox made the greatest comeback in baseball history - and the Yankees the greatest collapse - and the Red Sox went on to win their first World Series championship in 86 years, the Red Sox got to the playoffs through the wild card. That's fine with me, and with all of us. (Except one ancient New York sportswriter, but never mind him.)

But every citizen of Red Sox nation burns with the desire for the Red Sox to best their historical archrival to the top of the division. I am no different.

And two, I want the Yankees to not make the playoffs. No wild card. No nothing. They stay home. It would be the first postseason without the New York Yankees since 1995.

If you don't follow a sport and don't have a team, there's no way I can describe to you how badly I want these things to happen. One is much more important than the other, surely. But they both matter. A lot.

Right now, the Red Sox are all but a lock to win the division. I say "all but" because until we clinch, we can't really say. But as the days tick by, and our lead remains, it is increasingly likely. (The numbers are here - and now they're even better! - but I suspect any wmtc readers who are interested have probably already read this.)

The Yankees may yet still win the wild card. I don't think it's going to happen, but it could. I won't be crushed if they do. It's important, but secondary.

This is all I want. This is ALL I want. This is all I want.

Once we win the division, anything can happen. Of course I'll want the Red Sox to make it to the World Series, and of course I'll want them to win. But if they win the AL East, I'll have gotten my wish.

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A note to those friends of wmtc who don't care about this. That's fine. We don't have to all enjoy the same things. I don't read science fiction, I don't collect recipes, I don't scour YouTube for funny videos. There's no need to denigrate my interests merely because you don't care for baseball. (And it's baseball, by the way, not "sports"!)