Sox fans look to possible World Series vs. Mookie
Boston Red Sox fans are thrilled with their team’s pennant race against the Houston Astros, but they’re already craving a reunion against former Fenway slugger Mookie Betts if the Sox and Dodgers can both advance to the World Series.
“I’d love to beat the Dodgers and beat Mookie Betts,” said Sox fan John Kelley, who was one of many Fenway faithful who stopped by the team store Friday to buy new gear.
Kelley admitted many fans didn’t foresee the team reaching the American League Championship Series after a miserable 2020 season.
“The only guys that counted them in were the guys in that locker room. Even we didn’t. We didn’t know. Now that we’ve seen them play all year long, we’ve been so lucky,” he said.
Fans largely credit manager Alex Cora with the team’s success. Chief Baseball Operator Chaim Bloom brought Cora back to the Sox after a year off, following Cora’s implication in a league-rocking cheating scandal back when he coached with the Houston Astros.
Now, Cora and his players are back in the very place where he got into trouble to try to win the pennant against his old club.
“He’s gone through a lot, a lot of adversity to take his team back to the playoffs. That means a lot. He knows what he’s doing,” Sox fan Elco Armendariz said.
“I’ve seen a big, progressive change after Alex’s absence for a little while. It seems like there’s a lot more teamwork. There’s higher spirits,” Sox fan Cody Bastien said.
The Red Sox won’t play at Fenway until Monday, Oct. 18, but tickets to their homestead against the Astros already sold out after going on sale at 10:00 a.m. Friday morning. Fans can still buy tickets from reseller sites like HigTickets.com, but the cheapest seats and standing room only passes start at $192 for Game 3.
The Red Sox have won the American League pennant 14 times, with the last win in 2018. The Sox, under Cora, went on to win the World Series that year.
Fans said they adore this scrappy team, which just eeked into the postseason with a Wild Card win over the Yankees. They’re bullish on the team to return to the World Series this year.
“They always come back. They’ve come back with less, and they’ve gone further. So I think they can keep going. It would be awesome to see another win,” Sox fan Andrea Driscoll said.
Fans look forward to a win especially if that World Series showdown would be against Mookie Betts, who switched to the Los Angeles Dodgers in early 2020.
Betts was a fan favorite, and Sox supporters are still a little bitter about watching him win the 2020 World Series in Dodger blue.
“They gave up Mookie, or L.A. took Mookie — however that went down, we’re going to show him it was a bad decision to leave,” Bastien said.