FARMINGTON – In his Orchard Park apartment, Dick Mallett remembers the glory days.
At 95 years old, Mallett can recall seeing the Boston Red Sox win it all in 1918. “They had unusual players then,” Mallett says, “like the Babe.”
He’s a Red Sox fan, the True Faith, one that has been a personal struggle for him since he was 6.
As a kid, he chose to be a Sox fan. “Everyone likes a winning team,” he says.
Seventeen-year-old Will Underkuffler, self-proclaimed “most knowledgeable fan at Mt. Blue High School,” is a contrast to Mallett’s extended career as a Sox fan: Underkuffler is too young to even remember Bill Buckner’s infamous blunder that cost the Sox Game 6 of the World Series in 1986.
There’s a glimmer of excitement in his eyes as he deftly recalls the intricacies of the three-team trade that sent Nomar Garciaparra packing for Chicago and Orlando Cabrera into Beantown. He feels there should be an entrance exam at Fenway Park so that only the diehards can appreciate what he calls the “constant buzz” of the historic ballpark.
Fenway will soon be buzzing again as the playoffs get under way. The Red Sox have already clinched a spot in the postseason.
Boston made the playoffs as a wild card last season and lost to the Yankees in the American League Championship Series.
With almost 80 years separating them, these two Farmington natives have different outlooks on the national pastime. They share a lot, too.
Recently, in separate interviews, they related their feelings about the sport and about why they keep the faith.
Mallett and Underkuffler, like all dedicated Sox fans, both have had their share of heartbreaks.
Underkuffler calls Aaron Boone’s 11th-inning home run in Game 7 of last year’s American League Championship Series his most disappointing memory.
Mallett sees it as trivial. One play, one series, doesn’t faze this veteran.
His worst memory spans a decade. Mallett remembers the 13 years between 1920 and 1933 as “the days of poor pitching.” Back in those days, Mallett says in a leathery voice, “the Sox could have a 13-run lead and you still wouldn’t feel comfortable.” It was during this span that the Sox management sold Babe Ruth and the rest of their best players, mostly to the Yankees.
These dark ages of the franchise calloused Mallett: The next 70 years of frustration didn’t get underneath his skin. At times, he has resolved not to watch the Sox anymore, but he always comes back.
“Every now and then, there’s an unusual player or combination of players. A glimmer of hope,” Mallet says “like having two of the best pitchers in the game on the same team.”
He’s referring to the present combination of Red Sox starting pitchers Pedro Martinez and Curt Schilling.
So why do they keep the faith? There’s just something about baseball.
“There’s no other sport that I know of that involves you as emotionally and mentally,” Mallett says. “It’s an intricate game of statistics and strategy that always has an element of surprise.”
“It’s a back-and-forth drama with an explosion,” says Underkuffler. At any moment, he says, the explosion can happen, and dreams can come true or hopes shatter.
The intricacy, the interaction, the dedication and the drama of baseball: Those components endure. The major rules of the sport haven’t changed much over the past century. The mentality of the diehard fans hasn’t wavered, either.
However, their devotion to the game doesn’t necessarily explain why they stay devoted to the Red Sox.
Is it regional pride? Tradition? Obstinacy?
“Fans don’t give their loyalties with a rational approach,” Mallett explains.
Besides, he says, with a smirk and a hint of stubborn pride, “Only rats desert a sinking ship.”
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