New Englanders recognize the magnitude of the Red Sox erasing a 3-0 deficit to shock the New York Yankees in seven games to capture the American League pennant.
Here's how a sampling of New York-based sports writers chronicled the collapse in the Thursday morning papers:
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"The darkest moment in Yankee history descended upon The Bronx last night when the plucky Red Sox climbed baseball's steepest and slipperiest postseason slope to cop the ALCS at Yankee Stadium. ... Nothing on the field compares to The Colossal Collapse. Twenty-six World Series victories? They might as well be Parkchester Tavern League titles."
-- George King, N.Y. Post
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"It was actually happening. The nerd was kissing the homecoming queen. Paper was beating scissors; scissors were beating rock. Charlie Brown was kicking the football. The Red Sox were beating the Yankees for the American League pennant."
- Tyler Kepner, The New York Times
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"There remains one final victory before The Curse of the Bambino is broken, but the Red Sox have destroyed the Evil Empire. The Olde Towne Team danced on Babe's grave last night at Yankee Stadium. Their former House of Horrors is now their house. The Red Sox are the Yankees' daddy as they beat them for the first time ever in the postseason."
-- Kevin Kernan, N.Y. Post
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"After all these years in the big game, when the Red Sox's path to happiness was crossed too often by a black cat, they found a sure-fire way to avoid further heartache. They simply refused to put themselves in position to be victimized last night. They removed suspense and the Yankees right from the start. They turned Yankee Stadium so silent, you could hear 56,129 hopes drop."
- Shaun Powell, Newsday
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"The City that Never Sleeps, weeps. The world is upside down today. Bucky Dent and Aaron Boone struck out. Bill Buckner caught the ground ball. The Curse is Reversed. Hell froze over and drowned New York in unimaginable sorrow. The Boston Bleeping Red Sox, who haven't won anything since 1918, who are the first team in Major League Baseball history to overcome a 3-0 deficit, are going to the World Series. The Yankees are supposed to make history, not be history. ... So The Hearse of the Bambino lies empty."
-- Steve Serby, N.Y. Post
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"They finished up a baseball miracle last night, a Boston miracle at Yankee Stadium, a miracle that will be talked about with all curses back in Boston from now on. The Red Sox finished off their miracle and finished off the Yankees and officially became one of the best stories of all time, in any sport, in any ballpark or arena where a team is told that you are never supposed to give up, not even if that team is the Red Sox."
- Mike Lupica, N.Y. Daily News
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"Red Sox fans had seen too many dismal reverses, too many bad bounces, since the last pennant in 1986, since Babe Ruth was sold in 1920, since the Sox last won a World Series in 1918. Jerry Coleman. Bucky Dent. Aaron Boone. Pick a generation. Pick a disaster. But you did not have to be steeped in the various myths and curses and legends that have accrued in this rivalry to know that something deep and genetic was going on. This went beyond the contemporary he-hate-me bravado of athletes. This was in the blood."
-- George Vecsey, The New York Times
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"Outnumbered, surrounded and, as always, cursed, the Red Sox last night escaped the clutches of all those who would deny them. In no particular order, they scared off the ghosts, ran off the demons, beat the odds and fed the historians. Most of all, they asserted themselves and pummeled the Yankees."
- Marty Noble, Newsday
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The symbolism is that A-Rod was the face of a Yankee team not as tough as Boston. The Red Sox were Michael Corleone in the final scene of "The Godfather," settling all scores accumulated over 86 frustrating years. Rodriguez was supposed to make sure that never happened. He was supposed to be the new Ruth. ... Starting last night a new reality had swept baseball -- The Curse of A-Rod."
-- Joel Sherman, N.Y. Post
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"Home to so many memorable moments, Yankee Stadium added a shocking page to its scrapbook last night: The greatest collapse in baseball history. It's going to be a long, long winter for George Steinbrenner's Yankees and their fans. The 2004 Yankees, kings of the comeback from April through early October, wound up as princes of the choke job."
- Ken Davidoff, Newsday
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