October 24, 1986 ...
No game scheduled ... The last trip of the season started this
morning when the Boston Red Sox gathered at Fenway Park, all packed
and ready to fly to New York, where the baseball championship of the
world will be decided at Shea Stadium.
The Sox themselves are trying to remain calm. The Red Sox
players are confident, but quiet.
The Sox gathered at Fenway at noon. Two buses were waiting
to escort the American League champs to Logan Airport. The postseason traveling
party included players' wives, plus owners Haywood Sullivan and Jean Yawkey,
front office personnel, scouts and equipment managers.
Standing under the Fenway stands waiting for the bus, Sox
scout Frank Malzone was getting some credit for Boston's mastery of Dwight
Gooden. About 30 fans and the usual litter of minicams stood outside the gates
and watched the Sox stroll from the park to the buses.
Glenn and Cheryl Hoffman carried their infant daughter,
Sarah. Marc and Angela Sullivan had 3-month-old Loreal Ashley, which meant there
were three generations of Sullivans in one bus. Jeff Sellers wore his ubiquitous
Tom Cruise sunglasses, and Bill Buckner smiled as he limped across the sidewalk.
The atmosphere was predictably convivial. Even Bob Stanley was cheered.
Shortly after noon, the buses pulled out from the Yawkey
Way curbs and turned down Lansdowne Street. A few employees came out of a color
lab and held their fists in the air. When the buses reached Boylston Street,
they lost all identity. The Sox could have been just another high school glee
club taking its annual field trip.
A tall downtown building was cloaked in a sign that read,
"Let's Go Red Sox."
