From The Dugout with Coach Keith LeClair: What Curse?

East Carolina Hall of Famer and
former baseball coach Keith LeClair.
(Photo: ECU Media Relations)

Editor's note: This feature
coordinated by Denny O'Brien.

Editor's note: Now that his beloved Boston Red Sox have finally exorcised the hovering spectre of Babe Ruth from Fenway Park and the franchise, Coach Keith LeClair has announced he will end his one-year foray into baseball writing to pursue a more important calling. LeClair, sidelined by Lou Gehrig's Disease three years ago, has demonstrated in 35 "From The Dugout" columns penned since September of 2003 that he is as proficient at spinning an interesting baseball article as he is at coaching a championship team. He plans to focus his writing skills in the future on authoring Christian devotionals.

Hey, Mr. Ruth: Boston wins, Boston wins! The Bostonians are going crazy. Who would have ever thought the Sox could have won eight in row?

Could I be dreaming or is this real? Somebody hurry, pinch me, hit me, I don't care, just make sure I am still alive and this isn't some "Field of Dreams" movie being played in heaven. No it's official, they are flipping cars and tearing down light posts in Boston, so I am still alive.

Wow! What a couple of great weeks of late-October baseball. Could there be any possible better script to write putting the curse to rest? The Sox were down three games to zip to the Yankees, just coming off a 19-8 massacre and having to turn around and play the next day. The Yanks have the champagne on ice, the boss is tickled pink, and even GM Brian Cashman is seen smiling.

Meanwhile, the Boston fans are ready to fire manager Terry Francona and settle for another heartbreaking year heading into the winter season. But wait, Curt Schilling comes up with the slogan, "Keep the Faith", and pitch by pitch, out by out, inning by inning and game by game, the scraggly looking weekend softball team comes back from the dead and leaves the $200 million bionic team speechless. You know that the boss was spitting nails over that one.

So it's onto the World Series, to take on the red hot Cardinals, which was suppose to be a seven-game thriller. What happened? The Sox managed to commit eight errors in the first two games and still win. My man Schilling, with ALS written on the side of his blood-soaked sock, gave the most gutsy-wrenching performance I have ever seen. The message on his sock served to help bring awareness to Lou Gehrig's disease.

Was it not like you were watching the movie, "The Natural"? How many guys wouldn't have packed it in after his performance in Game Two versus the Yankees? I can answer that — zip.

In my opinion, his determination and will to win woke the Boston dugout up and spurred the rally to come back. From that point on, I think the Bosox believed in one another and were destined to win it all. And the rest of the story is history, leaving many to say — What curse? Babe who?

OK, I better not get carried away, because it could be another hundred years before it happens again.

Well, all that's left now is a big ole goat roaming around the streets of Chicago. Good luck Cubbie fans. I am pulling for you and have felt your pain. But not anymore. As of 11:23 p.m. on October 27th, 2004, my pain is gone.

Hey, Mr. Francona, I have to apologize to you for busting your chops at the All-Star break. You managed one heckuva comeback and World Series.

One thing, though. Tell your guys to get a haircut and shave before next season.

If you have a question or comment about the Pirates in particular or baseball in general, get a learned response by firing your best pitch at Ol' Condo. Submit your message by clicking the following e-mail link: E-mail Coach LeClair.