23 June, 2005

Cape League champs get honor of last stop on tour

It was a doubly good night for the many Red Sox fans who went to Red Wilson Field in Yarmouth Monday.

They caught a glimpse at the Boston Red Sox World Series Championship Trophy and then watched the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox of the Cape Cod Baseball League pull out a dramatic ninth-inning victory over the Falmouth Commodores.

Young people, men, women, children, older folks and even infants wearing Red Sox T-shirts, hats, jerseys, sweatshirts and carrying pennants and other fan paraphernalia waited in line behind the third base dugout to have their picture taken with the trophy.

"It's big and shiny, too shiny," said young Brian Corbett about the World Series trophy. He came to see it with his mother, Danielle, and brothers, Patrick and Sean. "We're the Corbett family," he said.

Brian flashed the peace sign while Patrick held up a Boston Red Sox World Championship pennant as they posed with their mother and brother for pictures with the trophy.

It was the last stop on the World Series Trophy tour, which covered 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts and was sponsored by the Massachusetts Lottery Commission.

"It was another way to give something back to the towns and cities," said Mark Lucier, an auditor with the Lottery Commission who was traveling with the trophy.

The Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce was also on hand, providing the photographer free of charge to all fans who wanted to take advantage. And a lot of them did.

There were somewhere between 600 and 1,000 people who came to have their picture taken or to take their own pictures of the trophy, said Lynn Mason-Small of the Chamber.

"I'm a gigantic fan," said Tommy Dadmun, a Dennis-Yarmouth High School student from West Dennis who came with his friend and fellow student Kevin Hough.

"It's just awesome to see it up close. I've seen it on TV, but it's not the same thing," said Dadmun, explaining his fascination with the trophy. "It's the same trophy the Red Sox players all touched," he added.

Christine Boulette brought her seven-month-old son Hunter - with whom she was still pregnant when the Red Sox won the World Series last October - Hunter's grandmother, Val Usowicz, and a young friend, Dan Dolan.

Although Hunter fussed somewhat during the photo session, his mother insisted he is a big fan. "He has been a fan since in utero," she said.

Usowicz said, "It was his [Hunter's] first World Series. Hopefully there will be many more."

For Nancy Delorey, this was about the biggest event in her lifetime and it was a long time coming.

Delorey was wearing a Red Sox visor with Johnny Pesky's autograph on it. "I've been watching him since I was 16 years old," she said.

She has been a Red Sox fan since Pesky sent her an autographed black and white photo 57 years ago.

"I sent him a letter and a dollar for the autograph," she said. "He sent me the picture with his autograph and he sent me back the dollar, too."

So the trophy has special meaning to Delorey, who suffered through many losing seasons and near misses, beginning with the 1946 World Series loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. There is still a certain degree of loathing when she says the name, Enos Slaughter.

"It's been worth waiting for," she said. "And it's especially good because we had to go through the Yankees. It wouldn't have been the same if it was Minnesota."

In a rematch of last year's Cape League Championship Series teams, the Y-D Red Sox won a tough 5-4 come-from behind victory over the Falmouth Commodores to complete a great night for Red Sox fans.

Jim Rappaport of Stanford University drove in the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth with a double after the Red Sox scratched out a run in the seventh inning to tie the game.