OCTOBER REVOLUTION

The Boston Red Sox wrote themselves into the history books at just over an hour ago. The most amazing comeback of baseball history has been consummated, and Red Sox Nation is in excelsis, but also looking forward.

The sixty-eight hours between 12:02 am today and 8:20 pm on Saturday should be known as the Days of Two Faces. For now all Red Sox fans are looking in two directions at once. One face looks backwards, exulting, and finding freedom from the myth of Yankee invincibility. The outcome could not possibly have been more decisive nor more deeply etched in the consciousnesses of the Nation and the Empire. This first face is smiling too broadly to describe, laughing too loudly to hear, and walking too tall to measure.

Meanwhile, another face looks forward. Mission 2004 has surmounted one great obstacle, but the greater goal lies yet ahead. Failure is no further than it was before, though success lies nearer by. Verily, the road to success could not possibly be more excruciating than this most recent, but that by no means precludes failure.

Without minimizing the October Revolution, the Red Sox and the Nation must transition from the Face of Victory to the Face of Choice. We have all seen two Red Sox teams this season - and this series. Somehow, the Winning Red Sox, the Revolutionaries, the Victorious, must choose to take the field on Saturday; otherwise, the Curse will enter its 87th year not diminished in poignancy but enhanced.