Former Red Sox closer, Keith Foulke, announced today that he would be retiring from the game of baseball. Foulke spent the last two years fighting off nagging injuries, which left him sidelined for much of the seasons.
What makes this noteworthy is that Foulke was the pitcher who was on the mound in 2004 when the Red Sox won their first world series championship since 1918 -- thus ending the curse of the Bambino.
I remember watching the last game isolated from the rest of the world in my one bedroom apartment while in graduate school. I couldn't bring myself to watch it with anyone else around me. He came in to close the final game of the series, and I seriously felt like my heart was going to jump out from my chest. With each pitch he threw, I closed my eyes and hoped the batter would swing and miss. I could barely watch. Foulke never threw the ball hard, but changed speeds between his fastball and his changeup as well as anyone, which made him great. This worked out well for him, but anyone watching him nearly went into shock everytime he took the mound in a big spot.
When he got the final out of game 4, I remember breaking down into tears on my living room floor. It was a special moment in my life, as I knew that they had finally won the big one, and that my grandfather, a lifelong Red Sox fan, was watching the game, even if he didn't have all his bearings. I will forever remember this moment in my life, and how Keith Foulke played a significant role in it.
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