Lobel: April 20th Has Been Good to Boston

By Bob Lobel (@boblobel)

April 20th is not a holiday in the Commonwealth, but it should be. 

If there were a convention of days, when all 365 of them would get together like the College of Cardinals, and decide which ones would be regular old 24-hour days, and some very special ones would be designated as new holidays, April 20th would be nominated in Boston. 

Check out the last two years!   

April 20th, 2013 was the day of the David Ortiz F-Bomb, and the Neil Diamond 6-minute live version of "Sweet Caroline," plus a scintillating comeback by the Red Sox, capped off by a Daniel Nava three-run home run against Kansas City. Some would say that on April 20th 2013, the day after they caught the punk kid hiding in a boat in Watertown, that this was the day the healing began. 

It was the day that “Boston Strong” went from a slogan to part of the culture. Fast forward to April 20th, 2014 and an almost identical scenario played out at Fenway Park. Ok, there was no public cursing by Ortiz, or public performance by any Neil Diamond, but the Dropkick Murphys were there and the Red Sox presented the injured and healing from last year’s bombing, and again, first  responders were honored. As for the game against Baltimore, well it played itself out like April 20th do… Gomes, three-run home run, coming back from a 5-0 deficit to win it in the last few innings. So there you go!

The case has been presented for holiday status for April 20th based on performance alone. Plus you can never have too many holidays. That should be the new slogan on Massachusetts license plates:  “You can never have too many holidays.”  

Our special day was also the jumping off point for last year’s world champions. After that emotional tipping point, they never looked back.  Could this be a repeat?  “Wait for it” is the new phrase and for now we can make it work for us.  This is a sweet time for the local baseball team because the local hockey team should be grasping all the attention. 

There will be plenty left after the hockey guys finish their appointed task (rhymes with Rask).  They are the best team.  Unfortunately the best team doesn’t always win, the hot teams do (see Tim Thomas).  

Although it’s difficult to recall a more well-rounded or tougher team with the skill the Bruins possess.   

If you could pick a team to hop on the train with, this is the one. It will be the absolute great fortune for the Red Sox if the hockey counterparts could take this as deep as possible.  Best case scenario is that if the Bruins are fortunate enough to have another parade, the attention of the fan base will turn to the Red Sox and see  them in the place they have been accustomed to finding them. 

One more thing, the Bruins evened their series against Detroit on April 20th. I rest my case.