When the Red Sox are folding their tents each fall and I bemoan that I will not live long enough to see a title in Boston, my wife assures me that it will happen someday. Ruth Armstrong knows what I'm talking about. She is 81 years old and has never rooted for a professional team other than the Red Sox. It was during her seven years in Connecticut that she spent her time raising her young children and following the exploits of Red Sox stars Ted Williams and Dom Dimaggio on the radio. When I mentioned in a column last year of my great affection for the Red Sox, Armstrong called me up to let me know I had a compadre.
Baseball has a way of helping people make new friends.
During those years in Connecticut, she never made the drive to Fenway Park to see the Red Sox play. The closest she came to seeing a Red Sox player was Dave Ferriss, a pitcher from her hometown who she saw play in high school. Ferriss went 25-6 for the Red Sox during 1946, the year they lost the World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games. In 1957, Armstrong moved to Owensboro, when her husband was named secretary and club manager of the Moose Lodge. No matter where she lived, Armstrong kept up with the Red Sox, even if she was the only big baseball fan in the house.