Ken Davidoff

Ken Davidoff

MLB

‘Bean’ a long time coming! Excitement grows in Boston

BOSTON — To lend some further perspective to this 2013 World Series’ final leg, keep in mind that, since the Red Sox last clinched the Fall Classic at Fenway Park, 20 different franchises have celebrated their titles at home in a total of 25 different stadiums.

That includes the Yankees having done so eight times at the old Yankee Stadium and once more at their new one. It also includes the 1920 Indians at Dunn Field, the 1922 Giants at the Polo Grounds, the 1924 Washington Senators at Griffith Stadium, …well, you get the idea.

Hence the excitement Wednesday night at Fenway. The Red Sox’s Curse of the Bambino is long dead, the 2004 and 2007 championships serving as evidence. Yet both of those crowns came on the road, first the old Busch Stadium in St. Louis and then Coors Field in Denver, which is why we find ourselves discussing The Bambino once more.

On September 11, 1918 (World War I shortened the schedule), Babe Ruth entered World Series Game 6 as a defensive replacement for left fielder George Whiteman in the top of the eighth inning. The Red Sox proceeded to beat the Cubs, 2-1, for their fifth title — and most recent at Fenway, with Game 6 Wednesday presenting a new chance. Up three games to two over the Cardinals, the Red Sox must win just one to host a New England party.

“I couldn’t be happier for the opportunity for our organization,” legendary Red Sox outfielder Dwight Evans, now a player development consultant for the club, told The Post in a telephone interview. “From the owners down to everybody in the minor leagues.”

“I think it’s pretty evident with what went on in Boston this year that this would be absolutely fantastic for that great city,” Ken “Hawk” Harrelson said, in another telephone interview.

Evans played in the last game the Red Sox enjoyed such an opportunity, Game 7 of the 1975 World Series. The Red Sox, after staying alive in Game 6 thanks to Carlton Fisk’s 12th-inning homer over the Green Monster and just inside the left-field foul pole, dropped Game 7, 4-3 to the Reds.

And Harrelson played in the chance the Red Sox faced prior to ’75. The 1967 Red Sox’s “Impossible Dream” died in Game 7 at Fenway, when future Hall of Famer Bob Gibson led the Cardinals to a 7-2 thumping. Gibson threw a complete game, striking out 10, for his third victory of the series.

“We really didn’t have a chance,” said Harrelson, a longtime White Sox broadcaster (and a Yankees broadcaster in 1987 and 1988). “We had Yaz [Carl Yastrzemski], who was just fantastic. But they had Gibson.”

Gibson didn’t even have his fastball that night, Harrelson recalled; he got by on a sinker. Which is why, late in the game, Harrelson turned to his nemesis and said, “Gibby, you’re the greatest.”

“I just had to show him my respect,” Harrelson said.

Whereas the 1967 season felt like a dream for the Red Sox, ’75 just felt like the start of something, with Evans and his fellow youngsters Fred Lynn and Jim Rice at the outset of their careers. So there wasn’t as much heartbreak then.

“We had a team that we thought, ‘We’re going to be back in the next five years three or four times’,” Evans said. As it turned out, the Red Sox didn’t even qualify for the postseason again until 1986, when their epic World Series meltdown occurred at Shea Stadium against the Mets rather than in their own home.

Evans will be at the game Wednesday. Harrelson will be watching on TV from his Florida home, and he’ll be thinking about an issue far bigger than the remarkable turnaround posted by these Red Sox and first-year manager John Farrell: The strength the city displayed following the Boston Marathon attack.

“If they win the game tomorrow night, you can bet your __ that the Hawkeroo will have tears in his eyes,” Harrelson said. “I’ll be watching pitch by pitch.”

He won’t be the only one. After all, for anyone younger than 95, we’re looking at a potential first.