Believer Definition:

1. A person who believes that a specified thing is effective, proper, or desirable.
“I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason.” 

2. An adherent of a particular religion; someone with religious faith.

“Believers” is a word that refers to people who have faith in something. Usually, god or Jesus or some kind of deity. In regards to this documentary, it refers to the passionate fan base of The Boston Red Sox. A fanbase who for many years have felt terrible because their team hadn’t won a World Series in 86 years up until the 2004 year. In fact, some of the ways they lost in that span of time have been some of the most painful ways of losing baseball games ever. With each loss in the World Series, the Boston fans have felt closer to their team and town. This documentary shows what it felt like for many of the people who would consider themselves believers of this legendary franchise. 

This is a three part docu-series on ESPN that gives viewers the three phases of faith. Book 1: Doubt, Book 2: Hope and Book 3: Transcendence. With each episode of this docu-series you get celebrities telling their stories of how they felt during the years before, during, and after the greatest comeback in sports history. Men and women who were from Boston and felt the agony year after year growing up in the surrounding Boston area. The series was produced by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, two massive Boston Red Sox fans with their Artists’ Equity production company. There is a bit of a one-sided slant to this story.

As a fan of this team, The Boston Red Sox, I, too, could commiserate with the plight of Boston Red Sox fans everywhere. I grew up in Lowell, Massachusetts, a stone’s throw from Boston. I watched the Red Sox as a young boy in the early 80s, and I was ten years old in 1986. This is the most transcendent moment for me as a fan of this team. It solidified my own love and fandom of this team. I watched the 86 World Series with my father and he went to sleep because he thought the Red Sox were going to win game 6, and unfortunately they had one of the worst collapses in World Series history cementing Bill Buckner as a hated man in Boston with Bucky Dent, and Aaron Boone. I proceeded to cry myself to sleep, and the Red Sox proceeded to lose game 7 and continue the proverbial “Curse of the Bambino”. This strengthened what I already knew about myself. It made me a stronger fan of this great franchise.

The series was narrated by Bill Burr and he had great perspectives on his experience with being a fan of this team. He wasn’t the only one, though. There were plenty of talking heads in this documentary.  Dart Adams, a historian, Dennis LeHane, an author, Kate Nolan, a Boston personality, Richard Williams, journalist, Maria Menounos, celebrity tv host, Steve Buckley, historian, Uzo Aduba, an actress, and Donnie Wahlberg, musician and actor. It was pretty impressive listening to all of these accounts of people who felt so similar to me and thought the way that I did. I was genuinely enthralled by all of these various recollections of what happened from their points of view. It just shows how far-reaching this Fandom is.

A major part of the show was the hate for the evil empire the New York Yankees. How they ended up with Babe Ruth, in a trade, which started the aforementioned “Curse of the Bambino”. The Yankees proceeded to win 27 World Series Championships in this span of time. In 2003, they walked off with the ALCS win with the homer off of knuckleballer Tim Wakefield in game 7 in extra innings. 2004 was a new year, though, and all of Red Sox Nation had high hopes despite what happened the year before. And so many times prior to this occasion. Once again, these two historic franchises, in arguably the best rivalry in sports,  got to renew this storied rivalry with the craziest outcome in sports history. The first ever 3 to 0 comeback in MLB playoff history. It was the only way for The Red Sox to reverse the curse if you will. They, of course, went on to sweep the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series, another team that has had The Red Sox number over the years. Specifically, the 1967 World Series victory over the Impossible Dream Team. 

With this docu-series being about the reverse, the curse team it wouldn’t be the same if they didn’t have some of the ex-players and characters of that team. Kevin Millar, MLB personality, Johnny Damon,  ex-Red Sox and Yankee Centerfielder, David Ortiz, ex-DH and Boston clutch playoff hero, Curtis Shilling, starting pitcher and ALCS hero, author of the literal bloody sock game. These guys gave a great first-hand perspective off the season and games that were played that changed everything for the believers like myself and so many others in this great documentary. I loved hearing everything these guys had to say about one of these scenarios surrounding this historical sports moment.

Two technical aspects of the film were a timeliness on screen showing the history of this franchise through the years. The timeline started back in 1918 at the Curse of the Bambino Moment and went all the way through to the 2018 season where The Red Sox won their fourth World Series in 15 seasons. There was also some animation thrown in to add a bit of levity to the story. The typical documentary stuff was also in here as there was quite a bit of archival footage that showed all of the different moments in the history of this team, their players and games they’ve played over the years. The many photos were also pretty cool to see again after all these years.

Believers is a docu-series that professes that The Boston Red Sox are akin to a biblical situation, and supporting them is like supporting Jesus in a way. That’s how sports can be for those who support their team on a certain level. All the men and women who give their perspective on this franchise, these important games, and historical moments brought back so many memories for me as a fan. Being a fan of this team from when I was a little kid, I got where all these people were coming from. I have been a fan of some of these personalities, like Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, for many years as well. I can honestly commiserate with their take on this team and their love. This was a fantastic documentary that brought back so much emotion for me being a fan of this team my entire life. All Red Sox fans should love this film, hopefully as much as I did. 

5 stars

Dan Skip Allen