BEVERLY - In the summer of 2004, Rob Tilton and his wife, Katie, kept having the same argument. She wanted a third baby. He was perfectly content with two.
A solution seemed nowhere in sight as they sat together on the couch watching Red Sox games night after night in their Beverly home.
Then Rob came up with what he thought was a brilliant idea to buy him some time and peace. If his beloved Red Sox won the World Series that year, then he would agree to add another baby to the family.
"I never thought they'd win the World Series," Rob admitted.
Avery Kate Tilton turns 1 in two weeks. She drinks from a Red Sox bottle, sucks on a Red Sox pacifier, and, for Game 1 of the World Series, wore a pink and white Red Sox outfit in support of her needless-to-say favorite team.
"He was true to his word," Katie said.
That a husband would make such a bet to his wife makes perfect sense once Rob starts talking about what the Red Sox mean to him.
This is a man who watches every single Sox game from April to October. On nice summer days, he relies on TiVo so he can watch the games at a more convenient time at night. Friends and family are mindful not to talk about the score in his presence. He shields his eyes if he comes across a TV screen.
If the Red Sox lose, Rob said, his family knows to stay away from him for 10 to 15 minutes. He needs time.
"I take it personally if they don't win. I really do," said Rob, 38, a bookkeeper/Web designer. "If they lose to bad teams like the Devil Rays ... then I really get mad."
But, win or lose, the team has captured his heart - and body. He wears a Red Sox hat, Red Sox shirt and Red Sox boxers most days (fleeces when the temperature drops). His computer screen saver is Red Sox; same for his cell phone wallpaper. His Red Sox wallet is where he keeps his official membership cards to Red Sox Nation and Rem-Dawg Nation.
His Red Sox license plate is No. 225, one of the first issued. As soon as the tattoo shop reopens in downtown Beverly, he plans to get a "B" tattooed on his leg, along with the initials of his three children.
Rob grew up in Marblehead, with parents who didn't follow baseball, yet he can't remember a time when the Red Sox weren't a part of his life. The pull is hard to explain, impossible to ignore.
A solution seemed nowhere in sight as they sat together on the couch watching Red Sox games night after night in their Beverly home.
Then Rob came up with what he thought was a brilliant idea to buy him some time and peace. If his beloved Red Sox won the World Series that year, then he would agree to add another baby to the family.
"I never thought they'd win the World Series," Rob admitted.
Avery Kate Tilton turns 1 in two weeks. She drinks from a Red Sox bottle, sucks on a Red Sox pacifier, and, for Game 1 of the World Series, wore a pink and white Red Sox outfit in support of her needless-to-say favorite team.
"He was true to his word," Katie said.
That a husband would make such a bet to his wife makes perfect sense once Rob starts talking about what the Red Sox mean to him.
This is a man who watches every single Sox game from April to October. On nice summer days, he relies on TiVo so he can watch the games at a more convenient time at night. Friends and family are mindful not to talk about the score in his presence. He shields his eyes if he comes across a TV screen.
If the Red Sox lose, Rob said, his family knows to stay away from him for 10 to 15 minutes. He needs time.
"I take it personally if they don't win. I really do," said Rob, 38, a bookkeeper/Web designer. "If they lose to bad teams like the Devil Rays ... then I really get mad."
But, win or lose, the team has captured his heart - and body. He wears a Red Sox hat, Red Sox shirt and Red Sox boxers most days (fleeces when the temperature drops). His computer screen saver is Red Sox; same for his cell phone wallpaper. His Red Sox wallet is where he keeps his official membership cards to Red Sox Nation and Rem-Dawg Nation.
His Red Sox license plate is No. 225, one of the first issued. As soon as the tattoo shop reopens in downtown Beverly, he plans to get a "B" tattooed on his leg, along with the initials of his three children.
Rob grew up in Marblehead, with parents who didn't follow baseball, yet he can't remember a time when the Red Sox weren't a part of his life. The pull is hard to explain, impossible to ignore.
"I don't know what I'd do without the Red Sox," he said.
His older children, ages 5 and 8, know the names of the players. They wear the jerseys with pride. But Rob said they are only interested in the games when they want to stay up past bedtime.
"They're still young," Rob said. "They'll get into it."
Red Sox fans are not always rational. Rob admits this to be true.
In 2004, after the Red Sox lost three straight games to the New York Yankees, Rob got so mad he decided to wear a Yankees hat for Game 4, out of spite. Then they started winning. When he took the hat off, they made mistakes and didn't play as well.
So Rob knew he what he needed to do, even if it meant enduring dirty looks wherever he went.
"Wearing that Yankees hat killed me," Rob said, "but I had to."
When the Red Sox defeated the Yankees, and before Game 1 of the World Series, Rob and a friend dug a hole in the backyard, threw in his Yankees cap and lit it on fire. Soon after, the 86-year curse was broken.
In the middle of winter, whenever feeling blue and sick of snow, Rob likes to pull out the Red Sox 2004 World Series DVD.
"It brings tears to his eyes when he watches it," Katie said.
"Still does," Rob said.
Maybe this winter he will watch a DVD that captures the 2007 World Series win. Rob predicts the Red Sox will take the championship in six games. But the Tilton family won't grow any bigger no matter what the final outcome, Rob said.
"I didn't make any bets this time."
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