Muriel Breton keeps her Sox on, through thick and thin.
LEWISTON – Muriel Breton hopes the street sign outside her house might bring the Boston Red Sox a little luck.
The 72-year-old baseball fan lives on a short, dead-end street in the downtown area named Nomar Court. What’s more, it was Breton’s idea to name the street after her favorite baseball player, Nomar Garciaparra.
“I just thought he was better than the best we have,” Breton said Thursday, while preparing to watch Game 7 against the Yankees.
Three years ago, the City Council took suggestions for new street names as part of an Enhanced 911 effort to eliminate confusion for emergency personnel.
Breton, who lived on what was then known as Allen Court, weighed in with her idea. Why not name the street after one of the baseball’s top hitters?
“He’s the best thing to happen to the Red Sox since Ted Williams,” Breton told the City Council at the time.
And so it was done. Allen Court became Nomar Court and Breton continues to watch the Red Sox year after year. This year has been a particularly good one, she said, with dramatic comebacks, slumps and rallies.
“It’s hard to get to sleep after a game is over,” Breton said.
Nomar Court is off Oak Street. People don’t flock to the area to worship the street sign even in the post season. In fact, a lot of folks have no idea where the street got it’s interesting sounding name.
“Baseball fans know, but the rest of them, they have no idea,” Breton said.
In 2000, emergency officials wanted to do away with Allen Court to avoid confusion with Allen Avenue. It became one of 26 streets in the city to get a name change. As far as Breton knows, it was the only street named after a baseball player.
On Thursday, however, she was not thinking about City Council meetings, E-911 or anything that did not pertain to baseball. She was gearing up for the do-or-die Game 7 and still cheering for Nomar, who hit four times in Game 6.
“He was in a slump. I was hoping he’d come out of it,” Breton said. “And he did, just when they needed it most.”
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