By BRENDAN MCGAIR

Sports writer

PAWTUCKET --- The World Series trophies helped warm up McCoy Stadium on Sunday.

Yes, trophies.

The presence of the shiny hardware served as a beacon of light on an otherwise dreary and bitter cold afternoon. They illuminated the gray skyline and brought smiles across the faces of the brave souls who waited patiently to get up-close with the two most significant symbols in Boston baseball history.
“This is a very special day in Rhode Island and for all of us in the Red Sox organization,” said Rhode Island native and Red Sox senior advisor Jeremy Kapstein, who greeted every fan with a handshake after posing with the trophies. “Seeing the absolute joy of our fans here is just great.
“The fans of Rhode Island are a huge part of Red Sox Nation, and of course the PawSox are an absolute jewel,” continued Kapstein. “One of the great things about Red Sox fans is their total devotion to the ball club.”
If deeper symbolism is your desire, it’s this: the trophies have dramatically altered the way Red Sox fans view the team.
The 2004 trophy put a capper on 86 long years that were filled with pain and torture. When it paid a visit to McCoy in 2005, people reacted as if the cycle of life was finally complete. The relief that poured out stretched from Ben Mondor Way to Downtown Providence and possibly beyond, touching young and old alike.
Pure and simple, the 2007 trophy forever changed Boston’s identity. No longer are we a culture that sits by the edge of our seats, wondering how the Red Sox are going to self-destruct and let us down.
Now, thanks to two championships separated by only four seasons apart, followers expect to be right in the thick of the chase all the time now.
Those who came with youngsters in tow Sunday can provide firsthand accounts about how the culture has changed in these parts. The parents try to explain villains such as Bucky Dent and Aaron Boone and how they were the catalysts in prolonging the misery, but when winning is all you know, it’s hard to take a walk on the other side.
“I try and tell them about the past, but they don’t understand,” said Mike Panciocco, traveling from Walpole, Mass. along with his wife Michelle and children Mike (age 8), Joe (six) and Danielle (four). “To tell them I never experienced a championship until they did, they say ‘What do you mean dad?’”
Representing the Red Sox, Kapstein noted the passion existed prior to the Boston fans having their prayers answered. “The trophies are special, but these fans cared about the Red Sox before 2004.”
You can’t, however, deny the impact of two trophies sitting side-by-side on a table after a drought lingered like a storm cloud for so long. “It’s great to have both of them in Rhode Island for the first time,” said Kapstein.
Amongst the glut of books that chronicled Boston’s dramatic ride to the ’04 crown was one written by Red Sox fans for Red Sox fans. The title is “Win It For … What a World Championship Means to a Generation of Red Sox Fans.”
The book’s theme was how relationships are brought together under one umbrella: the Boston Red Sox. Each anecdote is heartfelt and genuine, dedicated to someone unforgettable in their lives.
Had someone decided to do a follow-up based on last October’s Fall Classic conquering, the project likely would have been called “The Times Have Changed.”  No longer are we satisfied with just one, or for that matter, two championships.
We now expect pig piles on the mound, followed by Jonathan Papelbon’s river dance and eventually a rolling rally to cap off the celebration.
In short, we want to become spoiled and inundated like when the Celtics made winning the NBA title an annual rite of spring.
“It’s exciting because my son (Duncan) is starting to read about the Red Sox in the newspaper and he’s staying up later to watch the games; it’s very exciting,” said Rick Berghorn of Narragansett. “Whenever the Red Sox reached the World Series, you expected something to go wrong and the pit in your stomach still stays there.
“Even going into the second trophy it was still there, but I think officially the [Curse of the Bambino] is lifted.”
Rest assured the Berghorns aren’t the only folks around these parts who feel that way.