Winning championships in Boston is nothing like winning in other cities. The city captures both the small city approach of having only one team per sport, but also the large city mentality of playing in a sizable market. Boston has done its share of winning in the 21st century. Each of the four pro teams has lifted its respective championship trophy, and duck boats have been driven down Boylston as much as commuting vehicles on the Mass Pike.
Yet, one team has been revered in Boston for the past ten years, and will have a special place in the town’s history forever. Meet the 2004 Boston Red Sox.
On Wednesday, the Red Sox held a reunion for the 2004 team. Pedro Martinez, Manny Ramirez, Johnny Damon, and many others all graced their Red Sox jerseys once more at Fenway Park.
The 2004 team was a team of destiny. It was destined that closer Keith Foulke’s 2003 team, the Oakland Athletics, would lose the American League Division Series to the Red Sox after leading the best of five 2-0.
It was destined that pitcher Tim Wakefield would leave a knuckleball hanging to Yankees third baseball Aaron Boone in the eleventh inning of Game 7 of the the 2003 American League Championship Series. It was destined that first baseball Bill Buckner would let the ball roll between his legs in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.
Derek Jeter had to dive into the stands at Yankee Stadium in July 2004 to catch a pop-up. Of course, it had to happen with Red Sox star shortstop Nomar Garciaparra sitting on the bench. The Red Sox had to trade Garciaparra and land Orlando Cabrera and Doug Mientkiewicz, who caught the ball from Foulke to end the 86 year curse.
The Red Sox couldn’t end the curse without defeating the New York Yankees. They couldn’t avenge the ghosts that had circled Fenway Park since 1918 until they got through the team that had won 26 World Series titles to that point.
It was only fitting that the Yankees had landed superstar shortstop Alex Rodriguez in the offseason when the Red Sox had failed earlier. The Yankees always won these things. The Red Sox did not.
But that all changed on an October night at Fenway Park, when New York closer Mariano Rivera took the mound with a one run lead in the ninth inning. The Yankees were leading the series 3-0 with the league best’s closer on the mound. Done deal.
Or not. First baseman Kevin Millar walked, and Dave Roberts pinch ran for him. Roberts took off for second base in what is probably the most iconic image of the ’04 team. Yankees catcher Jorge Posada’s throw was milliseconds late. Bill Mueller then singled up the middle, and the game was tied.
The game didn’t end until David Ortiz hit a ball into the bullpen, and the Red Sox had life. Game 5 featured another David Ortiz walk-off in the fourteenth inning.
In Game 6, Curt Schilling pitched in one of the most famous games in MLB history, the “Bloody Sock” game. Schilling was brought in by the Red Sox to do one thing: beat the Yankees. The Bronx Bombers had a chance to eliminate the Sox with Schilling pitching on a bad ankle. He delivered for the Red Sox.
Game 7 was never really close. Johnny Damon hit two home-runs, and Derek Lowe pitched well enough to earn the win.
If the ALCS was a sprint, the World Series was a walk along the Charles River. The St. Louis Cardinals of 2004 were no match for the Red Sox, losing in four games.
When St. Louis shortstop Edgar Renteria hit a chopper back to closer Keith Foulke in the bottom of the ninth inning of the fourth game, it was time to avenge 86 years worth of disappointment. The torturous thoughts of Bucky “bleeping” Dent’s home run in 1978 disappeared like the “1918” chants at Yankee Stadium.
The sight of Bill Buckner losing the ball through his legs had vanished. The image of Wakefield walking off of the Yankee Stadium mound with the home team celebrating disapparated into thin air.
When Foulke took a couple of steps towards first base and underhanded the baseball to Mientkiewicz, the image of the loser Red Sox was gone. Foulke leaped into catcher Jason Varitek’s arms, and it was time to celebrate at Busch Stadium.
No one said it better than Fox play-by-play man Joe Buck, who summarized the feelings of New Englanders with his call of the final pitch of the 2004 World Series. “Back to Foulke, Red Sox fans have longed to hear it, the Boston Red Sox, are World Champions” were the words that Buck said on that night at Busch Stadium.
There have been countless championships in Boston before that and to this day, but none can compare to the 2004 Red Sox. When the Red Sox won in 2004, the Patriots had won two Superbowls in three years, and would go on to win their third in four.
In 2008, the Celtics, the NBA’s most storied franchise, broke a 22 year drought. In 2011, the Bruins shattered a 39 year drought.
Yet, none was as special as the baseball team that plays in cozy Fenway Park. On the day the Red Sox clinched, then center fielder Johnny Damon summarized it best when he said “You know, a lot of people say they didn’t want to die until the Red Sox won the World Series. Well, there could be a lot of busy ambulances tomorrow.”
So when the Red Sox invite back the entire 2004 team, it is a huge deal, because they are still relevant today. A group of “Idiots” brought together by destiny ended an 86 year old curse, while changing their status from “the lovable loser” to become the team that would eventually win three World Series titles in ten years.
The 2004 Boston Red Sox showed us that it takes grit, character, and pride to break an 86 year curse. And that’s why that group of 25 will be loved in Boston forever.
[Photo Credit: Jim David/ Boston Globe]
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