(Note to readers: These are all thoughts from my memory. I did not want to taint them by doing research. They will be factual, however I may be off by an inning or two when recalling events so bear with me.)
Going into Game 4 of the 04 ALCS...
The hours leading up to this game will forever be known as the prime (and climax) of the Curse of the Babe. Coming off Aaron Boone's heroics in 2003,the Yankees used the 04' regular season to destroy the will of Sox nation (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNAJMSALjXg&feature=related thanks MLB for not allowing this to be seen in its glory) which I happened to witness live and in person. Leaving the stadium that night, the fans at the Stadium taunted Red Sox fans so viciously that most of them just put their heads down and looked like they wished they could root for a different team. Their favorite team was in third place in the AL East, twelve games back of the first place Yankees.
After a late season streak by the Sox propelled them to within 1.5 games of the Yankees and a showdown at Fenway in mid-September. As always, the Yankees battled their way to a series win, including a series opening loss in which Pedro couldn't hold onto multiple leads,and declared that the Yankees were his Daddy. Life was good.
Both the Yanks and Sox looked good in dismantling small market foes in Minnesota and Oakland respectively. There were a couple of relevant stories heading into the ALCS showdown,and then into Game 4
1. On the eve of the series, two of Rivera's relatives-including-a 14-were electrocuted to death in Rivera's swimming pool at his home in Panama.
2. Curt Schilling popped off to the media about the great feeling it would be to "shut up 56000" fans
3. Whether was terrible and rain would certainly play a large factor in a potential comeback
4. Games one through three were won so masterfully and thoroughly that it kind of made you feel bad for Sox fans
5. John Olerud was injured in Game three, causing the salty haired Tony Clark to get the nod at first
Game 4
-Alex (I refer to ARod as Alex) bombs a two run home run off Derek Lowe in the third inning to open up the scoring. It would be the last meaningful hit he'd have for five years...literally
-Clinging to a 4-3 lead in the eighth inning, Alex strikes out with a runner on third and one out. History would have forever changed if he had hit a lazy fly ball to center
-It will always kill me that Kevin Millar didn't have to even swing the a bat in that lead off walk
-Dave Roberts...overrated transvestite
-Even after the blown save, I can't overstate how calm and confident I was about that series. In fact, I went to bed in the eleventh inning before the game even ended, assuming the Sox would win their token game at home
-Rivera was the only worry that I had. Being a closer is all about attitude and confidence. Till the day I die, I will believe that Rivera was highly effected by the deaths at his home, and didn't have any swagger
Game 5
-After a rousing game of backyard baseball with McKeever, we enter the house to watch the late afternoon showdown
- I remember that I didn't think that either starter (Pedro or Mike Messina) looked very sharp
-The bases clearing triple that Jeter got in the sixth was such a classic Yankee dynasty hit. I really didn't think the Sox had a snowballs chance in hell after that hit put the Yanks up 4-2 with only nine outs left for the Sox
- That all changed when Tom "tight as a drum" Gordon came in the game and threw up all over the field. Looking back on this series seven years later, he's one of the five goats I have for the Yankees in their epic choke. For some reason when Mr. Ortiz hit that rocket over the monster to cut the lead to 4-3, I started to panic. Apparently so did the Yankees
-This is a good time to mention that McKeever is still at my house. I highly suggest that if you re a fan of someone else's bitter rival, than you probably shouldn't watch the biggest game in the history of that rivalry with fans of the opposing team. Poor Dan was watching the greatest inning of his life-one that you knew as you were watching that it may be the start of something historical-and had to contain himself as this all was going on. The collective hate and anger from my family was tangible, not in any way friendly natured. I will give Dan lots of credit for not going crazy as the Sox tied that game. It would be the equivalent of me watching the eighth inning of game 7 of the 03 ALCS and staying under control. For the record Dan left after that inning and got to enjoy the rest of the game with is family the way it should have been. When he left the house nobody uttered anything either way, even my mother couldn't look at Dan-a Sox fan-at that point.
-Rivera getting charged with a blown save in Game 5 is the most unfair stat of all time. Rivera came in with a runner on third and nobody out and gave up a sac fly-Tom Gordon blew the save.
-Another reason I hate Fenway...Tony Clark hits a two out double in extra innings that would have scored the runner on first in every park in the majors...except Fenway. That joke side show of a park has a five or six foot fence that the ball promptly hopped over. Nobody scores
-Our first (of many) mistakes by Joe Torre in the collapse. Jason Veritek is catching Wakefield's knuckle ball in extra innings at the same rate that Ray Charles would have. I mean he probably caught at most 50% of the pitches Wakefield threw. The Yankees did have men on base too. And yet, not one frigging stolen base attempt. The seriousness of the situation was growing with each out, and inning where the Yankees weren't putting the Sox away.
-Most of games 4-7 seem like they happened in a flash, like some kind of avalanche. There were only two instances in the series that seemed to take place in super-slow motion. The fourteenth inning of Game 5 is one of them (the other will be mentioned). I can remember poor Estaban Loaiza was the sacrificial lamb that was sent out for that brutal half inning. After what I remember to be a lead off single to Damon, he eventually made it to third base with two outs. This sets the stage for one of the most painful at bats I've ever witnessed. I've got to hand it to Esteban, for being such a crappy pitcher, he put up a pretty good battle. He made quality pitch after quality pitch which Ortiz would promptly fight off. That's what great hitters due when they're in a steroid induced zone. In the roughly three minute, twelve pitch at bat we all knew we were delaying the inevitable. Ortiz was going to end this game, and sure enough he did-he fought off a cutter and plunked a single to center field, Damon scores, game over, we are headed back to the Bronx for game 6.
Game 6
-I could hardly sleep after Game 5. Losing back to back historically painful games will do that to you
- To say that I was nervous that Jon Leiber was my team's game six starter is one of the biggest understatements I've ever made
- I want to publicly vent my feelings on Schilling and the bloody sock since facebook and Twitter were not around in 2004...
Curt Schilling's game six performance from a pitching standpoint was masterful, and one of the most clutch performances that I've ever seen in my life. HOWEVA, in regards to the bloody sock and such, I don't now or ever want to hear about it. First of all, this was game 172 of the season for both teams, so all pitchers involved are hurting by the end of October. Certainly Schilling had a serious injury. I'd like one thing explained to me though. If this injury was so mortally serious, how did Schilling still manage to keep his velocity in the low to mid 90's all night? Anybody who's ever had a serious ankle injury would tell you how impossible the thought of going into a full wind up and powering through a pitching motion and be able to throw 94 MPH would be. If Curt went out there and gutted it through six innings throwing 85 MPH throwing slop up there that would be one thing. Schilling was throwing 93-95 with a devastating split for 100 pitches, and you re telling me he was that seriously injured? Please. As for the blood on the sock, you really can have the same thing happen when you have a blister, it's happened to me and lots of people I know. What was happening, was his foot exploding within his sneaker? Schilling pitched an unreal game, but it makes me sick when I hear people speak of how he battled through the frigging bloody sock. Sometimes fans and the media just manufacture a hero, and this is one of those times.
-Mark Bellhorn was probably the worst position player not named Tony Clark in this series. The guy totally sucked. He was a strikeout machine-and yet he always scared me for some reason even though I couldn't justify it. In the fourth inning of game 6 the homeless mans Johnny Depp hit a 319 foot opposite field home run down the 318 left field line. In the blink of an eye, 4-0 Sox. Beyond panic.
- I've now had almost seven years to reflect on the eighth inning. At the time I really did feel the Yankees were making their classic comeback like always. The rally was in full swing when Alex hit his famous chopper to Bronson Arroyo. I've waffled back and forth many times on how I felt about the karate chop. My final stance? I defend it. Put it this way, it very nearly almost worked. I mean Alex could either have let Arroyo tag him out, or he could pull a fast one. Baseball is a game all about pulling fast ones and getting away with it. If you remember the initial call on the field had him safe. If it stands a run scores (making it 4-3) and there are runners on first and second and one out. Say and hate all you want, if the umps don't get together it easily could be the Yanks that we talk about with another epic comeback. Instead it's just a really funny way to rile up the McKeever family when you bring it up.
-On the short list of MVP's for the Sox comeback, Keith Foulke has to be near the top. He was spectacular in the series. The bottom of the ninth in game six was the other instance in the series that felt like it lasted hours. Maybe it was because of how sickening the thought of a game seven was. Anyway his at bat against Tony Clark (who was the winning run) was long, gutsy,and ultimately painful. When Foulke fired a 3-2 fastball past old man Clarke the Sox had done the unthinkable
Game 7
-The night of game seven had the strangest feel to it. My family went out for dinner before the 8:30 start. We all were saying the right things that fans should say. All of us were trying to convince ourselves that the Yanks had a prayer that night. We all knew though, so the mood was almost like we were on our way to a funeral. Nobody ate too well.
-I'm almost glad that the Sox stomped Brown and Vasquez in the first two innings. I'd rather that than have had Ortiz hit one in the upper deck in the eighth inning to break a tie. Instead, we kind of just laughed when Caveman Johnny popped up a Grand Slam into the first row to make it 6-0. For the record, we all went to bed before the third inning.
-To say that Kevin Brown and Javier Vasquez are the most gutless pieces of crap I've ever had to watch is not strong enough. If those two golfed with Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright, somehow there wouldn't be a winner at the end of the round.
-The series was over. For all I know the final score of game seven was 12-0. The curse was over
Some thoughts:
-My parents were cool and didn't make my brother or I go to school the next day
-The real heroes for the Sox; Ortiz (and Ortiz's batch of HGH), Foulke, Francona, Roberts, Mueller, Bellhorn, Damon(only for game seven, can't explain how awful he was the rest of the series)
-The real goats for the Yankees; Tom Gordon, Kevin Brown, Javie Vasquez, Tony Clark, Joe Torre
-The genesis of the choke began with a great ninth inning in game four for the sox. The only real thing you can get on Rivera for was the walk-totally indefensible. Game five was Gordon's choke masterpiece. Nobody after that (besides Torre) really choked. Game six you could say the same, Leiber basically had one bad pitch. The point is that until game seven the Yankees didn't choke so much as the Sox gained enough steam, and had Ortiz on one of the great postseason streaks ever. Than in game seven they were practically coughing up vital organs onto the field.
-The collapse was really a snap shot of the Yankees that season. Going into the season the Yankees lost Roger Clemens, Andy Pettite, and David Wells from their rotation. Yes, the Yankees had a loaded lineup, but their staff had no ace, no stopper. Really that's the only way that a team can lose a 3-0 lead in a seven game series. The Red Sox probably were the better team that year. They had better pitching, a deeper lineup, and much better chemistry. In pure baseball terms they were the ones who deserved to win, even though there are about 20 plays in the series the Yankees could have made to win, and the Sox need about 50 hings to break right to have the chance they did.
-Looking back, we will never see a sporting event like those four games. It was Hollywood, Broadway, Shakespeare, everything. Given the history, the way the season before had ended, the grandiose style of the comeback, and the markets involved, nothing in baseball's future will ever match it. It was a privilege and a disaster to be apart of. I certainly was never the same fan after watching that, almost like I had been baseball raped. Along those same lines it's one of maybe four sporting events that I will remember every grim detail about as long as I live. Hope you enjoyed it Sox fans. You sent us Yankee fans to the poor house while you went to the penthouse.
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