After eighty-six years of futility and near-misses, the Red Sox finally got to celebrate a 2004 World Series win at the end of a four-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Photo courtesy AP/Mark Humphrey

C H A P T E R T W E N T Y - N I N E

The Championship Season

American League Division Series

ALDS Game 1
at Anaheim
October 5, 2004

	Score by innings	R	H	E
BOSTON	100 700 010	9	11	1
Anaheim	000 100 200	3	9	1

PITCHING
	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
BOSTON
Schilling (W 1–0)	6.2	9	3	2	2	4	2	2.70
Embree	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Timlin	2.0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0.00
ANAHEIM
Washburn (L 0–1)	3.1	5	7	3	3	3	1	8.10
Shields	1.2	1	1	1	1	2	1	5.40
Gregg	2.0	3	0	0	1	0	0	0.00
R. Ortiz	2.0	2	2	1	1	1	0	4.50

Manny Ramírez doubled with two outs in the first inning, and the second half of baseball’s best one–two punch, David Ortiz, singled him home for the lead. In the fourth inning the Sox broke the game open with seven runs that included home runs by Kevin Millar and Ramírez sandwiched around a two-run error on a Johnny Damon grounder that allowed Jason Varitek and Orlando Cabrera to score.

Meanwhile, Curt Schilling threw 6⅔ strong innings, yielding only two earned runs; Alan Embree and Mike Timlin were untouched in relief. But Red Sox Nation grew worried when Schilling appeared to aggravate an injury to his ankle in making a fielding play.

ALDS Game 2
at Anaheim
October 6, 2004

	Score by innings	R	H	E
BOSTON	010 002 104	8	12	0
Anaheim	010 020 000	3	7	0

PITCHING
	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
BOSTON
Martinez (W 1–0)	7.0	6	3	3	2	6	0	3.86
Timlin (H 1)	0.1	1	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
Myers (H 1)	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
Foulke (S 1)	1.1	0	0	0	0	2	0	0.00
ANAHEIM
Colon	6.0	7	3	3	3	3	1	4.50
Rodriguez (L 0–1)	2.0	2	1	1	2	2	0	4.50
Donnelly	1.0	3	4	4	2	0	0	36.00

Pedro Martínez pitched seven solid innings. He left with a slim 4–3 lead; the bull pen held the Angels in check for the remainder of the game, and the Red Sox tacked on four insurance runs in the top of the ninth to nail down the win. Trot Nixon drove in Manny Ramírez in the ninth inning, and a few batters later, Orlando Cabrera doubled with the bases loaded to score David Ortiz, Gabe Kapler, and Jason Varitek.

ALDS Game 3
at Boston
October 8, 2004

	Score by innings	R	H	E
Anaheim	000 100 500 0	6	8	2
BOSTON	002 310 000 2	8	12	0
(two outs when winning run scored in the tenth)

PITCHING
	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
ANAHEIM
Escobar	3.1	5	5	3	5	4	0	8.10
Shields	1.1	4	1	1	1	1	0	6.00
Donnelly	2.1	0	0	0	0	5	0	10.80
Rodriguez (L 0-2)	2.2	2	1	1	1	3	0	3.86
Washburn	0.0	1	1	1	0	0	1	10.80
BOSTON
Arroyo	6.0	3	2	2	2	7	1	3.00
Myers	0.0	0	1	1	1	0	0	27.00
Timlin	0.2	2	3	3	1	1	1	9.00
Embree	0.2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0.00
Foulke	1.2	2	0	0	1	3	0	0.00
Lowe (W 1-0)	1.0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0.00

The Angels came back to tie the game in the top of the seventh inning off starter Bronson Arroyo and relievers Mike Myers, Mike Timlin, and Alan Embree. Keith Foulke came in to cool off Anaheim.

David Ortiz hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the tenth inning to win the game and advance the Red Sox to the American League Championship Series against the Yankees. Derek Lowe has thrown a ten-pitch top of the tenth inning, and he picked up the win, the first of his record-breaking three clinching victories.

2004 American League Divisional Series

BOSTON VERSUS ANAHEIM
Red Sox Batting

PLAYER	POS	AVG	G	AB	R	H	TB	2B	3B	HR	RBI
David Ortiz	DH	.545	3	11	4	6	11	2	0	1	4
Doug Mientkiewicz	1B	.500	3	4	0	2	2	0	0	0	1
Johnny Damon	CF	.467	3	15	4	7	8	1	0	0	0
Manny Ramírez	LF	.385	3	13	3	5	10	2	0	1	7
Bill Mueller	3B	.333	3	12	3	4	4	0	0	0	0
Kevin Millar	1B	.300	3	10	2	3	6	0	0	1	4
Trot Nixon	RF	.250	2	8	0	2	2	0	0	0	2
Gabe Kapler	OF	.200	2	5	2	1	1	0	0	0	0
Jason Varitek	C	.167	3	12	3	2	5	0	0	1	2
Orlando Cabrera	SS	.154	3	13	1	2	3	1	0	0	3
Mark Bellhorn	2B	.091	3	11	2	1	1	0	0	0	0
Pokey Reese	SS	.000	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dave Roberts	RF	.000	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Kevin Youkilis	3B	.000	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BOSTON		.302	3	116	25	35	53	6	0	4	23
ANAHEIM		.226	3	106	12	24	39	3	0	4	12

Red Sox Batting (Extended)

PLAYER	SH	SF	HP	BB	IBB	SO	SB	CS	DP	E	SLG	OBP
David Ortiz	0	0	0	5	3	2	0	0	0	0	1.000	.688
Doug Mientkiewicz	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.500	.500
Johnny Damon	0	0	0	1	0	2	3	0	0	0	.533	.500
Manny Ramírez	0	2	0	1	0	4	0	0	0	0	.769	.375
Bill Mueller	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.333	.385
Kevin Millar	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.600	.364
Trot Nixon	0	0	0	2	1	1	0	0	1	0	.250	.400
Gabe Kapler	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.200	.200
Jason Varitek	0	0	1	2	2	5	0	0	1	0	.417	.333
Orlando Cabrera	0	0	0	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	.231	.267
Mark Bellhorn	0	0	0	5	0	4	0	0	0	0	.091	.375
Pokey Reese	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000
Dave Roberts	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000
Kevin Youkilis	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	.000	.000
BOSTON	0	2	1	20	6	23	3	0	2	1	.457	.403
ANAHEIM	1	0	2	11	1	28	1	1	0	3	.368	.311

Red Sox Pitching

PITCHER	R/L	W	L	ERA	G	GS	CG	GF	SHO	SV
Bronson Arroyo	R	0	0	3.00	1	1	0	0	0	0
Alan Embree	L	0	0	0.00	2	0	0	0	0	0
Keith Foulke	R	0	0	0.00	2	0	0	1	0	1
Derek Lowe	R	1	0	0.00	1	0	0	1	0	0
Pedro Martinez	R	1	0	3.86	1	1	0	0	0	0
Mike Myers	L	0	0	27.00	2	0	0	0	0	0
Curt Schilling	R	1	0	2.70	1	1	0	0	0	0
Mike Timlin	R	0	0	9.00	3	0	0	1	0	0
BOSTON		3	0	3.54	3	3	0	3	0	1
ANAHEIM		0	3	5.86	3	3	0	3	0	0

Red Sox Pitching (Extended)

PITCHER	IP	H	R	ER	HR	HB	BB	IBB	SO	WP	BK	OPP AVG
Bronson Arroyo	6.0	3	2	2	1	1	2	0	7	0	0	.143
Alan Embree	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	.000
Keith Foulke	3.0	2	0	0	0	0	1	1	5	0	0	.182
Derek Lowe	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	.333
Pedro Martinez	7.0	6	3	3	0	1	2	0	6	0	0	.240
Mike Myers	0.1	0	1	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	.000
Curt Schilling	6.2	9	3	2	2	0	2	0	4	0	0	.300
Mike Timlin	3.0	3	3	3	1	0	1	0	5	0	0	.250
BOSTON	28.0	24	12	11	4	2	11	1	28	0	0	.226
ANAHEIM	27.2	35	25	18	4	1	20	6	23	4	0	.302

American League Championship Series

ALCS Game 1
at New York
October 12, 2004

	Score by innings	R	H	E
Boston	000 000 520	7	10	0
NEW YORK	204 002 02x	10	14	0

PITCHING
	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
BOSTON
Schilling (L 0–1)	3.0	6	6	6	2	1	0	18.00
Leskanic	1.0	0	0	0	2	1	0	0.00
Mendoza	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Wakefield	1.0	3	2	2	0	1	1	18.00
Embree	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Timlin	0.2	3	2	2	0	0	0	27.00
Foulke	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
NEW YORK
Mussina (W 1–0)	6.2	4	4	4	0	8	0	5.40
Sturtze	0.1	1	1	1	0	1	1	27.00
Gordon (H 1)	0.2	3	2	2	0	1	0	27.00
Rivera (S 1)	1.1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0.00

The hopes of Boston were on Curt Schilling as the American League Championship Series began, but it was apparent from the start of the game that something was wrong; his right ankle, which had been troublesome for much of the second half of the season, was causing him pain and not allowing him to drive off the rubber with power. By the end of the third inning, the Yankees held a 6–0 lead and Schilling was out of the game, the shortest postseason appearance of his career. New York tacked on two more runs in the sixth inning off Tim Wakefield, and the game looked to be out of reach.

Meanwhile, New York’s Mike Mussina carried a perfect game into the seventh inning. Mark Bellhorn broke the string with a one-out double. Successive hits by David Ortiz, Kevin Millar, and Trot Nixon brought in three runs and chased Mussina; Jason Varitek greeted reliever Tanyon Sturtze with a two-run homer.

In the eighth inning Ortiz drove a ball to center field that just missed clearing the fence; the big man rumbled into third with a two-run triple, and the Red Sox were down just one, at 8–7.

Mariano Rivera, who had returned to the team in the middle of the game after flying back from a family funeral in Panama, came in to get the final five outs and the save; in the bottom of the eighth, the Yankees picked up two insurance runs off Mike Timlin.

After the game Schilling wondered aloud whether he would be able to come back to pitch again in the postseason.

ALCS Game 2
at New York
October 13, 2004

	Score by innings	R	H	E
Boston	000 000 010	1	5	0
NEW YORK	100 020 00x	3	7	0

PITCHING
	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
BOSTON
Martinez (L 0–1)	6.0	4	3	3	4	7	1	4.50
Timlin	0.2	1	0	0	0	0	0	13.50
Embree	0.2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Foulke	0.2	0	0	0	1	1	0	0.00
NEW YORK
Lieber (W 1–0)	7.0	3	1	1	1	3	0	1.29
Gordon (H 2)	0.2	1	0	0	0	0	0	13.50
Rivera (S 2)	1.1	1	0	0	0	3	0	0.00

While Yankee Stadium rocked with chants of “Who’s your daddy?” Pedro Martínez pitched well—just 3 runs on 4 hits and 7 strikeouts over six innings—but not quite as well as Jon Lieber, who yielded only one run on three hits in seven innings.

Boston tried to mount a rally in the eighth inning. With Lieber still on the mound, Trot Nixon singled. The Yankees brought in Tom Gordon, who was greeted by a Jason Varitek double that moved Nixon to third. Orlando Cabrera brought Nixon home on a groundout. With two outs in the inning, the Yankees once again called on Mariano Rivera, who got the last four outs for his second save in two games.

ALCS Game 3
at Boston
October 16, 2004

	Score by innings	R	H	E
NEW YORK	303 520 402	19	22	1
Boston	042 000 200	8	15	0

PITCHING
	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
NEW YORK
Brown	2.0	5	4	3	2	1	1	13.50
Vazquez (W 1–0)	4.1	7	4	4	2	4	1	8.31
Quantrill	1.2	2	0	0	0	2	0	0.00
Gordon	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	7.71
BOSTON
Arroyo	2.0	6	6	6	2	0	2	27.00
Mendoza (L 0-1)	1.0	1	1	1	0	1	0	4.50
Leskanic	0.1	2	3	3	1	0	1	20.25
Wakefield	3.1	5	5	5	2	1	0	14.54
Embree	0.1	3	2	2	0	0	0	9.00
Myers	2.0	5	2	2	0	3	1	9.00

After a rainout the day before, hopes were high as the Red Sox came home to Fenway Park. The outcome, though, was not what players and fans had dreamed: a 19–8 massacre in Boston. Neither starting pitcher—Kevin Brown for New York and Bronson Arroyo for Boston—was effective and the score was tied at 6–6 after three innings.

From there the game fell into a slow-motion four-hour, twenty-minute torture. The Yankees scored 19 runs on 22 hits, including 4 home runs, 1 triple, and 8 doubles. The Red Sox stood there and took the pummeling, with the exception of a Jason Varitek two-run homer in the seventh inning.

Perhaps more important, the always-versatile Tim Wakefield—who had been scheduled as the Game 4 starter—instead came in to eat up the middle three innings of the game and rest Mike Timlin and Keith Foulke. More bad news: The Yankee assault allowed them to give closer Mariano Rivera the night off.

The Red Sox, who had come into the ALCS favored to beat the Yankees and avenge 2003’s heartbreaking loss, instead were in danger of being swept. Every news report the next morning included some variation of this daunting line: No team in baseball history has ever come back from an 0–3 deficit in a seven-game playoff or World Series.

ALCS Game 4
at Boston
October 17, 2004

	Score by innings	R	H	E
New York	002 002 000 000	4	12	1
BOSTON	000 030 001 002	6	8	0

PITCHING
	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
NEW YORK
Hernandez	5.0	3	3	3	5	6	0	5.40
Sturtze (H 1)	2.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	3.86
Rivera (BS 1)	2.0	2	1	1	2	2	0	1.93
Gordon	2.0	0	0	0	1	1	0	4.15
Quantrill (L 0–1)	0.0	2	2	2	0	0	1	10.80
BOSTON
Lowe	5.1	6	3	3	0	3	1	5.06
Timlin (BS 1)	1.0	3	1	1	3	0	0	11.57
Foulke	2.2	0	0	0	2	3	0	0.00
Embree	1.2	2	0	0	1	0	0	4.91
Myers	0.0	0	0	0	1	0	0	9.00
Leskanic (W 1–0)	1.1	1	0	0	0	1	0	10.13

Derek Lowe, whose uneven performance at the end of the regular season had knocked him out of the starting rotation, got the call to start Game 4 and give the Red Sox a chance to salvage a sliver of dignity. Boston received a strong performance from Lowe, although hometown hearts sank in the third inning when he gave up a two-run homer to Alex Rodríguez.

The Red Sox took the lead in the fifth on walks by Millar and Bell-horn, an RBI hit by Orlando Cabrera, and a two-run, two-out single by David Ortiz.

Lowe pitched into the top of the sixth inning holding a 3–2 lead until Hideki Matsui walloped a triple to deep center with one out. Mike Timlin came in to relieve and blew the save, with an infield single by Bernie Williams to tie the game, and a wild pitch, a walk, a passed ball, and an infield single by Tony Clark that put the Yankees ahead by a 4–3 score.

The great closer Mariano Rivera came into the game in the eighth inning and shut down the Red Sox in that frame; he was on the mound once more in the ninth, and Boston stood three outs away from a humiliating loss and a sweep at the hands of the Yankees. Instead Kevin Millar worked a walk to lead off the ninth. Dave Roberts came in as a pinch runner, and everybody watching knew that his job was to steal second base; that’s just what he did, despite a fine throw from Jorge Posada. Bill Mueller capitalized with a single to center that tied the game 4–4 and blew the save for Rivera.

The Red Sox almost won the game right there. Doug Mientkiewicz sacrificed Mueller to second base. Johnny Damon reached on an error by first baseman Clark, and Manny Ramírez walked. That brought David Ortiz up to bat with the bases loaded and two outs; his moment as hero was yet to come—he popped out to second to send the game into extra innings.

The Yankees threatened in the top of the eleventh, loading the bases with two outs, but Curtis Leskanic came in to end the inning with a fly ball to center by Bernie Williams.

In the bottom of the twelfth, Paul Quantrill replaced Tom Gordon for the Yankees. He was greeted with a single by Ramírez to left, and then there stood David Ortiz. Boom, a two-run home run to right field for a walk-off win early Monday morning, after five hours and two minutes of baseball.

ALCS Game 5
at Boston
October 18, 2004

	Score by innings	R	H	E
New York	010 003 000 000 00	4	12	1
BOSTON	200 000 020 000 01	5	13	1

PITCHING
	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
NEW YORK
Mussina	6.0	6	2	2	2	7	0	4.26
Sturtze (H 2)	0.1	0	0	0	1	0	0	3.38
Gordon (H 3)	0.2	2	2	2	1	0	1	7.20
Rivera (BS 2)	2.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	1.35
Heredia	0.1	1	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
Quantrill	1.0	2	0	0	0	0	0	6.75
Loaiza (L 0–1)	3.1	1	1	1	3	3	0	2.70
BOSTON
Martinez	6.0	7	4	4	5	6	1	5.25
Timlin	1.2	2	0	0	1	1	0	6.75
Foulke	1.1	1	0	0	1	0	0	0.00
Arroyo	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	18.00
Myers	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	0	7.71
Embree	0.2	1	0	0	0	2	0	4.15
Wakefield (W 1–0)	3.0	1	0	0	1	4	0	8.59

Later that same day . . . the Red Sox received solid pitching from Pedro Martínez, this time throwing in front of a faithful hometown crowd, but that was only the opening act in a long, long thriller.

Boston scored a pair of runs in the first inning: Orlando Cabrera singled, Manny Ramírez singled, David Ortiz singled to score Cabrera, and Kevin Millar walked to load the bases. Trot Nixon grounded into a frustrating fielder’s choice with Ramírez out at home plate, but Jason Varitek worked a walk with the bases loaded to bring home the second run.

The Yankees got one run back in the second on a home run by Bernie Williams, and then went ahead with three runs in the sixth inning. After Martínez gave up singles to Jorge Posada and Ruben Sierra, Pedro hit Miguel Cairo to load the bases. With two outs Derek Jeter doubled to right, clearing the bases. Pedro got the last out of the inning, but left the game, once again roughed up by the Yankees and this time trailing 4–2.

In the eighth inning the Red Sox evened the score. Ortiz once again came up huge with a leadoff home run to bring Boston within a run. Millar followed with a walk; Dave Roberts came in as pinch runner. Nixon singled to center and the speedy Roberts moved to third base. The Yankees once again called on Mariano Rivera to save the day, but Varitek lifted a sacrifice fly to center field bringing Roberts home with the tying run.

The Red Sox bull pen, which had worked into the twelfth inning the night before, managed to shut down the Yankees for the next eight innings: Mike Timlin, Keith Foulke, Bronson Arroyo, Mike Myers, and Alan Embree scattered four hits in five frames, and Tim Wakefield came in for three superb innings, giving up just a single hit and striking out four.

In the bottom of the fourteenth inning, with Esteban Loaiza in his fourth inning of relief, Johnny Damon walked with one out. Cabrera struck out for the second out of the inning, and then Ramírez drew a walk. Up came Ortiz: a single to center scored Damon. The five-hour, forty-nine-minute game had begun in the late afternoon and ended before midnight: Ortiz thus had his second game-winning walk-off hit in the same day.

ALCS Game 6
at New York
October 19, 2004

	Score by innings	R	H	E
BOSTON	000 400 000	4	11	0
New York	000 000 110	2	6	0

PITCHING
	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
BOSTON
Schilling (W 1–1)	7.0	4	1	1	0	4	1	6.30
Arroyo (H 1)	1.0	2	1	1	0	1	0	15.75
Foulke (S 1)	1.0	0	0	0	2	2	0	0.00
NEW YORK
Lieber (L 1–1)	7.1	9	4	4	0	2	1	3.14
Heredia	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Quantrill	0.2	2	0	0	0	0	0	5.40
Sturtze	0.2	0	0	0	1	0	0	2.70

Because of the rainout before Game 3 in Boston, there was no off-day between the end of the second consecutive extra-inning game and the return to New York. Both teams came into Game 6 with their bull pens running on fumes; twenty-six innings within twenty-four hours will do that.

One of the pregame stars for Boston was the medical staff. The Red Sox called on their stalwart, Curt Schilling, to take the mound. In an apparently unique bit of surgery, doctors sutured the skin around the dislocated tendon in his ankle to relieve discomfort and give him a bit more support. When he began the game, no one knew how well he could throw.

The answer came quickly: Schilling dominated the Yankees over seven innings in a cold drizzle, yielding just one run—on a bases-empty home run by Bernie Williams in the last inning he pitched—giving up just four hits, walking none, and striking out four. Television zoom lenses focused in on his right ankle where a small circle of blood colored his white sock.

Bronson Arroyo came in for the eighth inning, giving up a second run on a double by Miguel Cairo and a single by Derek Jeter. Then came one of those weird plays that seem to pop up only in the most important of games—like a Red Sox–Yankees playoff. Alex Rodríguez hit an easy grounder to the right of the mound that was fielded by Arroyo, who ran toward first base. Just short of the bag, Arroyo reached out to tag A-Rod.

In a play that was examined over and over from every angle by television broadcasters, the Yankee third baseman appeared to swing his arm at Arroyo’s glove, knocking the ball loose. Jeter continued running and came all the way around from first to score, which would have brought the Yankees within one run of the Red Sox.

The first-base umpire, who was watching the play as it came toward him, ruled A-Rod safe. But Boston manager Terry Francona protested the call, and all six field umpires gathered to discuss the event. After a minute the umps decided that Rodriguez had violated section 6.1 of the umpire’s manual, which states that although contact may occur between a fielder and runner during a tag attempt, “a runner is not allowed to use his hands or arms to commit an obviously malicious or unsportsmanlike act . . . such as grabbing, tackling, intentionally slapping at the baseball, punching, kicking, flagrantly using his arms or forearms . . . to commit an intentional act of interference unrelated to running the bases.”

Bottom line: A-Rod was called out and Jeter was required to return all the way to first base. Gary Sheffield fouled out to the catcher to end the inning, and once again Keith Foulke was called on to save the game.

(Ironically, it was Arroyo who hit Rodríguez with a pitch on July 24, 2004, setting off a brawl between A-Rod and Jason Varitek and both teams; some point to that first incident as one that fired up the Red Sox for their second-half stretch run.)

And it was not the first time in that game that the umpires had reversed a ruling to the benefit of Boston. The Red Sox scored all four of their runs in the fourth inning. With two outs Kevin Millar had doubled and moved to third on a wild pitch by Jon Lieber. Varitek singled Millar home; Orlando Cabrera followed with another single. Then Mark Bell-horn hit a long fly ball that was at first ruled a double off the wall; after the umpires gathered they decided that the ball had actually cleared the wall and bounced off a fan in the stands, making it a three-run homer. Television replays confirmed that the second ruling was correct.

After the game A-Rod had two comments. First he said, “I know that the line belongs to me. Looking back, maybe I should have run him over.” And, he added, “I don’t want those umpires meeting anymore. Every time they have a meeting, they make a call against the Yankees.”

In any case the Red Sox had accomplished the nearly impossible: coming back from an 0–3 deficit to tie the playoffs at 3–3, setting the stage for a classic Game 7.

ALCS Game 7
at New York
October 20, 2004

	Score by innings	R	H	E
BOSTON	240 200 011	10	13	0
New York	001 000 200	3	5	1

PITCHING
	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
BOSTON
Lowe (W 1–0)	6.0	1	1	1	1	3	0	3.18
Martinez	1.0	3	2	2	0	1	0	6.23
Timlin	1.2	1	0	0	1	1	0	4.76
Embree	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	3.86
NEW YORK
Brown (L 0–1)	1.1	4	5	5	2	1	1	21.60
Vazquez	2.0	2	3	3	5	2	2	9.95
Loaiza	3.0	4	0	0	0	2	0	1.42
Heredia	0.2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Gordon	1.2	3	2	2	0	0	1	8.10
Rivera	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1.29

After the incredible difficulties of the first six games of the ALCS, the seventh game turned into a laugher. Not to say that Red Sox fans weren’t nervous all the way through the bottom of the ninth.

In the first inning Johnny Damon singled to left and then stole second. With one out Manny Ramírez singled to left of center and Damon was thrown out at home plate. But Big Papi—David Ortiz—took care of business with a two-run home run to right.

There were four more runs for Boston in the second inning: a Damon grand slam off newly installed reliever Javier Vazquez, bringing home Kevin Millar, Bill Mueller, and Orlando Cabrera, who had reached base against Kevin Brown. It was 6–0 Red Sox after two innings.

The Red Sox were cruising behind the superb pitching of Derek Lowe, who had fought his way back into the starting rotation with his earlier work. He threw six innings of one-hit ball; the Yankees nicked him for a single run in the third inning after Miguel Cairo was hit by a pitch, stole second, and came around on a Derek Jeter single.

Boston answered back in the fourth inning when Damon hit his second home run off Lieber, bringing home Cabrera, who had reached on a walk.

For the record New York picked up two runs in the seventh inning on a pair of doubles by Hideki Matsui and Bernie Williams and a single by Kenny Lofton off Pedro Martínez, who was brought in as a reliever. That was the end of scoring for the Yankees, but the Red Sox put the icing on the American League championship—and the champagne on ice—with a run in the eighth on a Mark Bellhorn home run, and another in the ninth on singles by Trot Nixon and Doug Mientkiewicz and a sacrifice fly by Cabrera. Final score: Boston 10, New York 3.

The “Curse,” if there ever was one, was now officially “Reversed.” In the process the Red Sox had accomplished what may have been the most amazing comeback in baseball history: from 0–3 to 4–3 in the league championship.

2004 American League Championship Series

BOSTON VERSUS NEW YORK
Red Sox Batting

PLAYER	POS	AVG	G	AB	R	H	TB	2B	3B	HR	RBI
David Ortiz	DH	.387	7	31	6	12	23	0	1	3	11
Orlando Cabrera	SS	.379	7	29	5	11	13	2	0	0	5
Jason Varitek	C	.321	7	28	5	9	16	1	0	2	7
Manny Ramírez	LF	.300	7	30	3	9	10	1	0	0	0
Bill Mueller	3B	.267	7	30	4	8	9	1	0	0	1
Kevin Millar	1B	.250	7	24	4	6	9	3	0	0	2
Trot Nixon	RF	.207	7	29	4	6	10	1	0	1	3
Mark Bellhorn	2B	.192	7	26	3	5	13	2	0	2	4
Johnny Damon	CF	.171	7	35	5	6	12	0	0	2	7
Doug Mientkiewicz	1B	.500	4	4	0	2	3	1	0	0	0
Gabe Kapler	RF	.333	2	3	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
Doug Mirabelli	C	.000	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Pokey Reese	SS	.000	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dave Roberts	RF	.000	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
BOSTON		.277	7	271	41	75	119	12	1	10	40
NEW YORK		.282	7	277	45	78	130	21	2	9	44

Red Sox Batting (Extended)

PLAYER	SH	SF	HP	BB	IBB	SO	SB	CS	DP	E	SLG	OBP
David Ortiz	0	0	0	4	0	7	0	1	0	0	.742	.457
Orlando Cabrera	0	1	0	3	0	5	1	0	1	0	.448	.424
Jason Varitek	0	1	0	2	0	6	0	0	0	0	.571	.355
Manny Ramírez	0	0	0	5	0	4	0	0	1	1	.333	.400
Bill Mueller	0	0	1	2	0	1	0	0	3	0	.300	.333
Kevin Millar	0	0	0	5	0	4	0	0	1	0	.375	.379
Trot Nixon	0	0	0	0	0	5	0	0	0	0	.345	.207
Mark Bellhorn	0	0	0	5	0	11	0	0	1	0	.500	.323
Johnny Damon	0	0	0	2	0	8	2	1	1	0	.343	.216
Doug Mientkiewicz	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	.750	.500
Gabe Kapler	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.333	.333
Doug Mirabelli	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000
Pokey Reese	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	.000	.000
Dave Roberts	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	.000	.000
BOSTON	1	2	1	28	0	53	4	2	8	1	.439	.344
NEW YORK	3	1	7	33	3	51	3	0	3	4	.469	.371

Red Sox Pitching

PITCHER	R/L	W	L	ERA	G	GS	CG	GF	SHO	SV
Bronson Arroyo	R	0	0	15.75	3	1	0	0	0	0
Alan Embree	L	0	0	3.86	6	0	0	1	0	0
Keith Foulke	R	0	0	0.00	5	0	0	3	0	1
Curt Leskanic	R	1	0	10.12	3	0	0	1	0	0
Derek Lowe	R	1	0	3.18	2	2	0	0	0	0
Pedro Martinez	R	0	1	6.23	3	2	0	0	0	0
Ramiro Mendoza	R	0	1	4.50	2	0	0	0	0	0
Mike Myers	L	0	0	7.71	3	0	0	1	0	0
Curt Schilling	R	1	1	6.30	2	2	0	0	0	0
Mike Timlin	R	0	0	4.76	5	0	0	0	0	0
Tim Wakefield	R	1	0	8.59	3	0	0	1	0	0
BOSTON		4	3	5.87	7	7	0	7	0	1
NEW YORK		3	4	5.17	7	7	0	7	0	2

Red Sox Pitching (Extended)

PITCHER	IP	H	R	ER	HR	HB	BB	IBB	SO	WP	BK	OPP AVG
Bronson Arroyo	4.0	8	7	7	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	.421
Alan Embree	4.2	9	2	2	0	0	1	1	2	0	0	.409
Keith Foulke	6.0	1	0	0	0	1	6	0	6	0	0	.053
Curt Leskanic	2.2	3	3	3	1	0	3	0	0	0	0	.300
Derek Lowe	11.1	7	4	4	1	1	1	0	6	0	0	.175
Pedro Martinez	13.0	14	9	9	2	2	9	0	14	0	0	.269
Ramiro Mendoza	2.0	2	1	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	1	.250
Mike Myers	2.1	5	2	2	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.455
Curt Schilling	10.0	10	7	7	1	0	2	0	5	0	0	.256
Mike Timlin	5.2	10	3	3	0	0	5	0	2	1	0	.400
Tim Wakefield	7.1	9	7	7	1	0	3	2	6	0	0	.281
BOSTON	69.0	78	45	45	9	6	33	3	53	1	1	.278
NEW YORK	69.2	75	41	40	10	1	28	0	51	2	0	.282

2004 World Series

World Series Game 1
at Boston
October 23, 2004

	Score by innings	R	H	E
St. Louis	011 302 020	9	11	1
BOSTON	403 000 22x	11	13	4

PITCHING
	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
ST. LOUIS
Williams	2.1	8	7	7	3	1	1	27.00
Haren	3.2	2	0	0	3	1	0	0.00
Calero	0.1	1	2	2	2	0	0	54.00
King	0.1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Eldred	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
Tavarez (L 0–1)	1.0	1	2	1	0	0	1	9.00
BOSTON
Wakefield	3.2	3	5	5	5	2	1	12.27
Arroyo	2.1	4	2	2	0	4	0	7.71
Timlin	1.1	1	1	1	0	0	0	6.75
Embree	0.0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0.00
Foulke (BS 1, W 1–0)	1.2	2	0	0	1	3	0	0.00

Johnny Damon led off the Red Sox march to the championship in the first inning with a double to left. Orlando Cabrera was hit by a pitch. Manny Ramírez hit a fly ball out, but David Ortiz took care of business with a glorious three-run homer to right. Another run scored after Kevin Millar doubled and Bill Mueller singled him home.

Tim Wakefield’s knuckleball wasn’t knuckling all that well, though, and St. Louis picked up single runs in the second and third innings.

In the bottom of the third, Boston put up three more runs. Mueller walked, Doug Mirabelli singled, and Mark Bellhorn walked to load the bases for Damon. Johnny singled to right, scoring Mueller and reloading the bases. With Danny Haren in relief, Cabrera singled, scoring Mirabelli and once again putting a man on every base. Ramírez could produce only a grounder to short, but Bellhorn scored on a fielder’s choice.

Wakefield could not hold the lead in the top of the fourth, suddenly losing the ability to throw a strike. He walked the first batter, threw a passed ball, and then walked the next two Cardinals. Then the Red Sox defense went cold. Mike Matheny drove in a run with a fly ball to right and a second run scored on Millar’s throwing error. A third run came in on a ground out. Bronson Arroyo came in to stop the bleeding, with the Red Sox holding on to a slim 7–5 lead.

In the sixth St. Louis tied the game off Arroyo. So Taguchi singled to the pitcher and took second on Arroyo’s throwing error. Edgar Rentería and Larry Walker each doubled to score two runs. An inning later, the Red Sox took back the lead with a pair of runs: Ramírez singled to bring home Bellhorn (who had, of course, gotten on base with a walk), and Ortiz singled in Cabrera to put Boston ahead 9–7.

In the eighth inning Mike Timlin and Alan Embree each gave up a single. Red Sox closer Keith Foulke came in with one out and hopes of extinguishing the fire, but the Cardinals came back to tie the score at 9–9 on two consecutive errors by Manny Ramírez. He bobbled a single by Rentería and then tried to make a diving catch on a fly ball by Walker that instead glanced off his glove as he tumbled.

With the Cardinals effective setup man Julián Tavárez on the mound in the bottom of the eighth, Jason Varitek reached first on an error by shortstop Rentería. Mark Bellhorn put the Sox back on top with a home run to right field.

Foulke made it interesting again in the ninth, giving up a double to Marlon Anderson before striking out Roger Cedeño to end the game.

The Red Sox tied a World Series record with four errors. It wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t easy, but it was a win.

World Series Game 2
at Boston
October 24, 2004

	Score by innings	R	H	E
St. Louis	000 100 010	2	5	0
BOSTON	200 202 00x	6	8	4

PITCHING
	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
ST. LOUIS
Morris (L 0–1)	4.1	4	4	4	4	3	0	8.31
Eldred	1.1	4	2	2	0	1	0	10.80
King	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
Marquis	1.0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0.00
Reyes	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
BOSTON
Schilling (W 1–0)	6.0	4	1	0	1	4	0	0.00
Embree	1.0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0.00
Timlin	0.2	1	1	1	1	0	0	9.00
Foulke	1.1	0	0	0	0	3	0	0.00

Curt Schilling was almost unable to take the mound because of pain in his temporarily repaired ankle; a suture touching a nerve was removed before the game, and he gave Boston six strong innings, allowing no earned runs.

The Red Sox took the lead in the first inning after Jason Varitek tripled to center field, scoring Manny Ramírez and David Ortiz, who had each reached with walks.

In the fourth inning they gave back one of the runs on the second error of the game by Bill Mueller, allowing Albert Pujols to score. When the Red Sox came up to bat in the bottom of that inning, they scored two more on Mark Bellhorn’s double to center, scoring Kevin Millar and Mueller, giving them a 4–1 lead.

In the sixth inning Mueller tied an ancient World Series record when he made his third error of the game; on the next play Bellhorn committed a fourth error to allow the team to set an unmatched record: No team had ever made more than seven errors in the first two games of the World Series. But Schilling managed to get the third out of the inning without any runs crossing the plate.

In the bottom of the sixth, Trot Nixon singled, and with two outs Johnny Damon got a base hit to left. Orlando Cabrera drove them both home with another single, and the Red Sox had a 6–1 lead. Mike Timlin gave up a run in the eighth on a walk, single, and sacrifice fly before Keith Foulke came in to get the last four batters out and secure the second win of the World Series in the last game of the season played in Boston.

World Series Game 3
at St. Louis
October 26, 2004

	Score by innings	R	H	E
BOSTON	100 120 000	4	9	0
St. Louis	000 000 001	1	4	0

PITCHING
	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
BOSTON
Martinez (W 1–0)	7.0	3	0	0	2	6	0	0.00
Timlin	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	6.00
Foulke	1.0	1	1	1	0	2	1	2.25
ST. LOUIS
Suppan (L 0-1)	4.2	8	4	4	1	4	1	7.71
Reyes	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Calero	1.0	1	0	0	2	0	0	13.50
King	2.0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0.00
Tavarez	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	4.50

Pedro Martínez pitched like the Pedro of old, throwing seven innings of three-hit scoreless ball in his first appearance in a World Series game. Mike Timlin pitched a perfect eighth inning. Keith Foulke was almost perfect in the ninth, allowing a bases-empty home run by Larry Walker.

Boston once again scored in the first inning, this time on a massive home run to left field by Manny Ramírez. Bill Mueller doubled, and Trot Nixon drove him in with a single in the fourth inning. In the fifth Johnny Damon doubled, Orlando Cabrera singled, and Ramírez singled for one run; Mueller drove in a second run with a single.

For the Red Sox it was a cleanly played game including a very nice throw by Ramírez to cut down Walker at home in the bottom of the first. On the St. Louis side, the game may best be remembered for the baserunning adventures of pitcher Jeff Suppan in the third inning. He began by reaching first on a surprise bunt down the third base line, and was moved over to third on a double to the warning track by Edgar Rentería. With nobody out, the Red Sox were playing back, willing to concede a run to get an out. Larry Walker hit an easy grounder to Mark Bellhorn at second, who threw to first. But for some reason, Suppan failed to come home; worse, he see-sawed back and forth a few times and David Ortiz ran a few steps toward him from first base and then threw behind him to Mueller for a truly bizarre 4–3–5 double play that ruined a Cardinals rally in a close game.

World Series Game 4
At St. Louis
Wednesday, October 27, 2004

	Score by Innings	R	H	E
BOSTON	102 000 000	3	9	0
St. Louis	000 000 000	0	4	0

PITCHING
	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
BOSTON
Lowe (W 1-0)	7.0	3	0	0	1	4	0	0.00
Arroyo (H 1)	0.1	0	0	0	1	0	0	6.75
Embree (H 1)	0.2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
Foulke (S 1)	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	1.80
ST. LOUIS
Marquis (L 0-1)	6.0	6	3	3	5	4	1	3.86
Haren	1.0	2	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
Isringhausen	2.0	1	0	0	1	2	0	0.00

Johnny Damon homered to right field to lead off the game, the only run Derek Lowe and the Red Sox would need to win the game. Boston picked up two more runs in the third inning after Manny Ramírez singled to left and David Ortiz doubled to right. With runners on second and third, Jason Varitek grounded into a fielder’s choice with Ramírez tagged out at home. Bill Mueller walked to load the bases and Trot Nixon doubled to center, scoring Ortiz and Varitek.

Lowe needed only eighty-five pitches to get through seven innings. Bronson Arroyo and Alan Embree preserved the shutout in the eighth, setting up the eleventh appearance by closer Keith Foulke in the fourteen postseason games.

In a sign from above, in the eighth inning there was a total lunar eclipse; rumors of a place well down below freezing over were unconfirmed.

In the ninth inning, Edgar Rentería grounded back to the mound and Foulke grabbed the ball and tossed it ever so carefully to Doug Mientkiewicz at first base. And the Boston Red Sox were “World Champions.”

2004 World Series

BOSTON VERSUS ST. LOUIS
Red Sox Batting

PLAYER	POS	AVG	G	AB	R	H	TB	2B	3B	HR	RBI
Bill Mueller	3B	.429	4	14	3	6	8	2	0	0	2
Manny Ramírez	LF	.412	4	17	2	7	10	0	0	1	4
Trot Nixon	RF	.357	4	14	1	5	8	3	0	0	3
Doug Mirabelli	C	.333	1	3	1	1	1	0	0	0	0
David Ortiz	DH/1B	.308	4	13	3	4	8	1	0	1	4
Mark Bellhorn	2B	.300	4	10	3	3	7	1	0	1	4
Johnny Damon	CF	.286	4	21	4	6	13	2	1	1	2
Orlando Cabrera	SS	.235	4	17	3	4	5	1	0	0	3
Jason Varitek	C	.154	4	13	2	2	4	0	1	0	2
Kevin Millar	1B	.125	4	8	2	1	2	1	0	0	0
Gabe Kapler	OF	.000	4	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Derek Lowe	P	.000	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Pedro Martinez	P	.000	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Doug Mientkiewicz	1B	.000	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Pokey Reese	2B	.000	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dave Roberts	PR	.000	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Kevin Youkilis	3B	.000	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BOSTON		.283	4	138	24	39	66	11	2	4	24
ST. LOUIS		.190	4	126	12	24	38	8	0	2	8

Red Sox Batting (extended)

PLAYER	SH	SF	HP	BB	IBB	SO	SB	CS	DP	E	SLG	OBP
Bill Mueller	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	1	3	.571	.556
Manny Ramírez	0	0	0	3	0	3	0	0	0	2	.588	.500
Trot Nixon	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.571	.400
Doug Mirabelli	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	.333	.333
David Ortiz	0	0	0	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	.615	.471
Mark Bellhorn	0	0	1	5	1	2	0	0	1	1	.700	.563
Johnny Damon	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	.619	.286
Orlando Cabrera	0	0	1	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	.294	.381
Jason Varitek	0	0	1	1	0	4	0	0	0	0	.308	.267
Kevin Millar	0	0	1	2	0	2	0	0	0	1	.250	.364
Gabe Kapler	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	.000	.000
Derek Lowe	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	.000	.000
Pedro Martinez	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	.000	.333
Doug Mientkiewicz	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000
Pokey Reese	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000
Dave Roberts	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000
Kevin Youkilis	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000
BOSTON	1	0	4	24	1	20	0	0	3	8	.478	.404
ST. LOUIS	2	3	1	12	1	32	1	0	2	1	.302	.261

Red Sox Pitching

PITCHER	R/L	W	L	ERA	G	GS	CG	GF	SHO	SV
Keith Foulke	R	1	0	1.80	4	0	0	4	0	1
Derek Lowe	R	1	0	0.00	1	1	0	0	0	0
Pedro Martinez	R	1	0	0.00	1	1	0	0	0	0
Curt Schilling	R	1	0	0.00	1	1	0	0	0	0
Bronson Arroyo	R	0	0	6.75	2	0	0	0	0	0
Alan Embree	L	0	0	0.00	3	0	0	0	0	0
Curtis Leskanic	R	0	0	—	0	0	0	0	0	0
Mike Myers	L	0	0	—	0	0	0	0	0	0
Mike Timlin	R	0	0	6.00	3	0	0	0	0	0
Tim Wakefield	R	0	0	12.27	1	1	0	0	0	0
BOSTON		4	0	2.50	4	4	0	4	1	1
ST. LOUIS		0	4	6.09	4	4	0	4	0	0

Red Sox Pitching (extended)

PITCHER	IP	H	R	ER	HR	HB	BB	IBB	SO	WP	BK	AVGa
Keith Foulke	5.0	4	1	1	1	0	1	1	8	0	0	.200
Pedro Martinez	7.0	3	0	0	0	0	2	0	6	0	0	.136
Curt Schilling	6.0	4	1	0	0	0	1	0	4	0	0	.174
Bronson Arroyo	2.2	4	2	2	0	0	1	0	4	0	0	.333
Alan Embree	1.2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	.167
Curtis Leskanic	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Mike Myers	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Mike Timlin	3.0	2	2	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	.200
Tim Wakefield	3.2	3	5	5	1	1	5	0	2	0	0	.300
BOSTON	36.0	24	12	10	2	1	12	1	32	1	0	.190
ST. LOUIS	34.0	39	24	23	4	4	24	1	20	0	0	.283

^aAVG: Opposing team batting average