2004 Boston Red Sox
From BR Bullpen
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[edit] 2004 Boston Red Sox / Franchise: Boston Red Sox / BR Team Page
Record: 98-64, Finished 2nd in AL Eastern Division (2004 AL)
World Series Champs
Managed by Terry Francona
[edit] History, Comments, Contributions
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NL Division Series (3-1) Cardinals (NLC) over Dodgers (NLW) NL Division Series (3-1) Astros (WC) over Braves (NLE) | |||
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NL Championship Series (4-3) Cardinals over Astros | |||
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World Series (4-0) Red Sox over Cardinals | |||
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AL Championship Series (4-3) Red Sox over Yankees | |||
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AL Division Series (3-1) Yankees (ALE) over Twins (ALC) AL Division Series (3-0) Red Sox (WC) over Angels (ALW) |
The 2004 Red Sox became the only team to ever come back from a 0-3 deficit in a best of 7 series by beating the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS. The series was highlighted by two 4+ hour games (Games 4 and 5) both which stretched into extra innings. David Ortiz hit a walkoff HR in Game 4 and a walkoff single up the middle in Game 5. Curt Schilling provided extra dramatics by pitching Game 6 on a bad ankle with blood soaking through his sock.
The Red Sox went on to win the World Series against the 2004 Cardinals in a sweep by shutting down the vaunted Cardinal offense.
This victory ended the so called Curse of the Bambino, ending the Red Sox mythic dry spell of 86 years without a World Series title. Babe Ruth, arguably the greatest or at least most important player of the first half of the 20th century, was on the last Red Sox team to win a World Series in 1918. The mercurial and troublesome pitcher and slugger was sold to the New York Yankees after the 1919 season, and the Red Sox did not win another championship until 2004, while the Yankees, featuring superstars like Ruth, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle won 26 rings. The Red Sox's repeated failures in the World Series in 1946, 1967, 1975 and 1986, in agonizing fashion, helped give rise to the belief that Ruth's ghost still haunted the franchise.
[edit] Further Reading
- Steven Goldman, ed.: Mind Game: How the Boston Red Sox Got Smart and Finally Won a World Series, Workman Publishing, New York, NY, 2005.
- Tony Massarotti and John Harper: A Tale of Two Cities: The 2004 Yankees-Red Sox Rivalry and the War for the Pennant, The Lyons Press, Guilford, CT, 2005.
- Seth Mnookin: Feeding the Monster: How Money, Smarts and Nerve Took a Team to the Top, Simon & Schuster, New York, NY, 2006.
- Bill Simmons: Now I Can Die in Peace: How ESPN's Sports Guy Found Salvation With a Little Help From Nomar, Pedro, Shawshank and the 2004 Red Sox, ESPN Books, New York, NY, 2005.
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AL East: Baltimore • Boston • New York • Tampa Bay • Toronto NL East: Atlanta • Florida • Montreal • New York • Philadelphia |
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Categories: Stub | 2004 | Boston Red Sox
