Recall Lowe was the guy who had been stripped of his rotation spot before the postseason and relegated to the bullpen. Ortiz and Varitek scored and despite Mueller standing on third base and Nixon on second, that would be it for the Red Sox offense in that inning and for the game, thanks for coming, please put your garbage in the bins on the way out.īloody Sock 2 in Game 2 Pedro's Last Stand in Game 3 He missed a grand slam by thiiiiiiiis much. It was hittable, nigh crushable, and Nixon did so, placing it just below the top of the wall in right center field. The pitch was up and on the outside of the plate but by no means on the black. The surprise came on the fourth pitch when the extremely patient Nixon of the extremely patient Red Sox swung. Marquis had been all over the place that game, each new hitter another opportunity for the announcers to note their astonishment at the death-like stillness emanating from the Cardinals bullpen, so it was no surprise when Marquis fell behind Nixon 3-0. That brought up Trot, causing 2004 me to loudly exclaim, "My man TROT." (In between Ortiz and Mueller, Jason Varitek grounded into a fielder’s choice with Albert Pujols throwing Manny Ramirez out at home plate). The Sox loaded the bases in the top of the third inning on a single by Manny Ramirez, a double by a young-looking David Ortiz, and a four-pitch walk to Bill Mueller. The rest of Boston’s three runs came via Trot Nixon’s sweet sweet left-handed swing. Oddly for a coronation, Damon’s homer represented a significant amount of the offense the Red Sox would produce that day. Damon’s swing obliged and, four pitches in, the party was on. Johnny Damon, long hair flowing, beard dapperly cut via a two or three setting on the trimmer, got an offer he couldn’t pass up in Jason Marquis’ fourth pitch, a meatball begging to spend some quality time over the right field fence in the Cardinals bullpen.
Pitch Four: fastball, belt high, center of the plate. Pitch Three: just like pitch two, ball two. Pitch Two: fastball, high and away, ball one. Pitch One: fastball, inside corner, strike one. Perhaps it existed at the start of the game, but probably it didn’t go much beyond the first hitter. Perhaps, cautious optimism existed for some significant portion of Red Sox Nation going into Game Three. But, somehow, some way, some something, it didn’t happen.Īnd the strangest part was that we knew it wouldn’t. Up three-games-to-none? Nobody could possibly have thought to protect themselves.
This was as prime a giblet thumping opportunity as had ever existed, and this was the team that lived to thump their fans in the giblets. If ever that team, the one our grandparents knew, was going to rear it’s hideous head, grab the nearest fire place implement, and take seven or hearty swings at our collective giblets, this was the time. This was redemption to be! This was HOLY CRAP THIS IS THE GREATEST EVER!īefore you answer, keep in mind the well-earned pre-’04 mindset. So, naturally, the Sox beat ‘em in three straight games, never trailing in the process. After successfully running through that gauntlet, Boston found a 105-win Cardinals team staring at them, snout to snout. Recall the Red Sox had just vanquished the Yankees, overcoming decades of mismanagement, disappointment, outright incompetence, and misery in the process, to say nothing of avenging their Game Seven loss to New York one year earlier. But that time existed, and it existed on that day.
#WORLD SERIES PLAY BY PLAY PLUS#
It seems odd now to think of a time when the Red Sox hadn’t won the World Series in eight plus decades, let alone a time when the possibility of blowing a three games to none lead felt, if not likely, then certainly possible. Perhaps the most curious aspect of the Red Sox supremely wonderful and bizarre 2004 postseason is that Game Four of the World Series was less a baseball game than a coronation.
0 kommentar(er)
