How 2004 Pink Sox (Lastly) Delivered World Collection Title

2024 marks the twentieth anniversary of the 2004 Boston Pink Sox World Collection championship workforce. All year long, NESN.com will mirror on a number of key moments from that historic season.

Half 4: 4 last wins to finish a championship and restore baseball glory in Boston.

The Boston Pink Sox and St. Louis Cardinals are two of essentially the most storied franchises in baseball historical past. And their paths are intertwined.

The Cardinals extended the “Curse of the Bambino” once they defeated the Pink Sox within the World Collection in 1946 and 1967.

The Pink Sox had been again on the doorstep in 2004, 4 wins away from breaking that curse and successful their first championship in 86 years.

Talking solely with NESN.com 20 years later, former Pink Sox gamers Johnny Damon, Jason Varitek, Invoice Mueller, Dave Roberts and Gabe Kapler, in addition to broadcasters Joe Castiglione and Chris Myers, recounted baseball’s one centesimal World Collection.

“When that began, it’s just like the Cardinals didn’t have an opportunity,” Myers, FOX’s sideline reporter for the 2004 World Collection, mentioned. “The Pink Sox might’ve crushed anyone in that collection. The truth that they swept them. I definitely wasn’t predicting that, however I used to be feeling that.”

Boston, seemingly a workforce of future after overcoming a 3-0 deficit in opposition to the New York Yankees within the American League Championship Collection, steamrolled St. Louis to exorcise its demons of the previous and reshape its future.

THE ATMOSPHERE
Pink Sox followers starved for a championship for almost a century. They craved a return to the Fall Basic for almost twenty years. It set the desk for Boston’s home-field benefit in 2004, courtesy of an American League victory in that 12 months’s MLB All-Star Sport.

“It’s what had been our driving pressure for so long as I’ve been right here is our fanbase,” Varitek mentioned. “They’ve all the time been electrical. They’re passionate. They’re going to boo you once you’re horrible. They’re going to face and applaud you once you’re doing effectively. Most significantly, they’re going to demand the reflection of being a grinding fanbase. That’s what they anticipate out of their gamers. The electrical energy right here, I wouldn’t say it was that rather more. I feel all through any playoffs I’ve ever been right here for it’s been that manner.”

“You discover it once you go there for different video games as a fan,” Myers mentioned. “It was unimaginable with the followers coming collectively. When to sing ‘Candy Caroline,’ and so forth. It simply felt like they had been extra collectively on this for the World Collection. … You actually felt part of it, greater than you do in different parks. Particularly with a World Collection. On the time, I’m working. There have been moments, particularly in the course of the nationwide anthem, the place I simply type of paused and took all of it in. I’m realizing not solely what’s taking place with the groups, however the environment. It’s not another ballpark. It is a lot of historical past in baseball.”

The vitality of Fenway Park set the stage for a World Collection of epic proportions. From there, the Pink Sox and Cardinals appeared to ship one other basic.

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THE GAME 1 THRILLER
The Pink Sox and Cardinals took the sphere on a cold Saturday night time in Boston.

“The environment was clearly electrical,” Myers mentioned. “You may sense them steamrolling by this factor. They had been hanging on each pitch. … There was a way of melodrama. There wasn’t a gradual second.”

The Pink Sox introduced momentum into the matchup, however so did the Cardinals. St. Louis additionally fought by seven robust video games to succeed in this level, knocking off the Houston Astros within the Nationwide League Championship Collection.

The Cardinals gained 105 regular-season video games, possessed strong beginning pitching and posted a lineup with Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen, Larry Walker and Jim Edmonds. A real “juggernaut,” as Mueller described.

“My goodness that workforce was loaded,” Mueller mentioned. “I simply assume typically good pitching stops good hitting. That may have been the most important distinction. Their offense was very robust, as effectively. Their protection, each a part of their recreation, their bullpen.”

The Pink Sox embraced the second and caught with the vibes that introduced them again to life earlier in October.

“It was lots much less chill than you’ll have imagined as a result of the Yankees-Pink Sox collection was full of pleasure, filled with clutch play,” Damon mentioned. “We had been thrilled to be within the World Collection. No one gave us an opportunity to beat the Cardinals. We stored driving the momentum. We stored doing our pictures of Jack Daniels earlier than every recreation. We simply put all of it collectively. We had been the most popular workforce in baseball. Not many groups might have beat us throughout that point. It was the proper time to peak.”

Tim Wakefield obtained the beginning in Sport 1 after he gave up his begin in Sport 4 of the ALCS to avoid wasting the bullpen in Sport 3. That selfless transfer finally loomed giant within the Pink Sox’s comeback in opposition to the Yankees.

The Pink Sox, who scored 10 runs within the clincher in New York, picked up the place they left off in opposition to the Cardinals in Boston.

“I really feel like I obtained the whole lot occurring the offensive aspect for us in Sport 1,” recalled Damon, who smacked a leadoff double within the first inning. “I consider I had a 12-pitch at-bat. I ended up getting on-base and we scored first. … The momentum simply stored going after the Yankees collection after I led off and we scored some runs within the first.”

David Ortiz additionally rode the momentum and launched a three-run residence run off St. Louis starter Woody Williams for an early 3-0 lead. The Pink Sox stored on scoring to take a 7-2 lead after three innings.

That’s the place the competition became a rollercoaster.

St. Louis clawed again after 5 Boston walks and 4 errors tied the sport, 9-9, heading into the underside of the eighth inning. In a back-and-forth battle, the Pink Sox wanted to ship a knockout blow.

On this night time, Mark Bellhorn had the successful punch, skying a two-run residence run off the proper discipline foul pole.

“Clearly, the large guys stored hitting,” Damon mentioned. “Bellhorn had one other large residence run in that recreation. … Bellhorn got here up big for us.”

Keith Foulke nailed down the save to protect a Sport 1 win for the Pink Sox. The chaos of the opener provided a reminder of the onerous work remaining, although one space for Boston calmed the storm for 3 extra wins.

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THE STARTING PITCHING
Boston’s beginning rotation weathered the storm after Sport 1 and introduced wanted stability. Certain, Boston’s bats might hit with anybody in a rhythm, however the Pink Sox’s beginning rotation carried them to 98 regular-season wins and did sufficient in October to get to the World Collection.

“That workforce was constructed to win as a result of they’d nice beginning pitching,” Castiglione mentioned. “I feel just one starter missed one begin that complete 12 months. All people else was wholesome. The beginning pitching was dominant.”

The Cardinals by no means led at any level in the course of the collection. The Pink Sox starters constantly set the tone, discovered a groove and pitched deep into their outings.

Nonetheless sporting a bloody sock as he did within the ALCS, Curt Schilling mustered sufficient for one last begin in Sport 2 of the World Collection. The 2001 World Collection co-MVP held the mighty St. Louis lineup to at least one run on 4 hits throughout six innings because the Pink Sox took a 2-0 collection lead.

They obtained even higher when the collection shifted to Busch Stadium.

Martinez met the second in what ended up being his last begin with the Pink Sox. After understanding of bother within the first inning of Sport 3, Martinez dazzled over seven scoreless innings with six strikeouts. The Pink Sox ace set down the ultimate 14 hitters he confronted.

Sport 4 introduced extra of the identical from a rejuvenated Derek Lowe on the power of his clincher at Yankee Stadium. He matched Martinez’s seven scoreless innings, permitting simply three hits with 4 strikeouts. Lowe retired 13 consecutive hitters in the course of his outing.

The Pink Sox gained on the backs of three excellent begins once they mattered most.

What modified for Boston?

“Execution,” Varitek mentioned. “Once you go all through a season, the whole lot isn’t all the time there. Curt was all the time capable of publish and make large pitches at large instances. Pedro was the competitor of all ends. Derek actually stepped up within the earlier collection from having a troublesome season.”

“I feel probably our beginning pitching may need been the catapult of getting us by it,” Mueller mentioned. “We nonetheless had numerous momentum on our aspect. The thrill and the adrenaline simply didn’t cease.”

Pitching and protection win championships. The Pink Sox had bother in these areas in Sport 1 earlier than they dominated and ran away with the collection.

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THE CHAMPIONSHIP MOMENTS
The Pink Sox seemingly managed each facet after a loopy Sport 1. They scored within the first inning in all 4 video games.

Varitek continued the pattern in Sport 2 when he sat on a changeup from Matt Morris and hit a two-out, two-strike triple to the triangle in proper middle discipline at Fenway Park.

“They walked David (Ortiz), I feel, which I don’t know why groups didn’t do this on a regular basis,” Varitek remembered. “Was capable of hit it within the nook (the triangle). Ended up with a triple moderately than a double due to the size right here at Fenway.”

When the collection shifted to St. Louis, Manny Ramirez blasted a solo residence run and threw a runner out at residence to start out Sport 3. Damon joined the house run get together in Sport 4 with a leadoff homer in opposition to Jason Marquis.

“So with that line drive, I’m undecided how excessive it obtained off the bottom,” Damon mentioned. “I obtained into it fairly good and (was) lucky to place us up 1-0. We simply went on the market and competed. It was a terrific begin.”

The Pink Sox stored taking part in their model of baseball and took a 3-0 lead in Sport 4 after Trot Nixon swung the bat on a 3-0 pitch to drive a ball off the wall to plate two runs. Boston noticed the last word prize in sight and acknowledged the necessity to lastly end the job.

“It was like, ‘We’ve come this far. Let’s simply get it over with. Let’s not let these guys cling round,’ ” Roberts recalled. “There was simply numerous momentum. I’m telling you, with this group of men, to have the ability to climate or counteract that strain we had been feeling from historical past and Pink Sox Nation, it took a particular group to have some enjoyable with it. We had been good for that 12 months.”

“Since we got here again in opposition to the Yankees down 3-0, the Cardinals followers had been saying, ‘Effectively if the Pink Sox can do it, we will,’ ” Damon mentioned. “The place was electrical. The Cardinals followers had been anticipated to start out turning across the collection. Clearly, we didn’t need to give them a chance to seize some momentum as a result of we knew the Cardinals had been a terrific workforce.”

“You needed to have that Cardinal win to actually nail it down,” Castiglione mentioned.

Pun meant.

Gamers wanted to stay centered on the duty at hand, however for others, the sense of historic pleasure set in because the night time went on.

“I bear in mind within the seventh inning of that recreation, we had the 3-0 lead,” Castiglione mentioned. “In the course of the industrial break, I went into the lads’s room to vary into champagne garments. I noticed a good friend of mine there with the Cardinals, a longtime good friend. He’s gonna really feel actually horrible about this. I feel that’s after I began to assume, ‘That is gonna finish tonight.’ “

The Pink Sox took that 3-0 lead into the underside of the ninth inning. Searching for the ultimate three outs, Busch Stadium provided a second gamers and followers alike will always remember.

“I simply really feel fortunate and numerous gratitude for that,” Kapler mentioned. “I bear in mind feeling that manner then, too. It’s not in hindsight feeling that gratitude. I caught (the primary out) of the inning, It was a fly ball to proper. I bear in mind the ball going up and feeling the additional nerves. This isn’t simply your common fly ball; this issues. It wasn’t a tough play or something. It was a routine fly ball. I bear in mind operating towards the pile after the ultimate out was recorded. Simply numerous gratitude. I felt fortunate to be on the market. It felt very surreal.”

Edgar Renteria marked the ultimate hope for the Cardinals. Keith Foulke delivered a 1-0 pitch, the Cardinals infielder one-hopped it again to the mound and the Pink Sox nearer flipped the ball to Doug Mientkiewicz at first base.

Generations of baseball followers rejoiced. The curse was over. The Pink Sox had been World Collection champions.

“Again to Foulke,” Joe Buck referred to as on the FOX broadcast. “Pink Sox followers have longed to listen to it. The Boston Pink Sox are world champions.“

“How would I describe it?” Castiglione thought to himself. “Then, I got here to the conclusion that you may’t script it since you don’t know the way it’s going to finish. I needed to maintain it easy. It’s their second. It’s the followers’ second. It’s the workforce’s second. Not my second. I used to be simply hoping it could be one thing definitive. It will not be a verify swing. He did swing or he didn’t? A diving catch, did he catch it or didn’t he? It was a easy floor ball to the pitcher. It was good. I feel that was one of the best ways to do it.”

“For the primary time in 86 years, the Pink Sox are baseball’s world champions. Are you able to consider it?” Castiglione mentioned on the radio name.

Varitek remembered Foulke’s pitch and the following celebration.

“It was full exhaustion.” Varitek mentioned. “That’s the place the surrealness set in. We did this. Now, you felt exhaustion.”

Myers added: “This was a joyous second. I feel they did understand what they’d completed. You hear them speaking about doing this for Boston and for the town. It was additionally for the historical past of baseball. Lots of people had been conscious of this watching this run for the Pink Sox. They virtually obtained uninterested in listening to bout the ache and distress of the curse and never successful a World Collection. They had been all very pleased. The factor that jumped out past apparent pleasure of victory and celebration, they had been dwelling and having fun with the second.”

The gamers dogpiled in the course of the diamond. The night time provided reminiscences to final a lifetime. These Pink Sox gamers shared just a few.

“Really, it was my (in-laws) the primary recreation that they noticed me play dwell,” Damon mentioned. “They’re from Missouri. My spouse’s dad is a giant Cardinals fan. He didn’t actually know what to assume and I mentioned, ‘You’re rooting to your son-in-law.’ That was the primary recreation. We ended up successful the sport. They get to return on the sphere after. We get to have fun. I informed him, ‘You most likely don’t need to go to a different recreation as a result of this won’t be there once more.’ That was good.”

“One in all my most treasured reminiscences was when the stadium was all cleared out,” Kapler recalled. “I used to be on the sphere with my sons. My two sons had been infants on the time. They’re crawling across the mound at Busch Stadium. I’ve obtained some footage of that second. That was extra significant than something. My greatest good friend from highschool was there smoking cigars and getting doused in champagne. My dad was within the clubhouse. He’s since handed away. My mother was there with my complete household.”

“Successful it in my hometown and understanding my people had been up there,” Mueller mentioned. “Family and friends and issues like that. It’s a surreal as a result of again in 1982, I used to be at my first World Collection at Sport 7 with my dad within the nosebleeds. That’s when the Cardinals beat the Brewers. I bear in mind all people stormed the sphere and the way thrilling it was. The subsequent time I’m at a World Collection recreation, I’m standing at third base and looking out up in any respect the individuals chanting for the Pink Sox. Successful it there was a surreal second.”

On the floor, a terrific workforce that gained 95 regular-season video games and 11 extra in essentially the most dramatic style within the playoffs capped a profitable season with a championship. On a far deeper stage, the 2004 Pink Sox exorcised their demons of the previous, erased a century of ache and redirected the franchise for a brand new period.

“It’s type of like moments like these years later the place you proceed to grasp and really feel the influence of it,” Mueller mentioned. “I feel as soon as it ended, you’re simply pleased you completed what you needed to perform. To have the ability to get a World Collection win in your profession, you by no means know the way your legacy goes to prove. Then, to interrupt a curse of 86 years and win a World Collection is a reasonably nice feeling.”

“Yeah, for the primary time as a result of — I don’t need to say the strain, however the longer you’re right here, the larger the piano obtained in your again,” Varitek mentioned. “One thing dangerous’s gonna occur. You don’t hear the ‘Curse of the Bambino’ anymore. You knew that. You knew this fanbase has had numerous agony that they’ve needed to take care of. The buildup over time of what’s been handed down from Jim Rice to (Johnny) Pesky to Mo Vaughn to John Valentin to Nomar (Garciaparra) and all people. We stored pushing and we stored getting higher. It ended up being a part of an finish consequence that we gained. Not at all did it simply need to do with the buildup of that 12 months. It was the buildup of numerous time. All people’s felt that burden. All people had a extreme sense of aid when it’s lastly completed.”

The 2004 Pink Sox set the tone for a complete revival of the franchise, which since has gained three extra championships — essentially the most in MLB in that span.

“I feel that Boston Pink Sox followers perceive that if we wouldn’t have gotten it completed in 2004, they may not have had the subsequent two championships after,” Roberts mentioned. “We took numerous strain off baseball followers, Pink Sox followers and Pink Sox groups. I do really feel that from the Pink Sox followers. I additionally assume they respect how tight knit that workforce was. With that, every time we’re collectively, it’s like no time has handed. Very shut workforce nonetheless to this present day.”

“It’s totally different than every other World Collection within the historical past of baseball,” Kapler added. “Everyone knows that now greater than ever. Trying again, there’s been different Pink Sox championships. Actually vital Pink Sox championships and so they all matter. I can’t think about that any Pink Sox fan would argue that there was a extra vital collection than ’04.”

Magical? Memorable? Historic? There are numerous phrases to explain the 2004 Pink Sox.

However the one which defines them eternally?

Champions.