Maybe this is right, and I'm using a little hindsight thinking about 2007. Though the team was pretty stacked, lead from start to finish.
Choosing your Favorite Child
- Thread starter Max Power
- Start date
It begins and ends with 2004. Especially for those of us that suffered through the last of the ‘70s, the ‘80s, the ‘90s until 2004. I know where I was, who i called first and which expletives I yelled into the air off my balcony when they finally broke the curse.
You see, the “curse” was never real. But to have to live almost 40 years constantly hearing the lamest of lame narratives all surrounding that stupid “curse” form local and national media was literally unbearable. I believe it’s a big reason why Sox fan of yore were/are so bitter. That and because of Bucky Fucking Dent. Fuck him.
2004 is the only one that matters.
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Yes, I remember talking to my brother on the phone during game 6 of the 2004 ALCS (this just after the epic games 4 and 5 - I mean, really people some of the greatest games in history), and him saying, "watching these games is something less than pleasure ..." It was excruciating. But then. Elation.
Not only am I old enough to remember, I was at Fenway for every single playoff game in the last 20 years. 2004 was like walking a highwire across the Grand Canyon. The whole experience was too stressful to truly enjoy while it was happening. Standing in the bleachers for 15 total hours over 3 straight days in the ALCS was exhausting. I'm glad it happened and the overall story was the most amazing in sports history, but I'd be hard pressed to describe it all as "enjoyable" until the ball hit Eye Chart's glove.
2013 was like a zipline over the Grand Canyon. You had the same views and reached the same destination, but there wasn't the feeling that it could all come crashing down at any moment. Being in the building for the final out was something I couldn't do for the others, so that boosts 2013 a bit for me, too.
It’s 2004 no doubt, but my wife went into labor during Game 5 in 2013 and my son was born the day before Game 6. I have an awesome picture my wife took of me holding my boy up close to the hospital room tv to see the final out.
I guess this makes 2011 the child born with a silver spoon in his mouth, had everything handed to him, only to get kicked out of school for dealing coke.
2007 is my least favorite of those squads, but that said, I loved. loved writing "Is it 2090 already?" In response to the NY press's "See you in 2090" after 2004.
I saw a ton of games in 2004 and 2007 because I was still in Boston and only one (Papi ALCS) in 2013 and I believe one in DC in 2018, so I was less directly connected. That said, they were both delightful teams.
I saw a ton of games in 2004 and 2007 because I was still in Boston and only one (Papi ALCS) in 2013 and I believe one in DC in 2018, so I was less directly connected. That said, they were both delightful teams.
I should add that I've been rewatching Lost and Jack's incredulity when Ben tells him about the 2004 comeback and his shock at watching the last out still gives me chills.
04
07
18
13
'04 needs no explanation.
'07 and '18 were loaded with young, homegrown talent that were so much fun to watch. It's a shame neither group really sustained it.
'13 still had some of those homegrown stars from '07, but it also made Jonny Gomes a thing for the rest of my life.
07
18
13
'04 needs no explanation.
'07 and '18 were loaded with young, homegrown talent that were so much fun to watch. It's a shame neither group really sustained it.
'13 still had some of those homegrown stars from '07, but it also made Jonny Gomes a thing for the rest of my life.
Its obviously 2004, but I've got a special fondness for the 2018 team. The way they just steamrolled everybody for seven months was incredible, culminating in two tremendous victories over the Dodgers after what at the time seemed like a potential Buckner-esque disaster in game 3 of the World Series.
I loved 2013. From spring training it felt like that team could surprise. And they were a lot of fun to watch - freed in 2004 from the shackles and then proven fluke-proof by 2007, just allowed me to have fun and trust the org...
Just to add to this sentiment, the 2013 team never faced elimination. Even with the drama of ALCS Game 2, there was never a point in that post-season where you could realistically have said "well, it was a nice run but they're done." That was amazing to experience for the first time as a Sox fan (and again to a greater degree in 2018).
I wanted to say 2013, because I was at the game when they clinched - just an incredible thing to experience, and do so at Fenway.
But I voted 2004. It has to be 2004.
But I voted 2004. It has to be 2004.
All the championships every team I root for will ever win will be compared to '04. I did not realize it at the time.
2004 remains the greatest team sports story of all time and I don’t know if it will ever be topped. It was excruciating in a whole-of-organism way that I will never experience again. The emotional aftermath of 1986 and 2003 lasted MONTHS. So did 2004, but I don’t think words like redemption or even salvation are inappropriate to describe my experience of that offseason.
The following three championship teams were all dominant in their own way. Division titles were never really in doubt. They all led or tied for most regular season wins, and surprisingly only the 2018 team didn’t lead MLB in run differential. All three teams could reasonably claim to have been the best team each year even if they had lost in the postseason. 2004 is probably the flukiest title which, as time goes on, only makes me love it more.
For me it’s the beloved firstborn and then totally unexpected triplets. I love those little guys but it can be hard to tell them apart and I’ve even forgotten how many of them there are once or twice.
The following three championship teams were all dominant in their own way. Division titles were never really in doubt. They all led or tied for most regular season wins, and surprisingly only the 2018 team didn’t lead MLB in run differential. All three teams could reasonably claim to have been the best team each year even if they had lost in the postseason. 2004 is probably the flukiest title which, as time goes on, only makes me love it more.
For me it’s the beloved firstborn and then totally unexpected triplets. I love those little guys but it can be hard to tell them apart and I’ve even forgotten how many of them there are once or twice.
I like kids who eat crayons.
2004 was more important in many ways. It was also just epic baseball qua baseball - if the Sox were magically swapped out with the Brewers or someone, it still would be a post-season for the ages. But my god, it was stressful.
2013 was more enjoyable and had it's own share of dramatic moments and underdog accomplishments - who really thought we'd get past Detroit? Add in the Marathon bombing, and the cast of overachieving characters, and it's my favorite over 2007 and 2018.
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Thought experiment: If the 2018 dominant team had somehow happened in 2004, would it have been more or less stressful to watch?
2004 was more important in many ways. It was also just epic baseball qua baseball - if the Sox were magically swapped out with the Brewers or someone, it still would be a post-season for the ages. But my god, it was stressful.
2013 was more enjoyable and had it's own share of dramatic moments and underdog accomplishments - who really thought we'd get past Detroit? Add in the Marathon bombing, and the cast of overachieving characters, and it's my favorite over 2007 and 2018.
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Thought experiment: If the 2018 dominant team had somehow happened in 2004, would it have been more or less stressful to watch?
2004: Doesn’t really need more of a explanation other than every cemetary in New England was absolutely jam-packed on 10/28/04. For good reason
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2013: Because of the Marathon Bombings, the improbable nature of that team winning, it all added up to a tremendous story that the city desperately needed.
2018: It was the first championship that really was about greatness. Best Red Sox team I ever saw. Dominant throughout the season and postseason. I was there for the clincher which also added to it (despite dropping the 2nd-to-last ball used when the foul ball off Enrique’s bat 1 batter before Machado bounced off my palm into the hands of a slimy, angry Dodger fan).
2007: It was still special because it showed that 2004 was no fluke and the Red Sox were here to compete. I watched most of that post-season in MGH due to some surgery I had which also made it quite memorable. I barely reacted on the final out though aside from a mild fist pump, which was because of how special 2004 was.
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2013: Because of the Marathon Bombings, the improbable nature of that team winning, it all added up to a tremendous story that the city desperately needed.
2018: It was the first championship that really was about greatness. Best Red Sox team I ever saw. Dominant throughout the season and postseason. I was there for the clincher which also added to it (despite dropping the 2nd-to-last ball used when the foul ball off Enrique’s bat 1 batter before Machado bounced off my palm into the hands of a slimy, angry Dodger fan).
2007: It was still special because it showed that 2004 was no fluke and the Red Sox were here to compete. I watched most of that post-season in MGH due to some surgery I had which also made it quite memorable. I barely reacted on the final out though aside from a mild fist pump, which was because of how special 2004 was.
The 2004 team is so tied up with the 2003 team and the Grady/Pedro malfunction that it is so hard to separate the two as it is. If the 04 team came out the gates and dominated the way that 2018 did, we would all still have sweat the inevitable MFY showdown in the ALCS in ways that we haven't in nearly 20 years. There were times that the Sox were better than the MFY but we still were beaten by them.
The stress would have been the same if we went 162-0.
It's amazing the extent to which 2004 rearranged the emotions of watching a Red Sox playoff game forever. I was watching or listening to every disaster from '72 through '03 and those traumas were still looming over everything, even deep into the World Series. During the high-stress points of Game 5 of the ALCS especially, they were more then looming. The monsters were screaming inside my head. There was not enough beer in that bar to silence them, although I tried mightily.
I was never even close to comfortable until I had visual proof that the monster was dead.
Let's go to the tape and compare the voices inside my head during the two WS:
2004, up 2-0: "Good for you. They were up 2-0 in '86, champ. What did that get you?" This isn't over, at all,."
2007, up 2-0: "Rockies are realistically done. Toast."
I was never even close to comfortable until I had visual proof that the monster was dead.
Let's go to the tape and compare the voices inside my head during the two WS:
2004, up 2-0: "Good for you. They were up 2-0 in '86, champ. What did that get you?" This isn't over, at all,."
2007, up 2-0: "Rockies are realistically done. Toast."
I am biased for 2013 knowing Shane Victorino and his family here on Maui. But 2004; man, that was amazing too.
I Didn’t start liking baseball until 2005 and in 2007 I was a wee middle schooler whose passion for sports had become somewhat intermittent so I admittedly didn’t watch much of the postseason. This debate is realistically between 13 and 18 for me if I had to pick and I think I’d have to go with 2018. That team was just flat better than everyone else. To win 108 games and then to brush aside the MFY, Houston, and the Dodgers like they were little more than speed bumps was just too good.
my real answer, however, is to quote a great man and say “the next one.”
my real answer, however, is to quote a great man and say “the next one.”
I went from abject despair after 2004 ALCS Game 3 to the best two weeks of my life. I’m a season ticket holder so I was in attendance for every home game.
FWIW…it never crossed my mind to ditch Game 4, despite sobbing almost the entire drive home after Game 3. The entire ALCS had me swallowing antacids. I still get chills when I see clips from that series.
2013 is second because I witnessed them winning a championship in person. An incredible experience and its significance for the city.
Seeing them go so long without winning a championship and then winning four, is perhaps why I don’t go psycho anymore when they suck.
FWIW…it never crossed my mind to ditch Game 4, despite sobbing almost the entire drive home after Game 3. The entire ALCS had me swallowing antacids. I still get chills when I see clips from that series.
2013 is second because I witnessed them winning a championship in person. An incredible experience and its significance for the city.
Seeing them go so long without winning a championship and then winning four, is perhaps why I don’t go psycho anymore when they suck.
For those taking down 2004 a notch because it was so stressful and hence not enjoyable, do you wish that postseason played out differently? Like say with a nice and tidy 4-1 ALCS victory?
I can’t imagine wanting 2004 to have gone any other way. The sports satisfaction of that ALCS and the subsequent championship was immeasurable beyond words precisely because of the stress, not in spite of it. Sports thrills are so much deeper and impactful when they arise out of existential doubt and despair, it‘s why the sports movie formula is structured that exact way. And for it to have happened in such a historically significant context to boot, against the perfect villain, my god, how could it be anything but the greatest season in the history of sport.
I can’t imagine wanting 2004 to have gone any other way. The sports satisfaction of that ALCS and the subsequent championship was immeasurable beyond words precisely because of the stress, not in spite of it. Sports thrills are so much deeper and impactful when they arise out of existential doubt and despair, it‘s why the sports movie formula is structured that exact way. And for it to have happened in such a historically significant context to boot, against the perfect villain, my god, how could it be anything but the greatest season in the history of sport.