17 Years Ago Today....

ookami7m

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Jul 15, 2005
5,657
Mobile, AL
St Louis MO, Wed Oct 27, 2004 - 10:39pm

Swing and a ground ball stabbed by Foulke! He has it, he underhands to first – and the Boston Red Sox are the World Champions! For the first time in 86 years, the Red Sox have won baseball's world championship! Can you believe it?
Joe Castiglione
The game that changed our collective fandom, marked by a lunar eclipse, and the collective exhale of generations of Sox fans. I remember sitting in front of the projector screen that had the game on in front of me, elbows on knees, hands clinching and my wife sitting beside me with about 0.00004% of the anxiety that I was showing. The final out happens and I give one loud clap and a Ric Flair-esque WOOOOOOOO! The next thing I remember is walking outside and looking up at the moon, the red tint an obvious sign to me that the universe lined this all up for us. Just typing this up even brings a big smile to my face, the three subsequent WS wins are great, but I'll never have the same kind dopamine hit.
 

PedroKsBambino

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Apr 17, 2003
31,185
Worth a re-read....

https://www.si.com/mlb/2014/10/30/si-60-sportsmen-year-boston-red-sox

My favorite quote, as true today as it was in 2004. When the Pats were down 28-3 I texted friends "It is bad, but not as bad as being down 0-3 and facing Mariano Rivera in the 9th..."

The Red Sox are SI's Sportsmen of the Year, an honor they may have won even if the magnitude of their unprecedented athletic achievement was all that had been considered. Three outs from being swept in the ALCS, they won eight consecutive games, the last six without ever trailing. Their place in the sporting pantheon is fixed; the St. Jude of sports, patron saint of lost athletic causes, their spirit will be summoned at the bleakest of moments.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,369
For the ninth inning of Game 4 of the WS, I woke my young son up and got him out of bed to see it. He watched, bleary-eyed. Foulke tossed it to first and the Sox had their championship. My son looked up at me and smiled, still half asleep. He did understand what had happened though. I gave him a hug. Then he said, "I want to go back to bed now." LOL

When it was over, my wife looked at me and asked, "Is it everything you thought it would be?" I looked back, smiled, nodded, and said, "Yes. It really is."

What a moment.
 

bougrj1

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Jul 14, 2005
190
I was a senior in college down in North Carolina. After they went up 3-0 on the Cardinals, I drove home 12 hours to be in MA for game 4. I had two choices that night, stay at home and watch with my parents and grandparents or go in the city and watch at a bar with my friends. I chose to stay home and for the days after, felt I made the wrong decision after hearing how much fun my friends had that night. 17 years later, and now with my Grandma (who gave me my initial love of baseball) having passed, I know I made the right choice.
 

Marbleheader

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Sep 27, 2004
11,726
The ALCS had enough drama for a lifetime. The Cardinals never led in the World Series and I think we all needed that. It certainly wasn't a great World Series, but 1946, 1967, 1975 and 1986 were considered great but they came up short. I'll take the drama-free win. Also, like most historical events, it was all about me: what i wore, what I ate, where I sat, etc. You're welcome.
 

RG33

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Nov 28, 2005
7,199
CA
I watched game 4 at Whiskey’s on Boylston (now closed) with my sister and friends. When they won, they closed Boylston off and the city just took to the streets — free hugs, high 5s, chants, everything. It was one of the best nights of my life.
 

tims4wins

PN23's replacement
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
37,054
Hingham, MA
I watched game 4 alone in my apartment in Houston. Couldn’t stomach to watch with anyone else. Ironically the Sox probably should have been playing Houston that year.

My dad had season tickets to the Sox at that time so I had to make a choice whether to fly home for games 1-2 or 6-7. I chose 6-7 because the Cards were so good. Still regret that decision, kind of, although I wouldn’t want to go back and chance history. I then missed the WS in both 2007 (job interviews for the company I still work for) and 2013 (daughter born during game 3) and it took me until 2018 to finally go. Saw a good one though, the Nunez 3 run HR in game 1.
 

Eagle3

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Feb 26, 2004
574
One of the best nights of my life. Turned 40 10 minutes after the last out at midnight
 

Philip Jeff Frye

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Oct 23, 2001
10,229
I've told this story here before, so feel free to skip ahead! I had to go on a business trip to Australia in October 2004. When it was scheduled, it never occurred to me that it would get in the way of the World Series. When it became apparent that this was a problem, I figured, we'll I'll be back the afternoon of Game 4, they'll never sweep, so I'll still be able to see the important games at the end of the series.

I was able to reschedule my flight to Sydney such that I had a very long layover at the San Francisco airport where I was able to watch all of Game 1. I had no idea if I'd be able to find the games on TV in Australia, but when I landed, I saw an NFL game was on a TV at the airport, so that gave me hope. However, my hotel didn't have the channel. I was able to find a pub on Circular Quay that was broadcasting it, so I skipped on part of my conference to watch game 2 morning time in Australia. Game 3 was the day I was flying home, so I figured I could watch at least part of it at the airport. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find it on a TV anywhere there, so I followed it on my Blackberry, largely through the SoSH game thread.

Then things started to go wrong. Just after game 3 ended, our jet taxied out to the runway. We sat there for maybe 30 or 45 minutes, when the pilot announces that because of the direction the wind is blowing, we've been delayed in a our takeoff and sitting on the ground, we've used up our reserve fuel, so we need to go back and get more. We're flying half way around the world and we've used up our emergency fuel sitting on the ground for a little bit? How the hell was that possible? As a result, we were late landing in San Francisco and I missed my connection to New York. The flight I was rebooked on wouldn't land until around 9:00 pm. I convinced myself that this wasn't the end of the world - I'd miss the first few innings, but World Series games take forever, I could listen to the game on the radio in the car and I'd get home in time to see the end of the game. And there's some chance they'll lose anyway, so they won't clinch that night. But as I'm driving home, Derek Lowe, of all people, is mowing down batter after batter, the Cardinals are completely dead and the game is flying along. I finally pulled over at a Chili's in Milford off of I-95 to watch the last inning and a half of the game. When I got back in the car after celebrating there, I called my dad and then my kids. It was a little bittersweet that I wasn't with either of them during this historic moment and I felt a little guilty kind of rooting for the Sox to lose Game 4, but thank God it finally happened, especially because my father passed away about 18 months later.
 

mr_smith02

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Nov 29, 2003
4,352
Upstate NY
It had to happen as it did.

It had to include a vanquishing of the Yankees, the 1918 chants, their arrogance, their "mystique".

It had to call on every ounce of faith and energy multi-generations of Red Sox fans could muster.

It had to include every emotion known to mankind...the tears, the fears, the indescribable elation.

It had to have an epic SoSH thread that would ultimately be turned into a book.

Yes, it had to happen as it did.
 

TomBrunansky23

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May 4, 2006
772
Crapchester, NY
I was a senior in college down in North Carolina. After they went up 3-0 on the Cardinals, I drove home 12 hours to be in MA for game 4. I had two choices that night, stay at home and watch with my parents and grandparents or go in the city and watch at a bar with my friends. I chose to stay home and for the days after, felt I made the wrong decision after hearing how much fun my friends had that night. 17 years later, and now with my Grandma (who gave me my initial love of baseball) having passed, I know I made the right choice.
Yes, you absolutely did.
 

RedOctober3829

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Jul 19, 2005
55,298
deep inside Guido territory
I could go on for a while about the impact that 04 team had on me. To me, 2003 and 2004 was one long season. The back and forth with the Yankees those seasons is something that I don't think will ever be replicated in baseball and even sports ever again.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
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Oct 1, 2015
24,369
Sox-Yanks have a long and storied history as rivals, obviously. But 2003-2004 was the absolute peak of the rivalry, IMO. They played for the highest stakes they could possibly play for (since they can’t meet in the World Series). They were the two best teams in baseball (if not by record, by acclaim). Two straight seasons of seven games in the ALCS.

Unbelievable stuff.
 

Marbleheader

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Sep 27, 2004
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Sox-Yanks have a long and storied history as rivals, obviously. But 2003-2004 was the absolute peak of the rivalry, IMO. They played for the highest stakes they could possibly play for (since they can’t meet in the World Series). They were the two best teams in baseball (if not by record, by acclaim). Two straight seasons of seven games in the ALCS.

Unbelievable stuff.
Made sweeter by the fact that the Yankees lost in the World Series in 2003 and the Red Sox won in 2004.
 

Doug Beerabelli

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I'll never get sick of re-living these memories. I had a bleary-eyed, just woken up three year old on my lap, and another kid nascently in-utero with my wife (we didn't know it at the time), to watch the final out.

Of course, these kids got to see three more of these moments before either of them went off to college. But I'm not unhappy for them about that. Or me.
 

nolasoxfan

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Jun 11, 2004
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After the Reds won Game 7 in 1975, 9 year old @nolasoxfan made himself a promise that he would be in the stands when the Red Sox won their next World Series. Promise fulfilled on October 27, 2004.
 

jaytftwofive

New Member
Jan 20, 2013
1,182
Drexel Hill Pa.
Didn't yell. Watched it alone after I came home from work. (Was working till 9 in retail at time.) Just threw my arms in the air, looked up to Heaven at my Dad and all those who didn't get to see it. Called my mom. My sister called me. The week before I had gone out to celebrate beating MFY in Game 7 across the street from where I live. A lot of New England college students were celebrating and a friend and I went across the street to join in. (I live in the Philly area now). After winning game 4 of the WS I knocked on my friends door but he didn't answer so I went to another local Boston Sports hangout. (When I talked to my friend the next day he said "The Curse ended when they beat the Yankees" He's not a Red Sox fan as you can tell. I strongly disagreed telling him it was about winning the WS not beating the Yankees) So mad I couldn't get to the parade because I couldn't get anybody to work for me. What a night. No disrespect to Joe C, but I liked Joe Buck's call better. "Back to Foulke. Red Sox fans have longed to hear it.......The Boston Red Sox are World Champions" And people at work and friends congratulating me like I got married or became a father, LOL.
 

jaytftwofive

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Jan 20, 2013
1,182
Drexel Hill Pa.
I wasn't a member on SOSH then but I was a member of Boston Dirt Dogs, and the day of game 4 of the WS their title was..."I love a parade". I was not happy of course being a superstitious Sox fan but it didn't matter of course.
 

GB5

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Aug 26, 2013
675
Incredible. I know it has been asked a million times but is the WIn IT FOR thread still accessible?
 

jaytftwofive

New Member
Jan 20, 2013
1,182
Drexel Hill Pa.
I even remember the closing credits and music of Fox's broadcast. Van Morrison's "Golden Autumn Day". I forget the name of the second song, but they ended appropriately with Etta James "At Last". Then the last footage was a picture of the Globe or Herald that said "We Win". I think it was a picture of when the Sox clinched the pennant in 46. And of course after they won game 4, the first commercial break was the only commercial that almost made me cry. The Nike commercial of Fenway Park, 1919-2004. The growth of a 4 or 5 year old boy at Fenway to a man in his late 80's or early 90's in 2004. Very touching. Even Yankee fans were touched by it and loved it.
 
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jcaz

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Jun 8, 2009
383
I made this, and printed it at large scale, and framed it for my dad, brother, and brother-in-law. I wish I owned the images; I think I could have sold a lot of these. That was truly a life changing few weeks. 45912
 

brs3

sings praises of pinstripes
SoSH Member
May 20, 2008
5,200
Jackson Heights, NYC
I'm a nicer person and an even keeled normal baseball fan because of 2004. Sure, some of that craziness rears its head during playoff time...but it's different. The full reversal of how Yankees fans act towards Red Sox fans and impending matchups is unthinkable compared to pre-2004. Maybe that has to do with 07, 13, 18, but it is glorious. I wouldn't wish a kid just discovering the Red Sox the baggage of pre-2004, and now it doesn't exist. Now they can just enjoy the team, the ups and downs, without chants of the ghosts of baseball past echoing.
 

Sandwich Pick

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Sep 9, 2017
697
Sox-Yanks have a long and storied history as rivals, obviously. But 2003-2004 was the absolute peak of the rivalry, IMO. They played for the highest stakes they could possibly play for (since they can’t meet in the World Series). They were the two best teams in baseball (if not by record, by acclaim). Two straight seasons of seven games in the ALCS.

Unbelievable stuff.
As a fan, I can't think of a more emotionally exhausting sequence (in any sport) than that 2 year stretch.

I was in the hospital for Game 5 of the 2003 ALDS and the guy on the other side of the curtain was watching the historic Peyton Manning MNF comeback while I was watching the baseball game. I was so out of it that I was trying to figure out what the hell he was cheering about.
 

jaytftwofive

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Jan 20, 2013
1,182
Drexel Hill Pa.
As a fan, I can't think of a more emotionally exhausting sequence (in any sport) than that 2 year stretch.

I was in the hospital for Game 5 of the 2003 ALDS and the guy on the other side of the curtain was watching the historic Peyton Manning MNF comeback while I was watching the baseball game. I was so out of it that I was trying to figure out what the hell he was cheering about.
One of my loudest screams if not my loudest as a Sox fan is when Lowe struck out Terrence Moore to end the game. I really thought they were going to blow it.
 

Al Zarilla

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Dec 8, 2005
58,867
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I'll always remember Derek Lowe walking off the mound after the seventh inning and Pedro coming out of the dugout to greet him and what a great chuckle they both had over what had been accomplished. Sometimes the cameras do catch the good stuff.
 

Archer1979

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Jul 18, 2005
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My kids were all younger at the time with the oldest being just shy of seven years old. My wife didn't really start being a fan until after we met. Only family members that were Sox fans were away at college. I had no online presence at the time, so game-threading wasn't a thing yet for me. But I probably watched every pitch of every inning from the ALDS on. My older boy would watch until bedtime, but after that, it was pretty much me sitting in my leather chair in the living room watching the game alone on the Hi-Def Sony Trinitron that couldn't take advantage of the Hi-Def signal as our cable hadn't enabled that yet (it's either that or I was too cheap to get it... memory is sketchy on that point).

That entire post-season was a roller-coaster from the ALDS on. While the Sox steamrolled over the Angels in three straight, we still needed a walk-off from Papi to counter Vlad Guerrero's grand slam to tie the game all the while having a scary Derek Lowe get the win. Lowe barely made the post-season roster in 2004, yet got the W's for each clincher.

The ALCS was hell on earth for all of us. When I went to bed after Game Three shellacking in the ALCS, I was quietly reserved. It was a strange feeling. While I no longer expected the Sox to win that series, I still saw the road to win. I just didn't believe that this was going to be a sweep as it would have been entirely uncharacteristic of the Sox to lost a post-season series to NY without there being one last piece of agony involved and I told everyone this at work. At work, a few of us were involved in a major project that required daily 9:00 am status meetings. Our collective mantra was, we'll sleep in November. I spent the next four games in that leather chair, wearing the same shirt, unlaundered, drenched in sweat by the end of each game. When Pokey took in that last grounder and threw it the Eye-Chart, it was then, and only then, that I relaxed, and washed my shirt.

When we got to the ninth inning of Game Four of the World Series, I went upstairs, and woke my older boy from a sound sleep. He was groggy and wanted nothing to do with anything at that time, but I convinced him to get up to see the lunar eclipse (which had completed on the East Coast by that time). So I grabbed him; carried him downstairs; brought him outside; and lied to him that the cloud cover sifting over the moon was what he wanted to see. "Well, as long as you're up, let's watch the end of the game."

My wife, at that point, was locked in. She sat on the couch. My son was on the living room floor. And I sat in that leather chair wearing the short that got me through the ALCS and the red Red Sox cap that I had since '75. The Red Sox cap was a daring choice as I did the same thing when the Sox lost to the Mets in Game Six and we all know how that turned out. When the final out was recorded, I jumped up, ran over to my son who was overjoyed, grabbed him and hugged my wife. Afterwards, the phone calls. I can't quite remember who called who, but for the next hour or so, we all touched base, and reminisced that we wished that our parents, who had recently passed a few years earlier, could have seen this.

I still have the leather chair. It collapsed a couple of years ago, but the boys put it back together.

I still have the shirt I wore. It's an old Red Sox T-Shirt from the 80's. The printing on it has chipped away and the threads are starting to thin out.

The red Red Sox cap is sitting in my study in its place of honor along with the various trophies, plaques, and signed game balls that I've accumulated from the kids sports teams over the years.

But most of all, what I have now, that I didn't have then, is the boys are grown up now. Along with me, they watched the games along with me this past post-season with the same passion that I had those 17 years ago.

That's why I love baseball.
 

cantor44

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Dec 23, 2020
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Chicago, IL

Al Zarilla

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Dec 8, 2005
58,867
San Andreas Fault
My kids were all younger at the time with the oldest being just shy of seven years old. My wife didn't really start being a fan until after we met. Only family members that were Sox fans were away at college. I had no online presence at the time, so game-threading wasn't a thing yet for me. But I probably watched every pitch of every inning from the ALDS on. My older boy would watch until bedtime, but after that, it was pretty much me sitting in my leather chair in the living room watching the game alone on the Hi-Def Sony Trinitron that couldn't take advantage of the Hi-Def signal as our cable hadn't enabled that yet (it's either that or I was too cheap to get it... memory is sketchy on that point).

That entire post-season was a roller-coaster from the ALDS on. While the Sox steamrolled over the Angels in three straight, we still needed a walk-off from Papi to counter Vlad Guerrero's grand slam to tie the game all the while having a scary Derek Lowe get the win. Lowe barely made the post-season roster in 2004, yet got the W's for each clincher.

The ALCS was hell on earth for all of us. When I went to bed after Game Three shellacking in the ALCS, I was quietly reserved. It was a strange feeling. While I no longer expected the Sox to win that series, I still saw the road to win. I just didn't believe that this was going to be a sweep as it would have been entirely uncharacteristic of the Sox to lost a post-season series to NY without there being one last piece of agony involved and I told everyone this at work. At work, a few of us were involved in a major project that required daily 9:00 am status meetings. Our collective mantra was, we'll sleep in November. I spent the next four games in that leather chair, wearing the same shirt, unlaundered, drenched in sweat by the end of each game. When Pokey took in that last grounder and threw it the Eye-Chart, it was then, and only then, that I relaxed, and washed my shirt.

When we got to the ninth inning of Game Four of the World Series, I went upstairs, and woke my older boy from a sound sleep. He was groggy and wanted nothing to do with anything at that time, but I convinced him to get up to see the lunar eclipse (which had completed on the East Coast by that time). So I grabbed him; carried him downstairs; brought him outside; and lied to him that the cloud cover sifting over the moon was what he wanted to see. "Well, as long as you're up, let's watch the end of the game."

My wife, at that point, was locked in. She sat on the couch. My son was on the living room floor. And I sat in that leather chair wearing the short that got me through the ALCS and the red Red Sox cap that I had since '75. The Red Sox cap was a daring choice as I did the same thing when the Sox lost to the Mets in Game Six and we all know how that turned out. When the final out was recorded, I jumped up, ran over to my son who was overjoyed, grabbed him and hugged my wife. Afterwards, the phone calls. I can't quite remember who called who, but for the next hour or so, we all touched base, and reminisced that we wished that our parents, who had recently passed a few years earlier, could have seen this.

I still have the leather chair. It collapsed a couple of years ago, but the boys put it back together.

I still have the shirt I wore. It's an old Red Sox T-Shirt from the 80's. The printing on it has chipped away and the threads are starting to thin out.

The red Red Sox cap is sitting in my study in its place of honor along with the various trophies, plaques, and signed game balls that I've accumulated from the kids sports teams over the years.

But most of all, what I have now, that I didn't have then, is the boys are grown up now. Along with me, they watched the games along with me this past post-season with the same passion that I had those 17 years ago.

That's why I love baseball.
Lowe just barely made the postseason roster? I never knew that. Where would they have been without him.
 

Sandy Leon Trotsky

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Mar 11, 2007
6,344
Lowe just barely made the postseason roster? I never knew that. Where would they have been without him.
He was terrible during the regular season and there were rumors about heavy drinking IIRC. He was so great in '02 when he was converted to a starter. Took a step back in '03 but still very good. I think if he performed as he was expected to (or hoped to) during the regular season, that Sox team would likely have won over 100 and ran away with the division. His big back slide I suspect was the difference in 5,6 wins.
 

Archer1979

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Jul 18, 2005
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He was terrible during the regular season and there were rumors about heavy drinking IIRC. He was so great in '02 when he was converted to a starter. Took a step back in '03 but still very good. I think if he performed as he was expected to (or hoped to) during the regular season, that Sox team would likely have won over 100 and ran away with the division. His big back slide I suspect was the difference in 5,6 wins.
The thing I remember most about Lowe's regular season in 2004 was how quickly he fell apart on the mound for even the slightest of setbacks. His body language was horrible, which only seemed to amp up the opposing line-ups. I don't think that anyone could have foreseen just how big he was going to be in that post-season based on what he showed prior to October.
 
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Omar's Wacky Neighbor

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Jul 14, 2005
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Leaving in a bit to the studio :)
I’ll always remember the moon that night.
Our sons were 3 and 5 that night. I made a point to take them outside individually, show them the moon, and tell them how Daddy (and hopefully, they) would never ever forget that night.

And my wife and I will never forget the seventh inning stretch on the family room couch that night either, but children read this forum, so nuff said......