Well, I mean, it's the 20th anniversary of the most important Red Sox season in franchise history. I'd have expected this no matter what.
2004 WS Celebration
- Thread starter bosockboy
- Start date
We’ve come a long ways from the virtual waiting room and magic back door links. Used to be the entire season was basically sold out by mid march.
If we’re writing the perfect script for this ceremony, they should have Wakefield’s two children throw out the 1st pitch to Varitek and Mirabelli.
I guess it does make sense to do something on Opening Day for 20 years. As an aside remember when they had a random celebration late in 2012. That was the definitely “hey push the 2004 button”
Long timers will recognize the Byline
It was actually the penultimate event of the season-long 100 year anniversary celebration of Fenway, but yeah, likely designed to remind people of the good times, at the end of Bobby V's tenure, and at the end of a truly vile season. That was a ridiculously horrible year that started as soon as 2011 wrapped up, with Theo and Tito gone and Lucchino asserting his will. If there was ever a time to run ownership out of town, that was it. But then came next year....
FWIW they also did a huge anniversary celebration, which like this year was always going to happen, regardless of the shitshow surrounding the previous season or dissatisfaction with ownership. It wasn't opening day, but that was probably because they wanted it to coincide with the actual opening date in 1912 of April 20.
Of course Tito had to have his arm twisted to be there, and the Yankees wrecked the day with a 6-2 win, so....
In any event, it's awesome and perfectly appropriate to honor the 2004 team on opening day, and they can't do that without acknowledging Tim and Stacy. I'm glad they're doing this and it has nothing to do with anything else.
It would be absolutely strange if there wasn’t. People here are crazy sometimes.
If Wakefield had passed in a different year and the Red Sox were to honor him in a year other than 2024 (say, opening day 2023 if he had passed in 2022), there wouldn't be any discussion of that or of the 20th anniversary events. Neither would be seen as a gimmick by itself, so the idea that this is a cynical play for ticket sales misses the mark.
Just chiming in to note that the conspiracy theory talk about doing a 2004 celebration to boost sales is absurd. They were always going to do something this year. I also think doing something on opening day along with a Wakefield celebration is totally reasonable. There was no way they couldn't do something with Wake on opening day, and given how important 2004 was it feels silly to not have something that day too. Especially given how huge a part of that era Wakefield was.
Also, Schilling can go fuck himself. Very disappointed if they invite him / if he shows, but I wager the crowd will let him hear it. Also, equivocating Schilling with Williams is pretty disgusting. Good times all around!
Also, Schilling can go fuck himself. Very disappointed if they invite him / if he shows, but I wager the crowd will let him hear it. Also, equivocating Schilling with Williams is pretty disgusting. Good times all around!
It's like people forgot how important Wake was to 2004. And ALL his 2004 teammates will be there. The "they're just doing this do boost ticket sales" crowd should step outside for some air on this first day of spring, or go massage Shaughnessy's feet so he can come back and fill that particular void.
To be clear, I am fairly unhappy with the direction of the team in recent years... but yeah. This feels like a big stretch.
I was at that 100th Anniversary game, it was pretty freakin' cool even with the loss. Seeing all the players come out, seeing the festivities, that was a good day.
They would have likely done some sort of ceremony for the Wakefields even if it wasn't the 20th anniversary of the 2004 team. That the two coincided made a combined ceremony logical.
Opening day seems like the perfect day to honor both the Wakefields, and the 2004 championship. Both were absolutely happening at some point this season, and are neither ticket sales ploys, nor an attempt to deflect from the current state of the ball club, FFS. As per Schilling, regardless of what people think of him and his post career activities in general, as noted up thread, his outing of Tims cancer against the family's wishes, should, IMO, disqualify him from being invited. Or at least maybe Tim and Stacey’s children should be consulted to make that call.
Not to derail all this or tell someone how to enjoy their favorite team but I find it hard to compare Williams to Schilling.
Williams it seems, was an arrogant, moody superstar with complicated relationships with his family. But he was also a war hero, an advocate for recognition of the Negro Leagues, etc.
Thank God we didn't have twitter back then, because who knows what we'd learn about all the players of that generation... but it's strange to compare to the two me. One was possibly a bit of an asshole. The other is on a whole different level.
I'd hope that the family was involved. I would also hope that Schilling would invent a last-minute family emergency that keeps him away. (Though it's unlikely that his self-awareness has increased to that level). OTOH -- Mrs. Varitek belting him with a pillowcase full of baseballs would make for an interesting day.
Amen to this. I wasn't there that day, but I've been fortunate enough to attend some pretty awesome ceremonies, none better than Pedro's number retirement night with my son. An irreplaceable experience.
They lost 9-2 to the other Sox that night. We didn't really care. We celebrate the good times to survive the bad times.
That was a fun one. When Miley was getting lit up, the entire crowd was begging for Pedro to get put in the game somehow. If you're going to lose, might as well do it with the guy we love.
Now, see Curt Schilling belted with a pillowcase full of baseballs night would probably juice up ticket tales on an august night, when they’re likely out of contention. I’d go.
Ha, I actually did a typo and looked up the box score for 7/29/15, so I had the wrong score, but it was so close to the same I didn't notice until I looked at the pitching lines. They actually lost 9-4 that night, and 9-2 the following.
"PEDRO! PEDRO! PEDRO!" I'm so fucking glad I got to hear and be part of that one more time....
The comparison wasn’t to compare Schillimg to Williams. It was how I can separate person from ball player.
I say that because the last book I read on Ted Williams really painted a terrible picture. Montville authored. From a high pedestal for Ted down towards the bottom for me. Kind of wish I didn’t know.
Well, to say he wasn't much of a father or a husband is a huge understatement.
And were he alive today and vocal about his political views...
Amen to this. Reading some of these negative posts in what should've been a celebratory thread makes my stomach churn, and really feel sad for how miserable some are. It's no wonder I've found myself gravitating to the Minor League threads more and more. Thanks to the decent guys/gals on here that actually have thoughtful input. But shame on a bunch of others.
Amazing.
According to my records, the Sox started celebrating this team on (checks notes) Opening Day of 2005. I think that game was a sellout and a couple of us were there. So, nothing new here, right?
I'd invite all Sox fans here who dealt with the operatic experience of the 2004 post-season to think of what it felt like on Oct.27, 2004 - and if you had been asked then if the Sox should celebrate this in the 20th year after, maybe on opening day 2024. I imagine all of us would have said "hell, yes!"
At the time if you'd asked me, I would have said they can celebrate it every year or twice a year. If the celebration included special reference to the ALCS comeback vs. the MFYs I would have said "sure, on the hour works too." Now....years have passed, and all sorts of things have happened to the franshise since (much of it good, recently not so much) and my answers now wouldn't be the same as then. But I'd hope most Sox fans who lived through the 2004 post-season are OK (I won't ask for enthusiasm - not in this crowd...) with celebrating it at some point in the 20th year after.
Particularly after Wakefield's passing, you wonder how many more chances there will be to have almost all of that team assembled in one place for this purpose, so yeah - do this now.
Separately on the Schilling question: there should be a betting pool on whether he shows up. I'm sure he gets an invite, but I'll take the wager that he declines.
At the time if you'd asked me, I would have said they can celebrate it every year or twice a year. If the celebration included special reference to the ALCS comeback vs. the MFYs I would have said "sure, on the hour works too." Now....years have passed, and all sorts of things have happened to the franshise since (much of it good, recently not so much) and my answers now wouldn't be the same as then. But I'd hope most Sox fans who lived through the 2004 post-season are OK (I won't ask for enthusiasm - not in this crowd...) with celebrating it at some point in the 20th year after.
Particularly after Wakefield's passing, you wonder how many more chances there will be to have almost all of that team assembled in one place for this purpose, so yeah - do this now.
Separately on the Schilling question: there should be a betting pool on whether he shows up. I'm sure he gets an invite, but I'll take the wager that he declines.
Thank you. This is the post of the day. I love to complain about the owners as much as the next guy, but not everything is a conspiracy. Maybe they just want to honor the Wakefields and the team that broke the fucking curse!
Eh, they really had to invite him or it would have started a shit show by singling him out. To be clear, the only reason that I think would be valid to exclude him is that he outed Tim's illness, and that his children and the other players don't want him there. This is not the place/forum to discuss any other reasons, anyway. And whether we like it or not, that year doesn't happen without him.
We also really have no idea what has transpired between the Wakefield family and Schilling since then, nor where his teammates stand on all this in the aftermath. I do think the invitation from the Red Sox notwithstanding, if they make it known to Curt it would be better for him not to be there, he won't be. And if he is, I hope there is not a lot of booing. If I were there, I'd probably just be silent, and a little sad. Let's not distract from the day and make it even a little bit about him.
As my good friend Mike F. was always fond of saying, WTDS.
We also really have no idea what has transpired between the Wakefield family and Schilling since then, nor where his teammates stand on all this in the aftermath. I do think the invitation from the Red Sox notwithstanding, if they make it known to Curt it would be better for him not to be there, he won't be. And if he is, I hope there is not a lot of booing. If I were there, I'd probably just be silent, and a little sad. Let's not distract from the day and make it even a little bit about him.
As my good friend Mike F. was always fond of saying, WTDS.
Every month or two I will stumble on your tube and wind up being drawn into 2004 replays. The whole series was just other worldly. Mike and the Mad dog from the day after is on youtube and the schadenfreude is just delightful.
They could revisit 2004 every month as far as I am concerned.
What a POS though Schilling turned out to be.
They could revisit 2004 every month as far as I am concerned.
What a POS though Schilling turned out to be.
Indeed yes. Judicious criticism, in proportion, is a good sign.
But often recently, this seems pure spinal reflex that people have conditioned themselves into. Or some kind of suppressed hatred of the team.
As someone who was a long suffering Sox fan for over 40 years prior to 2004, I can never get enough of celebrating the greatest season during my lifetime. And celebrating the life of one of the most beloved Sox players ever is not only appropriate but the right thing to do. My only wish is that I could make it to Boston to be part of this.
I wasn't sure how I felt about the whole thing, but this is pretty well said and convincing. I agree they have to invite him. And if he shows, I really hope that they -- and we -- make it as little about him as possible. He's part of the history of that team, for better or worse. I really hope we won't be analyzing every move the guy and the rest of the team or the club makes if he shows -- "Tek hugged him," or whatever.
lol I was going to say they should have picked the game after the trade deadline to honor the 04 team.
They should have Nomar in the dugout and then bring Alphabet and Cabrera out from the OF at the same time, meet around 2B and Nomar should high five both and go to the bullpen door and disappear.Then Cabrera should do the double finger salute to the sky.
I read this book (probably about 10-15 years ago) and it wasn't a hagiography but I found it to be a genuinely fair depiction of a complicated guy: a baseball hero, a war hero, one of the greatest fishermen in the world but that he had a rough relationship with his family--which given how (and when) he was raised wasn't exactly a surprise. He was a champion for civil rights, when that wasn't an easy thing to do but yeah, I mean, he was kind of a prick. But I think that everyone already knew that.
What did you expect the book to be about?
Honestly, it's one of the best biographies I've ever read. Pardon the pun, but Montville knocked it out of the park. Any comparison, even fleeting, of Schilling to Williams is so off base as to be laughable.
The excerpt from Ball Four is hysterical - Williams is taking batting practice:
"My name is Ted Williams and I am the greatest F'ing hitter of all time"
Pitch - Williams blasts a line drive.
"Who is the pitcher today? Jim Bunting. Jim F'ing Bunting"
Pitch - Williams blasts a line drive.
"Jim F'ing Bunting and his little Sh*t Slider"
Pitch - Williams blasts a line drive.
"He doesn't really think he can get me out with that sh*t"
First time Shank has shown any sort of usefulness in his career.
I'm relieved that Schilling won't be there, because the focus will then be on the players that the fans actually like, and the memories of the Wakefields. Schilling would have been a horrible distraction.
A reunion of the 2004 team on Opening Day has been in the works for months, prior to the passing of Wake and Stacy. A celebration of Wake’s life extended the program.
It takes a Herculean effort to get players to return so having one large celebration is the way to go. Everyone who was on the roster
(even for one AB) has been invited.
Why does everything have to be a conspiracy?
It takes a Herculean effort to get players to return so having one large celebration is the way to go. Everyone who was on the roster
(even for one AB) has been invited.
Why does everything have to be a conspiracy?
Celebrating the 20th 2004 WS without the presence of Curt Schilling is understandable, albeit unfortunate. But the gehrig38 legacy associated with the actual WS and this board is nothing short of amazing and something that should always be remembered and acknowledged. He came to Boston with the unprecedented contractual incentive to end the curse, and by God he did it. And as one of us! Chills!!
At the same we remember and acknowledge his other legacy that is not related to 2004. His WS exploits do not mitigate his hurtful actions and words. But we can acknowledge both as the truth.
At the same we remember and acknowledge his other legacy that is not related to 2004. His WS exploits do not mitigate his hurtful actions and words. But we can acknowledge both as the truth.
Well now that we got all that out of the way, let's remember that this thread is about celebrating the 2004 season and the Wakefields. Let's keep it there, or at least there-adjascent. 
Thanks.
Thanks.