I mean he was safe by like a foot...20 years ago today

8slim

has trust issues
SoSH Member
Nov 6, 2001
27,836
Unreal America
It’s hard to remember experiencing the slap play in the moment. Was that the most stressful 2 minutes of our entire life before they called him out?
I was sitting 15 rows behind third base. Once the umps called ARod out and the bottles started flying from the upper deck, a NYC cop standing near my friend and I leaned over and said “You guys better stay close to me”.
 

Humphrey

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 3, 2010
3,393
For me it was the overturned call on Slappy. There was something so bush league, and so unusual to get a massive (if deserved) break, after getting the earlier overturned call on the Belllhorn HR, that seemed like the stars were aligned AND the Yankees were actually bullshit.
My favorite moment in that game was Jeter scoring after ARod's slap, giving his classic fist pump we'd seen so many times before; then being told to go back to first!
 

Humphrey

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 3, 2010
3,393
So so many amazing moments that took years off my life…

But I have never jumped higher than I did when Damon hit that grand slam.
Recalling the most tragic Sox events (75 Game 7, 78 Playoff, 86 Games 6 AND 7, 2003 Game 7)....they all involved the same 2 or 3 run Sox lead; and several Sox chances to build upon those leads! The granny changed that.
 

Papo The Snow Tiger

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 18, 2010
1,503
Connecticut
I may be a day late for the ALCS Game 7 remembrances, but I recall thinking just before the game started that the MFY and their fans were tempting karma. IIRC the MFY had Bucky Dent throw out the first pitch, there was a giant "1918" banner hung around the upper deck and there was even a guy dressed up as a ghost with Babe Ruth's picture hung around his neck walking around the stands. Irrational I know, but I was thinking to myself that they may be jinxing themselves; that by conjuring up all the bad memories for Red Sox fans, that by playing those cards all at once at a time like they were tempting fate, that all those things would be meaningless for the rest of eternity if they lost that game, that the Red Sox actually winning would be like a giant exorcism for Red Sox nation and it would serve the MFY right for being so obnoxious all those years.. It was right after I saw the Babe Ruth ghost guy that I started to believe the Sox had a chance to actually pull it off.
 

chrisfont9

Member
SoSH Member
I may be a day late for the ALCS Game 7 remembrances, but I recall thinking just before the game started that the MFY and their fans were tempting karma. IIRC the MFY had Bucky Dent throw out the first pitch, there was a giant "1918" banner hung around the upper deck and there was even a guy dressed up as a ghost with Babe Ruth's picture hung around his neck walking around the stands. Irrational I know, but I was thinking to myself that they may be jinxing themselves; that by conjuring up all the bad memories for Red Sox fans, that by playing those cards all at once at a time like they were tempting fate, that all those things would be meaningless for the rest of eternity if they lost that game, that the Red Sox actually winning would be like a giant exorcism for Red Sox nation and it would serve the MFY right for being so obnoxious all those years.. It was right after I saw the Babe Ruth ghost guy that I started to believe the Sox had a chance to actually pull it off.
Heh right... for me, because game 6 shattered their "aura," and because Kevin Brown was toast, I just laughed at all that pathetic 1918 stuff in game 7. Sadly, I was driving from Portland to Seattle so I had the radio call for the first 5 innings (I love passing by the spot where I was when Damon hit the grand slam) but at least I got to watch the shock settle in and the false hope when Pedro came on when I got home.
 

Al Zarilla

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 8, 2005
60,963
San Andreas Fault
Recalling the most tragic Sox events (75 Game 7, 78 Playoff, 86 Games 6 AND 7, 2003 Game 7)....they all involved the same 2 or 3 run Sox lead; and several Sox chances to build upon those leads! The granny changed that.
Further back:
1946: Ted cracks his elbow in a meaningless exhibition game between end of season and WS, hits weakly and Sox lose to an inferior Cards team.
1948: Sox lose a one game pennant playoff game to Indians.
1949: Sox go into NYC with a one game lead, needing only one win to clinch, lose both.
 

pedro1918

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 5, 2004
5,256
Map Ref. 41°N 93°W
My favorite moment in that game was Jeter scoring after ARod's slap, giving his classic fist pump we'd seen so many times before; then being told to go back to first!
Jeter in the dugout giving the safe sign repeatedly and then, post call correction, ARod’s “Whhhhaaaaa?” with his arm spread are Top Ten memories for me.

Not only did ARod look like a jackass, he literally hurt his team. Not that much, but a tangible little bit. If ARod had just been tagged out, Jeter gets into scoring position at second with 2 away. But because of the interference, Captain Intangibles had to walk elegantly back to first.
 

cantor44

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 23, 2020
1,744
Chicago, IL
Heh right... for me, because game 6 shattered their "aura," and because Kevin Brown was toast, I just laughed at all that pathetic 1918 stuff in game 7. Sadly, I was driving from Portland to Seattle so I had the radio call for the first 5 innings (I love passing by the spot where I was when Damon hit the grand slam) but at least I got to watch the shock settle in and the false hope when Pedro came on when I got home.
Yes, you knew the Yankees had no pitching going into game 7 and if we won game 6 we'd likely win the series! And we did! To me the exorcism - the shifting paradigm - was delivered by the two correctly overturned calls in game 6. Those never happened prior; the calls, the breaks, the bounces, seemed to always go to the Yanks.
 

S. H. Frog

Member
SoSH Member
May 13, 2011
7,610
Never forget that if the Fruitbat's cousin doesn't catch a toaster in the pool the week before, none of this happens
 

mwonow

Member
SoSH Member
Sep 4, 2005
7,443
I was weirdly confident before Game 7. I couldn't watch any of the other games (nor the WS, as it turned out) with other people. But my dad was having potentially life-ending surgery the next day, and I needed to watch with him in the hospital. At dinner with my mom beforehand.

Unlike @ernieshore, I didn't jump at the granny - I almost fainted as I was walking along the corridor, bringing some water back to my dad's bedside.

To every member of that team, from the justly-celebrated Ortiz to the much-maligned Mahky - THANK YOU. As it turned out, it wasn't my dad's last day, but if it had been...what a last day for someone who'd had baseball sand kicked into the face of his fandom since the 30s!
 

reggiecleveland

sublime
Lifetime Member
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Mar 5, 2004
28,528
Saskatoon Canada
Heh right... for me, because game 6 shattered their "aura," and because Kevin Brown was toast, I just laughed at all that pathetic 1918 stuff in game 7. Sadly, I was driving from Portland to Seattle so I had the radio call for the first 5 innings (I love passing by the spot where I was when Damon hit the grand slam) but at least I got to watch the shock settle in and the false hope when Pedro came on when I got home.
90421

This is great page
https://sadyankeefans.blogspot.com/2011/12/2004-alcs_7.html
 

Skiponzo

Member
SoSH Member
I may be a day late for the ALCS Game 7 remembrances, but I recall thinking just before the game started that the MFY and their fans were tempting karma. IIRC the MFY had Bucky Dent throw out the first pitch, there was a giant "1918" banner hung around the upper deck and there was even a guy dressed up as a ghost with Babe Ruth's picture hung around his neck walking around the stands.......
Heh right... for me, because game 6 shattered their "aura,"......
One of the best parts about looking back is that I can now, so clearly, see how the Yankee fans were gripping. They knew it was coming, could feel it, and they didn't know how to react. One of my fav clips from that time is of Spike Lee being interviewed before game 7 and he said something to the effect of "I ain't gonna lie, ain't gonna front...I'm nervous." They ALL were because they knew it was over.
 

Al Zarilla

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 8, 2005
60,963
San Andreas Fault
One of the best parts about looking back is that I can now, so clearly, see how the Yankee fans were gripping. They knew it was coming, could feel it, and they didn't know how to react. One of my fav clips from that time is of Spike Lee being interviewed before game 7 and he said something to the effect of "I ain't gonna lie, ain't gonna front...I'm nervous." They ALL were because they knew it was over.
Whenever I see the stands being scanned in postseason games with fans of the team that’s behind fretting, particularly people with hands together praying, I think of 2004. If it’s also a cold weather site/game, all the more. As a kid’s mom said when we were hanging around the little league field during the next game after ours that we’d won convincingly, you have to gloat for a while.
 

jacklamabe65

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
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In the afterglow of the most remarkable postseason performance in Boston baseball history, I visited my father's grave in Wellesley in early November 2004. With me was his youngest grandchild, Max, a ten-year-old boy at the time who lived for every Red Sox victory. When we walked to Dad's gravesite, both Max and I were adorned in matching “Big Papi” tee shirts. As we then stood over his grave, the sun began to glisten on the leaves that lay scattered like tiny islands on the carpeted lawn of Woodlawn Cemetery. The ensuing tarpaulin of elation that enveloped the region had reminded my mother of V-E Day.
“Go ahead, Maxie. He would want to hear it from you.”
“Grampie!" Max bellowed, “We won it! The Red Sox are World Series champions!”
Max and I then did a little dance at the lip of my father's gravesite, an imitation of Manny Ramirez greeting “Big Papi” after a home run, our fingers pointing to the sky. We then placed a Red Sox World Series Championship cap on the top of Dad's gravestone and quietly departed, driving past scores of gravestones where Red Sox hats and banners of various shapes and sizes hung proudly like bright flags on a fleet of ships.
Like many others at the time, it was all about the ghosts.
Thank you, SoSH, for making those days brighten our hearts even more because we shared it together.
 

Dick Drago

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 28, 2002
1,317
Looking back, I can’t believe I survived that series. I lived it, reading everything I could find, listening to Mike and the Maddog, and on SOSH non stop. Never would have made it without the camaraderie on this site.

Game 5 almost broke me. When Jeter hit the bases clearing bloop double I shut off the TV and did a 100% childlike tantrum. I lay on my stomach in bed, face buried in my forearms-not quite crying but broken. My wife kept watching and came to get me as Mike Myers Kd Matsui. (Another underrated moment-Pedro dusting Matsui who’d been red hot, and barely a peep the rest of the series)
The two most excruciating moments were the Wakefield inning…and Foulke on fumes Vs Tony Clark the next day.

I was SURE Foulke was getting squeezed—but I’ve watched since and the 3 balls were indeed balls. His fastball was about 84mph—it felt like torture—on my knees. God knows what would’ve happened to me if Clarke hit one out. That swing and miss, and Foulke laughing about “making it interesting “ made me tear up with relief. How do they do it, perform in such pressure. Game 7 I watched at the Riv-too stressful to stay home. Got there early to sit at the bar and got drunk. What a night. Oh yeah, cause someone asked, Smashing Pumpkins video of Game 7:


View: https://youtu.be/7vIYH5mIKAM?si=tCJyo6X-gcrluwRW
 

GB5

New Member
Aug 26, 2013
757
So much happened in 03 and 04 series that gets forgotten due to the superlative highlights that will forever be remembered. How about Mussina having a no hitter with one out in the 7th and an 8-0 lead, and 4 outs later Papi was a bees dick away from tying it at 8.

One thing I loved about 04 was that St. Lou and Houston played an all time series and it might as well taken place underwater on channel 2 at 4am. Nobody cared.
 

Sandy Leon Trotsky

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 11, 2007
7,285
So much happened in 03 and 04 series that gets forgotten due to the superlative highlights that will forever be remembered. How about Mussina having a no hitter with one out in the 7th and an 8-0 lead, and 4 outs later Papi was a bees dick away from tying it at 8.

One thing I loved about 04 was that St. Lou and Houston played an all time series and it might as well taken place underwater on channel 2 at 4am. Nobody cared.
Wow. Yeah I can't recall at all what game this was... Can you refresh my memory on this Mussina game?
 

JohnnyTheBone

bad at nicknames
SoSH Member
May 28, 2007
39,894
Nobody Cares
There was some real "they're going to find a way to try to tell me it's OK to rip the ball out of the fielder's glove because it's the Yankees" vibes for a few minutes. I remember. The Jeffrey Maier blown call was still looming large in those days too.
This post is particularly relevant after last night's game. Very prescient.
 

jose melendez

Earl of Acie
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Oct 23, 2003
32,430
Geneva, Switzerland
In honor of the 20th anniversary of the Sox winning the World Series for the first time in 86 years, I've republished the piece I wrote on my old KEYS TO THE GAME blog.

If you need some good vibes while waiting for Yankee Elimination Day, I highly recommend it. And while you're there, you might as well subscribe.
 

Archer1979

shazowies
Lifetime Member
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Jul 18, 2005
8,662
Right Here
One of the best parts about looking back is that I can now, so clearly, see how the Yankee fans were gripping. They knew it was coming, could feel it, and they didn't know how to react. One of my fav clips from that time is of Spike Lee being interviewed before game 7 and he said something to the effect of "I ain't gonna lie, ain't gonna front...I'm nervous." They ALL were because they knew it was over.
There's a mind-set where the team sitting in the cat bird seat up 3 - 0 is thinking that victory is inevitable. Then up 3 -1, Ok. They won one, let's get it done. Up 3 - 2 is when the pendulum starts to shift. Game Six becomes a must win for both teams as only one team wants it to go seven. That's when the throat starts to stop working correctly.

Wow. Yeah I can't recall at all what game this was... Can you refresh my memory on this Mussina game?
Mussina was absolutely dealing that game while NY was adding run after run. Schilling had lasted three innings having pitched poorly as it was obvious that his ankle was screwed up. When he left the game, the smart money was betting that he was done for the year.

Bellhorn broke through with a one out double in the 7th with the Sox down 8 - 0. Manny grounded out to make it two outs... then the roof caved in on Mussina's no-hitter when Papi, Millar, and Nixon all reached base. WOTS came in for Mussina, and gave up a two run shot to Tek. So the game went from an 8 - 0 laugher with the starter cruising to a game where NY needed Rivera for a four out save.

At the time, it seemed like one of those moral victories. In hindsight, getting a look at Gordon and Rivera in a game that they probably shouldn't have been in may have been a slight factor in the comeback.

This link aided my elderly memory.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA200410120.shtml
 
Last edited:

tims4wins

PN23's replacement
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
39,612
Hingham, MA
There's a mind-set where the team sitting in the cat bird seat up 3 - 0 is thinking that victory is inevitable. Then up 3 -1, Ok. They won one, let's get it done. Up 3 - 2 is when the pendulum starts to shift. As Game Six becomes a must win for both teams as only one team wants it to go seven. That's when the throat starts to stop working correctly.



Mussina was absolutely dealing that game while NY was adding run after run. Schilling had lasted three innings having pitched poorly as it was obvious that his ankle was screwed up. When he left the game, the smart money was betting that he was done for the year.

Bellhorn broke through with a one out double in the 7th with the Sox down 8 - 0. Manny grounded out to make it two outs... then the roof caved in on Mussina's no-hitter when Papi, Millar, and Nixon all reached base. WOTS came in for Mussina, and gave up a two run shot to Tek. So the game went from an 8 - 0 laugher with the starter cruising to a game where NY needed Rivera for a four out save.

At the time, it seemed like one of those moral victories. In hindsight, getting a look at Gordon and Rivera in a game that they probably shouldn't have been in may have been a slight factor in the comeback.

This link aided my elderly memory.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA200410120.shtml
Which is why game 5 was so crucial, and why the Netflix doc not even mentioning Papi's HR was so glaring. Down 4-2 in the 8th, they were facing just as bad of a situation as game 4. The MFY were going to have another chance to slam the door shut and end the series. Papi's HR gave them a fighting chance, and then the Millar-Roberts-Nixon drama was incredible, especially since it was the 2nd night in a row of the exact same situation - down 4-3, Millar walks, Roberts pinch runs. Just incredible drama.

And to your point - once the Sox won game 5, that's when hope truly began to rise for a lot of us. And when doubt began to arise for the MFY.
 

Archer1979

shazowies
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Jul 18, 2005
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Which is why game 5 was so crucial, and why the Netflix doc not even mentioning Papi's HR was so glaring. Down 4-2 in the 8th, they were facing just as bad of a situation as game 4. The MFY were going to have another chance to slam the door shut and end the series. Papi's HR gave them a fighting chance, and then the Millar-Roberts-Nixon drama was incredible, especially since it was the 2nd night in a row of the exact same situation - down 4-3, Millar walks, Roberts pinch runs. Just incredible drama.

And to your point - once the Sox won game 5, that's when hope truly began to rise for a lot of us. And when doubt began to arise for the MFY.
I remember seeing sign after Game Five that said "Just When I Thought I was Out, The Pulled me Back In!" Kind of summed up where I was at that point. Like a lot of us, I hadn't fully given up hope after Game Three, and I could see the same path that Millar pointed out to Shank before Game Four, but my emotions were off the roller coaster. But I remembered something about the Sox, getting swept was just too easy. The loss needs to be excruciating.
 

Oil Can Dan

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Jul 31, 2003
8,326
0-3 to 4-3
So many big hits occurred that choosing your favorite is like choosing your favorite kid, but the Papi HR in Game 7 was so huge simply because it came after Damon was ruled out at home in a bang-bang play. Took me from "FUCK HERE WE GO AGAIN THAT WAS HUGE HE WAS TOTALLY SAFE OMG I'M GOING TO FUCKING DIE" to "OH SHIT PAPI YOU BEAUTIFUL BASTARD OMG OMG OMG LFG!!!".

In the grand scheme of things and in the context of the game it was just two runs but from a mental health perspective it was humungous.

And by the way I am still convinced that Damon was safe.
 

Humphrey

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 3, 2010
3,393
Looking back, I can’t believe I survived that series. I lived it, reading everything I could find, listening to Mike and the Maddog, and on SOSH non stop. Never would have made it without the camaraderie on this site.

Game 5 almost broke me. When Jeter hit the bases clearing bloop double I shut off the TV and did a 100% childlike tantrum. I lay on my stomach in bed, face buried in my forearms-not quite crying but broken. My wife kept watching and came to get me as Mike Myers Kd Matsui. (Another underrated moment-Pedro dusting Matsui who’d been red hot, and barely a peep the rest of the series)
The two most excruciating moments were the Wakefield inning…and Foulke on fumes Vs Tony Clark the next day.

I was SURE Foulke was getting squeezed—but I’ve watched since and the 3 balls were indeed balls. His fastball was about 84mph—it felt like torture—on my knees. God knows what would’ve happened to me if Clarke hit one out. That swing and miss, and Foulke laughing about “making it interesting “ made me tear up with relief. How do they do it, perform in such pressure. Game 7 I watched at the Riv-too stressful to stay home. Got there early to sit at the bar and got drunk. What a night. Oh yeah, cause someone asked, Smashing Pumpkins video of Game 7:


View: https://youtu.be/7vIYH5mIKAM?si=tCJyo6X-gcrluwRW
Like a lot of us, I tend to expect the worst sometimes; but I swear when Foulke let that pitch go, I yelled out, "he ain't hitting that". Nice to be right sometimes!
 

Skiponzo

Member
SoSH Member
And to your point - once the Sox won game 5, that's when hope truly began to rise for a lot of us. And when doubt began to arise for the MFY.
Watching this brought back a lot of those feelings, good and bad, from that time but the one that hit me the most was what I felt after "Damon kept on running to NY".....My wife and oldest son, then just 1 year old, were asleep and after the 2 nights of intense drama and edge of your seating viewing I released and ran down the hallway SCREAMING "We're going to NY!!!....We're going to NY!!!". Man, gets dusty just thinking about that time.
 

GrandSlamPozo

New Member
May 16, 2017
121
Further back:
1946: Ted cracks his elbow in a meaningless exhibition game between end of season and WS, hits weakly and Sox lose to an inferior Cards team.
1948: Sox lose a one game pennant playoff game to Indians.
1949: Sox go into NYC with a one game lead, needing only one win to clinch, lose both.
1950: Ted gets injured running into the wall in the All-Star game and misses 2 months, Sox finish 4 back of the Yankees despite batting .302 as a team (last team to hit .300 IIRC). Though apparently they somehow went 39-16 while Williams was out so they probably still wouldn't have won the pennant if he had stayed healthy.
 

trekfan55

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Oct 29, 2004
11,854
Panama
I dislike Jeter as much as the next SoSHer, but that throw wasn't tailing into the bag. Jeter was going to have to come across his body with it regardless if he caught it out front or waited another split second.

Of curiosity to me has ways been, given Roberts' "great jump" and blazing speed, how was he almost out? Did Posada have incredible pop times? If that throw was on the corner of the bag, Roberts is OUT.
A bit late to the party but it has been known for a while that that was a hell of a throw by Posada. The whole park knew Roberts woould try to steal and Posada was ready.
 

Al Zarilla

Member
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Dec 8, 2005
60,963
San Andreas Fault
1950: Ted gets injured running into the wall in the All-Star game and misses 2 months, Sox finish 4 back of the Yankees despite batting .302 as a team (last team to hit .300 IIRC). Though apparently they somehow went 39-16 while Williams was out so they probably still wouldn't have won the pennant if he had stayed healthy.
Per BBREF, Sox team ERA was 6th out of 8 AL teams that year at 4.88. That won’t get it done.
 

Leskanic's Thread

lost underscore
SoSH Member
Jul 16, 2005
2,968
Los Angeles
A footnote to the game that featured The Walk, The Steal, The Single and The Papi Home Run was the fact that Curtis Leskanic closed out his career striking out Miguel Cairo with Posada on 2nd to end the the 12th, earning his final MLB win.
Why some might even say Curtis' shoulder, like the Sox season at that point, was barely held together by a thread. And yet, somehow, the thread endured.

(Thank you for all the memories in this thread, all. What a time it was.)
 

GB5

New Member
Aug 26, 2013
757
Robert’s steal was insane. Great pitch for Posada. I saw an interview with him and I think he said it was one of the best pop times of his life. Throw was 2 inches to the shortstop side of the bag which made all the difference in the world as Jeter had to make a longer sweeping tag. Credit again to Country Joe. He very easily could have called him out and that would have been the end of that.
The best part is we would have bitched about it in terms of the Yankees get all the breaks and the calls. After about 20 bitchy posts someome would have stepped up and said, “at the end of the day, who cares, even if he is safe, Rivera doesn’t let that run in, and really does anyone really think that the Sox were going to come back and win 4 straight games? It’s never happened in baseball history, and we all know if it ever happens it won’t be the RS doing it to the Yankees, it would be the other way around”
 

tims4wins

PN23's replacement
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
39,612
Hingham, MA
Robert’s steal was insane. Great pitch for Posada. I saw an interview with him and I think he said it was one of the best pop times of his life. Throw was 2 inches to the shortstop side of the bag which made all the difference in the world as Jeter had to make a longer sweeping tag. Credit again to Country Joe. He very easily could have called him out and that would have been the end of that.
The best part is we would have bitched about it in terms of the Yankees get all the breaks and the calls. After about 20 bitchy posts someome would have stepped up and said, “at the end of the day, who cares, even if he is safe, Rivera doesn’t let that run in, and really does anyone really think that the Sox were going to come back and win 4 straight games? It’s never happened in baseball history, and we all know if it ever happens it won’t be the RS doing it to the Yankees, it would be the other way around”
All true.

Someone posted it upthread or in the Netflix doc thread, but if Jeter doesn't stretch and lets the throw come to him... YIKES
 

LogansDad

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 15, 2006
32,593
Alamogordo
Robert’s steal was insane. Great pitch for Posada. I saw an interview with him and I think he said it was one of the best pop times of his life. Throw was 2 inches to the shortstop side of the bag which made all the difference in the world as Jeter had to make a longer sweeping tag. Credit again to Country Joe. He very easily could have called him out and that would have been the end of that.
The best part is we would have bitched about it in terms of the Yankees get all the breaks and the calls. After about 20 bitchy posts someome would have stepped up and said, “at the end of the day, who cares, even if he is safe, Rivera doesn’t let that run in, and really does anyone really think that the Sox were going to come back and win 4 straight games? It’s never happened in baseball history, and we all know if it ever happens it won’t be the RS doing it to the Yankees, it would be the other way around”
A more true post may never have been written on this site.

I finished the Netflix doc today, and I am still certain he is going to get called out one of these days and all of history will be rewritten.