In Case You Missed It - 2004 Docuseries on Netflix
- Thread starter loneredseat
- Start date
I'll never forget early in 2004, when folks were pretty pumped about the additions, someone talking to Wake and him saying that he was hoping that folks would forgive him for giving up that bomb in 2003. Still, months later. Like, dude, you won two games in that series and everyone in Boston has watched your knuckleball for ten seasons now and knows to take the bad with the good. Him winning the next year and being a big part of that ALCS extra inning heart attack squad was truly awesome.
Same.
Took me a while to find it, but it says Not Running Aimlessly
15:00 left in Episode 1. I had to crank the brightness on my phone to see it. Also, learned that you can't take a screenshot of Netflix on your phone, it's just black (unless you have captions on, those will show up)
So true.
Needless to say, a large part of that is due to the combo of age and success. We'll never need to win like we did in the early 2000s ever again.
That being said, only 1 of the past six seasons has been remotely successful. I remember that WC game against the Yanks in 2021 and, while it could never approach the feeling of 2003/04, I definitely had that desperate need to beat those bastards again.
I really want the Sox to be title contenders soon. I miss caring.
I'm not sure that I miss it, but boy am I glad that I got to live through it.
I fell in love with the Sox in 1995. Nomar had his incredible rookie season in 1997. Pedro came in 1998. 1999-2000 were the most impressive MLB seasons I ever witnessed. Manny signed that offseason. September 2001 happened. Mo Lewis hit Bledsoe. Aaron F. Boone. G38 posted on SoSH. What a wild, strange time to grow up.
My passion for the Red Sox and for New England sports was at its apex then. By 2018 Win. Dance. Repeat happened and Brady beat the Rams. I'm satisfied. I'm not sure I could muster the enthusiasm for another repeat of '03-'04... but it'd be fun to find out.
I'm glad I was there for it, relieved I survived it, elated by the results, eternally grateful about it all, and don't ever want to be that wound up about a sporting event again.
- got the call in RF correct in Game 6
- got the call on ARod at 1st right in Game 6
- worked with the police supervisor to get the cops on the field in Game 6
- Home plate ump for Game 7 with no controversies.
Bonus: worked home plate for Buchholz' no-no in 2007.
I know this "conspiracy theory" has been thrown about that the umps were somehow communicating with the national office or whatever, I have no idea if that is true, but to me the most amazing thing about the entire series wasn't that the Sox came back from 3-0 down, that they scored off Rivera twice, that Schilling won with a fucking torn sheath in his tendon, that Tek was able to catch all those Wake knucklers, that Tony Clark's double hopped into the stands, that Leskanic somehow put up a zero... it was that not one, but two calls were reversed against the Yankees in Yankee Fucking Stadium in the same game. I do not understand how they got those correct. Man the BALLS on that crew. All Hail Joe West Forever.
I love the Sox and watch 90% of the games even though my life is different, I have kids etc, but the crippling crippling anxiety died with me in 2004. I think I am happy about that. I can still get uptight and tense but when it goes bad I can mostly let it go. I do have a hard time verbalizing to my kids what loving the pre 2004 Red Sox was like. I can’t get it right. They have grown up around so much Boston sports success that it makes no sense to them,
The alternative question is interesting, if the Sox didn’t win in 04, or any year thereafter, what would we be like now? Would I still be consumed with that unspeakable dread. I am most positive I would.
The alternative question is interesting, if the Sox didn’t win in 04, or any year thereafter, what would we be like now? Would I still be consumed with that unspeakable dread. I am most positive I would.
As someone living in NYC then, it’s a good reminder of how seething with bully malevolence those NYY fans were (ever sit in the old Upper Tier? Good gawd, a leadoff single by the Sox in the top of the first could set off a “1918!” chant.). So those ugly fans getting taken down with a 3-0 series lead and collapse is better than any Hollywood ending. And such fitting comeuppance. And I hope they’ve wandered through the years since half-lost without the bullshit feelings of accomplishment and hierarchal preeminence that they lived in for all the years before ‘04. Justice, straight up. But also, I’ve kinda whitewashed over the years the idea that I hated the actual Yankees that much. And I probably didn’t hate many of the players beyond a rooting-against level as it directly aided the Sox — BUT remembering the presence of Steinbrenner and the arrogant tone he set (I mean, are they really going after A-Rod if we hadn’t tried and seen it scuttled?) brings back a lot of the white-hot imperative to take that franchise down. Right then. With Pedro.
Also, love Theo in this. Asked of Grady, “What were you thinking?” “I’m thinking what the fuck are we doing?” But also how he just drops in the random seed of meeting with A-Rod in NYC before “signing” him, and how it’s fairly late at night and A-Rod opens the door in a three-piece suit and is presumably being all “A-Rod weird and performative” and Theo throws in how A-Rod is always kinda full of shit. As observationally keen and bright as Theo is, it’ll never happen but I bet he could tell 100 of the best and unique stories about people in baseball that anyone’s ever heard. 50 would be older jackasses underestimating him and treating him like a kid.
Also, love Theo in this. Asked of Grady, “What were you thinking?” “I’m thinking what the fuck are we doing?” But also how he just drops in the random seed of meeting with A-Rod in NYC before “signing” him, and how it’s fairly late at night and A-Rod opens the door in a three-piece suit and is presumably being all “A-Rod weird and performative” and Theo throws in how A-Rod is always kinda full of shit. As observationally keen and bright as Theo is, it’ll never happen but I bet he could tell 100 of the best and unique stories about people in baseball that anyone’s ever heard. 50 would be older jackasses underestimating him and treating him like a kid.
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Agree with all of this. I also thought the coverage of the Tek-Slappy fight was excellent.
Edit - watching this on the plane was a mistake. I was crying like a baby for the last 30 minutes of that. I agree with others that I both miss and don't miss caring that much.
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totally forgot that A-Rod was considered one of the best defensive shortstops in the league, yet they suboptimally used the resource by forcing him to move to 3rd instead of moving Jeter to 3rd (or 2nd).
Jeter's golden boy image doesn't get enough criticism for being selfish about staying at shortstop and not being enough of a team player to sacrifice some glory for the greater good of the team.
Jeter's golden boy image doesn't get enough criticism for being selfish about staying at shortstop and not being enough of a team player to sacrifice some glory for the greater good of the team.
I'm convinced it cost them/him at least one more title. I don't know which season it would have been, but there had to be some season in that 2004-2012 stretch in which ARod at SS and Jeter at 3B (or 2B) might have been a one or two win difference.
I was also struck watching the doc that Nomar was the same way. His first reaction to the news of the Sox courting an ARod trade was that he was being replaced rather than considering moving to a new position. ARod at SS and Nomar at 2B might have been a strong combo for years, but it apparently was never a consideration, by Nomar or Theo.
It was pointed out in the Netflix series that Billy Beane, when he turned down Henry’s offer because he just couldn’t change coasts because of his daughter in CA, told Henry to just hire Theo, because he was the smartest guy in the room. Made me like Billy all the more, for both the love he had for his daughter and giving that opinion back about Theo.
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My thoughts:
1) I suspect Nomar didn’t show for this, at least partly, because he’s embarrassed by some of his own behavior that season and can’t quite bring himself to discuss it publicly.
2) To that end, I appreciated Grady showed up for this, despite the fact that he doubled down on his terrible decision. I get still being angry at him but this is the worst moment of the guy’s career (tho not career ending as Shank suggested), and he could've said he was happy watching Newsmax in Clearwater or whatever and passed. Instead he owned it. I respect that (and agree that as funny as Henry’s remark was it was a little cringey).
3) The one continuity error that stuck in my craw was that they used the clip of that “Who’s Your Daddy?” chant from Pedro’s still-nonsensical relief appearance in Game 7 for an earlier game – I will never forget the #YankeeDouche Fox showed yelling that in the moments before he slunk back to his childhood bedroom on Staten Island. So that annoyed me.
3) Theo absolutely ruled in this. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him look so relaxed talking about the Red Sox. I think that’s what 20 years does (and maybe working for FSG).
4) The doc also shows this team probably doesn’t win without Cabin Mirror keeping things loose. One of the other documentaries showed how critical he and Ortiz were to helping Manny get past the 2004 offseason trade drama during spring training. That isn’t quite conveyed here as they focused instead on the Nomar drama and how Millar’s SC interview may have contributed to his departure. But if he could only focus on getting one of those guys to lock in for the season ahead, Millar made the right choice in Manny.
1) I suspect Nomar didn’t show for this, at least partly, because he’s embarrassed by some of his own behavior that season and can’t quite bring himself to discuss it publicly.
2) To that end, I appreciated Grady showed up for this, despite the fact that he doubled down on his terrible decision. I get still being angry at him but this is the worst moment of the guy’s career (tho not career ending as Shank suggested), and he could've said he was happy watching Newsmax in Clearwater or whatever and passed. Instead he owned it. I respect that (and agree that as funny as Henry’s remark was it was a little cringey).
3) The one continuity error that stuck in my craw was that they used the clip of that “Who’s Your Daddy?” chant from Pedro’s still-nonsensical relief appearance in Game 7 for an earlier game – I will never forget the #YankeeDouche Fox showed yelling that in the moments before he slunk back to his childhood bedroom on Staten Island. So that annoyed me.
3) Theo absolutely ruled in this. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him look so relaxed talking about the Red Sox. I think that’s what 20 years does (and maybe working for FSG).
4) The doc also shows this team probably doesn’t win without Cabin Mirror keeping things loose. One of the other documentaries showed how critical he and Ortiz were to helping Manny get past the 2004 offseason trade drama during spring training. That isn’t quite conveyed here as they focused instead on the Nomar drama and how Millar’s SC interview may have contributed to his departure. But if he could only focus on getting one of those guys to lock in for the season ahead, Millar made the right choice in Manny.
Honestly, Grady made 3 terrible decisions there. The first was bringing Pedro back out for the 8th. The second was not taking him out after getting Nick Johnson. The third was the decision to leave him after the mound visit.
Grady’s gut was nothing if not consistently wrong that inning.
Boone’s postgame quote about “the ghosts coming back eventually“ or whatever was way more disgusting than the home run itself. You can enjoy your victory without dunking on your opponent, which makes him the perfect Yankee in a lot of ways.
Fuck that guy six ways to Sunday.
Grady Little just seemed irritated to be asked questions they were obviously going to ask him. Good on him I guess for showing up but he didn't add a lot, I wonder if they asked him about some of the team composition stuff like the 1B/DH competition and the closer by committee attempt with Kim and company and the answers just weren't that interesting or if this stuff just felt a little too literally inside baseball for them to get into in this doc (and it was kind of surprising how they just sort of glossed over what a massive acquisition Foulke was.)
Just finished up E2 last night.
Its fucking scary how much old hate you thought was locked away can get triggered.
MFY deserve every fucking nut punch loss forever.
Its fucking scary how much old hate you thought was locked away can get triggered.
MFY deserve every fucking nut punch loss forever.
Loved watching it and will forever get goosebumps when I hear “ground ball stabbed by Foulke”. What struck me was that after 2003 Theo and the front office went out and directly addressed their needs, without payroll restriction whining, including having 2 ace starters a lock down closer, a relentless lineup, good defense (ultimately) and a deep bullpen. Please do that same thing with this team starting this winter….
Grady’s final moment in the Q&A was him bailing, standing, saying, “I’m out,” and pulling off his mic. I wonder what the question was, though as any good reporter or documentary maker knows, you start with softball or “open reflections” stuff to get some quotes or footage in the can and then make your questions progressively more pointed, knowing if the subject bails that you’ve still got something.
Not too hard to guess, but I wonder what the “I’m out” question was to Grady. The doc maker Barnicle did him a half-solid (maybe in thanks for participating) by blending his “I’m out” quick-cut with his being out as manager with Globe headlines or whatever.
Not too hard to guess, but I wonder what the “I’m out” question was to Grady. The doc maker Barnicle did him a half-solid (maybe in thanks for participating) by blending his “I’m out” quick-cut with his being out as manager with Globe headlines or whatever.
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Also the fielders' positioning in that inning left a lot to be desired. Pedro was tiring, so you have to anticipate the balls being hit harder. Yet Nixon was playing far too shallow for Jeter and should have caught that ball in normal circumstances.
Grady deserves all the criticism, but it's not like it was completely inexplicable decisions, given the context. He was a from-the-gut manager not a stats-driven manager. So, in the biggest game of the season Grady probably threw out all the stuff about Pedro tiring after xx pitch count, because he was expecting a legendary performance from a legendary pitcher, a la Pedro in the '99 playoffs pitching 5 innings of no-hit ball out of the bullpen against offensive juggernaut Cleveland with a back injury. The second important piece of context was that the bullpen was hot garbage and Grady was probably managing scared. Scared of having to go to a shaky bullpen.
In the moment and in hindsight still terrible decisions but more understandable when understanding Grady & the context. Grady should have known that Pedro in 2003 was still excellent but not as durable or quite on the same level as all-time great Pedro in 1999. And, no matter how shaky your bullpen is, probably >80% of the time they can get you six outs with a 3-run lead.
I respect Grady for doing the interview, despite knowing he was going to get completely (justifiably) destroyed.
In the moment and in hindsight still terrible decisions but more understandable when understanding Grady & the context. Grady should have known that Pedro in 2003 was still excellent but not as durable or quite on the same level as all-time great Pedro in 1999. And, no matter how shaky your bullpen is, probably >80% of the time they can get you six outs with a 3-run lead.
I respect Grady for doing the interview, despite knowing he was going to get completely (justifiably) destroyed.
How does a documentary this good leave out the Grady/Williamson cold sore thing? I don’t think they even contextualized how great the Sox bullpen was by October, and in particular that postseason. The combined stat line of Timlin/Embree/Williamson was crazy good.
Late to the watch party, only just finished episode 1.
Makes me want to go and find Gump's grave, dig up his corpse and kick it around for an hour or two
Wait, he's still alive? OK, I want to send him a personalized invitation to a funeral party in his honor where we will be serving fried aardvark gizzards, or whatever the fuck he thinks passes for haute cuisine, and anything else he would have enjoyed during his lifetime so he knows how much we will enjoy his shuffling off this mortal coil. Invite Pedro to make a few remarks, but as he runs out of even the most even-handed attempts at being polite towards the deceased and stumbling for words, getting more profane as he looks to me to take the mike, I come up to him, pat his arm and let him continue. Finally, after anyone that loved him has left in tears, come out and have Embree take over. Then, after attending the burial, dig up his corpse and kick it around for a couple of hours.
Brings back the 1986 vs 2003 nut-punch debate that remains to-close-to-call in the HAG-everse but '03 maintains a razor thin lead due to the longevity of it all:
Sitting in the bleachers for the 2003 Game 3 brawl and seeing a fat, dawdling blob running towards the Sox dugout getting thrown the ground, convinced it was David Wells.
Watching Game 7 at a bar in Manchester, NH, never been in a crowd where the mood went from joyous, to confused, to apoplectic, to resigned, in the space of a few minutes like it did that night. It really takes a special type of talent to fuck up that badly, so kudos Grady? Was already walking out while the Boone HR was in the air (and still don't think I've seen it ever land) then ended up downing half a bottle of whiskey, some of which acted as an accelerant for everything I was wearing that evening.
Met the future HAG-ette in November 2003 and I still can't figure out what she saw in the empty husk of a human I was at that time. I think my direct words to her were "The Red Sox have hurt me to my core in ways you could never dream of", yet she's with me to this day.
I'm think I'm ready for episode 2 now.
My thought .00001 seconds upon seeing his face. Figured it was gonna be a long doc with him getting prominent air time. Between Shank, steroid poster-boy Clemens, and the pre-2004 MFY-smugness on full display that was a tough watch, even knowing the eventual outcome.
FTFY.
Makes me want to go and find Gump's grave, dig up his corpse and kick it around for an hour or two
Wait, he's still alive? OK, I want to send him a personalized invitation to a funeral party in his honor where we will be serving fried aardvark gizzards, or whatever the fuck he thinks passes for haute cuisine, and anything else he would have enjoyed during his lifetime so he knows how much we will enjoy his shuffling off this mortal coil. Invite Pedro to make a few remarks, but as he runs out of even the most even-handed attempts at being polite towards the deceased and stumbling for words, getting more profane as he looks to me to take the mike, I come up to him, pat his arm and let him continue. Finally, after anyone that loved him has left in tears, come out and have Embree take over. Then, after attending the burial, dig up his corpse and kick it around for a couple of hours.
Brings back the 1986 vs 2003 nut-punch debate that remains to-close-to-call in the HAG-everse but '03 maintains a razor thin lead due to the longevity of it all:
Sitting in the bleachers for the 2003 Game 3 brawl and seeing a fat, dawdling blob running towards the Sox dugout getting thrown the ground, convinced it was David Wells.
Watching Game 7 at a bar in Manchester, NH, never been in a crowd where the mood went from joyous, to confused, to apoplectic, to resigned, in the space of a few minutes like it did that night. It really takes a special type of talent to fuck up that badly, so kudos Grady? Was already walking out while the Boone HR was in the air (and still don't think I've seen it ever land) then ended up downing half a bottle of whiskey, some of which acted as an accelerant for everything I was wearing that evening.
Met the future HAG-ette in November 2003 and I still can't figure out what she saw in the empty husk of a human I was at that time. I think my direct words to her were "The Red Sox have hurt me to my core in ways you could never dream of", yet she's with me to this day.
I'm think I'm ready for episode 2 now.
Amen. So full disclosure: I grew up in a family of Yankee fans. My uncles, my mom, my dad, my brother are all Yankee fans. Over the years I had softened on them. My dad and uncle passed away last year and my mom isn't getting any younger. There's nothing any MFY fan could ever say to me that couldn't be trumped by just saying 2004, so I had become at peace with seeing the Yankees win if it meant that the people I care about the most could have some joy.
This documentary made me feel like I was in 2003 and 2004 again. I needed that reminder of the visceral hate I have for the Yankees that was buried inside of me.
It took one look at the Yankees dugout and seeing Aaron Boone and one look into the Dodgers dugout and seeing Dave Roberts to make me want to see the Dodgers beat the ever living hell out of them.
Not at all. I was a pitcher growing up and as I was nearing high school and was able to really understand and get into the game, Pedro was at the height of his powers. It was also at this time when I was finally able to get MLB Extra Innings and watch all the out of market games as I am not in the Boston market. I fell in love with the rest of the team, and the story and history of the franchise.
My daughter, growing up in NYC and having no interest in baseball beyond her best friend playing softball, occasionally threatens to become a Yankees fan simply to get a reaction from us. My response is generally along the lines of "Kiddo, I love you and I support your decisions, but why would you do that to yourself? I mean look at them. How does that enrich your life?"
My kids are 7 and 5 and I'm raising them right, but I could see them doing this. As of now they know to hate the Yankees and Duke. My five year old actually got into a heated argument with my 7 year old nephew where they just traded "YANKEES SUCK!" and "RED SOX SUCK!" insults.
I was in standing room behind home plate and thought the same thing. We just saw a big white head go flying and figured David Wells had gotten hip-tossed.
I was living in San Diego and flew back home two weekends in a row to see Game 4 against Oakland and then Game 3 against NYY. I had the entire Gateway Computers web development department in the Virtual Waiting Room for both series until someone got through and sent up the flare for me to get over there and buy some tickets. What a time...I can't think of much that would get me to fly cross-country two weekends in a row nowadays, nevermind something I'd be able to watch on TV for free in both cases.
Mine was. Dad and older brother - both Yankee fans. My mom (still with us) was always a Dodgers fan ... the BROOKLYN Dodgers. She said she stopped following them when they moved from Ebbets Field.
Varitek simply saying that Tim Wakefield was “his friend” fucking got me.
It was such a simple and profoundly sad sentence.
It was such a simple and profoundly sad sentence.
Made it through episode 2 but after travelling all day Friday and Saturday was a big foggy though most of it. Seeing Grady and Rudy together (think that was a clip in Ep 1 as well?) was more enraging than I would have thought. From the moment it happend I've been saying Pokey's catch was 1000% better than Jeter's. The fact they didn't show it, even as an illustration of WHY they had Nomar on the bench that daty, and traded a few weeks later, was a big miss, IMO. Liked that they didn't sugarcoat the Tek/Arod brawl aftermath and talked about how they were still listless after that.
Was at that game and have said before, it was the most scared I've ever been at a sporting event from my saftey and decision making standpoint. The bleachers were smoulering that day, and my seat was 1st row in sec 36, meaning everybody getting escorted out walked right past us. With me and my buddy sitting between jeering Sox fans and obnoxious MFY's behind us and the cretins egging them on as they were led out, our simmering rage was right at the breaking point. We both agreed that our chances of getting out of the park and home without incident were low and not worth finding out if we could make it, so we decided it was in our best interest to leave. That was not an easy decision, to that point I don't think I've ever left a game eary, and still have no regrets about the decision at the time. Heard the HR call in the car after turning on 'EEI, thinking we would hear the postmortem and just laughed.
Low key important moment for me that season was being in Baltimore for Nomar's last AB as a member of the Sox. He went 1 for 3, sat out the next game in Minn, then was traded. Took a while to realize it after the trade but it meant a lot to have that memory, even not knowing at the time.
Was at that game and have said before, it was the most scared I've ever been at a sporting event from my saftey and decision making standpoint. The bleachers were smoulering that day, and my seat was 1st row in sec 36, meaning everybody getting escorted out walked right past us. With me and my buddy sitting between jeering Sox fans and obnoxious MFY's behind us and the cretins egging them on as they were led out, our simmering rage was right at the breaking point. We both agreed that our chances of getting out of the park and home without incident were low and not worth finding out if we could make it, so we decided it was in our best interest to leave. That was not an easy decision, to that point I don't think I've ever left a game eary, and still have no regrets about the decision at the time. Heard the HR call in the car after turning on 'EEI, thinking we would hear the postmortem and just laughed.
Low key important moment for me that season was being in Baltimore for Nomar's last AB as a member of the Sox. He went 1 for 3, sat out the next game in Minn, then was traded. Took a while to realize it after the trade but it meant a lot to have that memory, even not knowing at the time.
My daughters are now 42 and 38, with the youngest an Orthopedic surgeon. When she was interviewing for Ortho residencies, she was inevitably asked what made her a Red Sox fan, since she was raised in Michigan. In her CV she said that in her spare time she enjoyed watching Red Sox games.
I raised 'em right.
I raised 'em right.
I was at the fight game too in right field. Sox fans were getting into it with MFY fans and security was gradually weeding out all of them, so that by the end there were a lot fewer MFY fans than there were at the beginning. There was a yappy MFY fan near me that said "you're done" when Mo came in, and of course I said "I thought we were done?" after we celebrated the Mueller walk-off. Glad the show included the Mueller walk-off in the retelling of this game, as that's what I remember most about that day.
Ditto, but my teenage rebellion hqppened at the age of 8 courtesy one Fred Lynn and may he RIP Luis Tiant. Thank you both for putting me onto the path of enlightenment in a sea of malevolent Yankeedom.
Pretty interesting interview with the director. The main point he makes is why did the 2004 Sox take the “rivalry” personally? He concludes it took all the junk that happened in 2003 to get them to the point that they’d just keep playing in 2004. I agree. It was painful as hell, but 2004 doesn’t happen without 2003
https://immersivemediaco.com/director-colin-barnicle-breaks-down-the-comeback-2004-boston-red-sox/
https://immersivemediaco.com/director-colin-barnicle-breaks-down-the-comeback-2004-boston-red-sox/
Ha! I never heard that conspiracy! I guess the umps were communicating with the main office to make sure calls that are unambiguously verifiable and correct are accurately made! Evil!
I did hear the conspiracy, from some Yankee fans, that Schilling wasn't really hurt, that it was fake blood on his sock! For real!
My wife and I watched this last night. I thought it was pretty good, while also having the feelings like others have described of 'Wait, they didn't include (insert key moment) in this?' For my wife it brought back a lot of memories of me and my son glued to the TV set over those three days (I was so pissed off that I didn't watch much of game 4 before the 8th inning).
I was dreading seeing Curt Schilling in this but thought he actually came across well in this context. I'm still super annoyed at the guy for being an odious human being, but I'm glad that he doesn't ruin the memories of 2004 for me.
Same with Roger Clemens - my anger at him has lessened over the years, and this doc brought back fond memories from the 1980's and early 1990's when he was *our* badass ace.
Kudos to Joe Torre and Gary Sheffield for agreeing to be interviewed. I get that they lost in historic fashion, but it's an incredibly poor look for Yankee players like Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez not to show up for this (presuming they were asked, which they almost certainly had to have been). Jeter especially, he's won enough and is a living god to most of that fanbase, so this loss shouldn't be crushing to him or anything. I'm guessing that A-Rod wasn't available because the Barnicle boys didn't offer to pay him enough.
I was dreading seeing Curt Schilling in this but thought he actually came across well in this context. I'm still super annoyed at the guy for being an odious human being, but I'm glad that he doesn't ruin the memories of 2004 for me.
Same with Roger Clemens - my anger at him has lessened over the years, and this doc brought back fond memories from the 1980's and early 1990's when he was *our* badass ace.
Kudos to Joe Torre and Gary Sheffield for agreeing to be interviewed. I get that they lost in historic fashion, but it's an incredibly poor look for Yankee players like Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez not to show up for this (presuming they were asked, which they almost certainly had to have been). Jeter especially, he's won enough and is a living god to most of that fanbase, so this loss shouldn't be crushing to him or anything. I'm guessing that A-Rod wasn't available because the Barnicle boys didn't offer to pay him enough.
Actually, the bullpen had righted the ship in the playoffs and was pitching very well during the Yankees series - Timlin, Embree, and Williamson were all locked in. Meanwhile, Pedro was routinely taken out during the regular season at 100 pitches. What's more - Pedro was being HIT HARD. Starting in the 7th. He was lucky to get out of that inning. But he did. From there on in, it was total and abject malfeasance.
I was at that game. When Pedro came out to warm up in the 8th, the crowd ROARED (something not seen on TV I suspect), because EVERYONE KNEW he was cooked - it was plain for the eye to see. Forget analytics, it was a matter of having your goddamn eyes open! And when Grady kept him in the game after the mound visit, the crowd roared again - 54,000 people all certain what was about to happen - and a Yankee fan behind me started yelling, "The Ghost of Babe Ruth is managing the Red Sox! The Ghost of fucking Babe Ruth is managing the Red Sox!"
Edit: personally, I think Grady froze. He just panicked. Like, in flight, flight, or freeze. He fucking froze. He simply didn't want to be responsible for the outcome, and gave over that responsibility to an obviously cooked pitcher. Ironic, indeed.
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