Red Sox Greatest Hits

The Gray Eagle

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July 24, 2004.
https://www.courant.com/sports/baseball/yankees/hc-arod-varitek-gamer-20140724-story.html
On July 24, 2004 the game many feel turned the Red Sox season around and sent Boston on its way to a World Seris title occurred as Alex Rodriguez and Jason Varitek were the featured participants of a memorable brawl. Here's how The Courant told the story:
For all the drama these teams have staged over the years, the Red Sox and Yankees managed to cram what seemed like a season's worth into one game Saturday.
The 34,501 fans who packed Fenway Park witnessed what may serve as a precursor to October, an emotionally charged game that definitely packed a punch. And to think it was close to being postponed because the field was drenched from overnight and morning rain.
Bill Mueller delivered the final blow with one out in the ninth. His two-run homer off Mariano Rivera capped a comeback that gave the Red Sox an 11-10 victory in a thriller that featured a brawl, which will undoubtedly be a backdrop if the teams meet for a second straight year in the ALCS.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlrlQ4qkZJ8
 

simplicio

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The game didn't particularly matter, but this is the one that comes to mind when I think of the unstoppable magic of the 2018 team. Boston comes back from a 7-1 deficit in the 8th, then Brandon Phillips, in his Sox debut, goes majestic in the 9th.

View: https://youtu.be/1j6g_O4VKUk
 

Tokyo Sox

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I guess it is three hits. This is personally memorable because I was talking to a friend after the Sox acquired Steve Pearce that he might be a big pickup for them. My friend, who isn't a Sox fan, thought I was joking. One summer night we were playing Playstation and I had the game on in the background, and Pearce goes off and CRUSHES three bombs against the Yankees. It was funny giving my friend updates on Pearce's exploits. By the third homer I just ended a sentence by saying "...oh by the way, Steve Pearce just hit one off of the light tower."

This clip unfortunately does not contain the Rem gem after the second home run. IIRC, this was the game Cora got thrown out super quickly and there was some bad blood, with the umpire warning both benches. Pearce is the next batter and he hits the ball 700 feet and Remy deadpans "You better warn somebody that Steve Pearce is coming to the plate."

I dare you to watch this clip and not smile.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS5GftMqfMw
Personally memorable here too bc I was at this game! It was my one of the year, the Sox gave up a couple runs early, then it started pouring, and I was like, maybe the best case scenario is it just gets called? Then I think they put up 8 runs in the 4th or something and the rout was on. I went looking in the team store after the game for a Pearce t-shirt but they didn't make them yet. Fortunately he went on to be the WS MVP and then I was finally able to get a Steve Pearce shirt.

EDIT: the angle of the 2nd one with Mookie on 3rd watching it go & fist pumping is effing awesome.

Was also at this game...and Game 4 the next night. Those were simpler times.
 

Kliq

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Personally memorable here too bc I was at this game! It was my one of the year, the Sox gave up a couple runs early, then it started pouring, and I was like, maybe the best case scenario is it just gets called? Then I think they put up 8 runs in the 4th or something and the rout was on. I went looking in the team store after the game for a Pearce t-shirt but they didn't make them yet. Fortunately he went on to be the WS MVP and then I was finally able to get a Steve Pearce shirt.

EDIT: the angle of the 2nd one with Mookie on 3rd watching it go & fist pumping is effing awesome.
Thought the same thing when I rewatched the clip. Mookie is just kind of tensely waiting for something to happen, and as soon as he hears the crack of the bat, he just kind of goes "fuck yeah!".
 

redsoxdan

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Thanks for finding this video! This hit was the first one that came to my mind (that wasn't one of the big hits from the championship runs that I'm sure we all thought of immediately). I was 15 at the time and McDonough's call, "The unlikeliest of heroes!" has stuck with me throughout the rest of my baseball watching life and I find myself repeating it my head any time an unknown Sox call up comes through.

On a side note, that team had a strong mustache game.
 

Rice4HOF

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The Jeff Stone game! Could not find it either. Yes, was there for that one. Classic pennant drive ending. People stuck around forever afterwards.
I loved the Jeff Stone game so much, I once wrote a blog post about it. And I had video of the game on VHS, and some kind internet stranger (might have been a SoSHer?), was kind enough to convert it to DVD for me about 15 years ago. If anybody wants a copy, I'll see if I can figure out how to upload it somewhere.
 

jaytftwofive

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Jan 20, 2013
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You guys are obviously younger Sox fans. It's the Henderson homer and it's not even close for me. It had been eleven years since their last playoff appearance and they were one strike away from being out in 5 games. He had managed one homer in 54 ABs for the Sox that year and it was stunning that he came through.

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0QOyhcIZQzo
Everybody forgets Don Baylor's 2 run HR previously. If it wasn't for Baylor, there was no Hendu. The forgotten Home Run, Just as big. Agree???
 

jaytftwofive

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Anybody remember May of 1966 when Jim Gosger hit a 3 run hr in the bottom of the 16th to beat the the Stankees. I yelled and woke up my grandparents where I was staying that night in Providence. I was 8, lol. Bad team but what a game. I think it was a day game that ended like 9 o'clock or something. i couldn't have stayed up if it was a night game. It was a Saturday I'm pretty sure. Just wondered?? There are so many but I'll go with Hendu game 5, Baylor's HR right before that. Ortiz in game 4 04 LCS. Jeff Stones winning hit off the Blue Jays in 90, one of the best games ever. Fisk's and Carbo tied in game 6. Tony C ties up Angels game at Fenway during the 10 game winning streak. Then You could add Yaz' tying home run off Tigers in Sept. 67 and Dalton Jones HR off Mike Marshall to win it. So many to choose. O'Leary's 2nd HR in game 5 99 I think I yelled the loudest in my lifetime. Even louder then Carbo's. That and Lowe striking out Terrence Long in 03 ALDS.
 
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jaytftwofive

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I loved the Jeff Stone game so much, I once wrote a blog post about it. And I had video of the game on VHS, and some kind internet stranger (might have been a SoSHer?), was kind enough to convert it to DVD for me about 15 years ago. If anybody wants a copy, I'll see if I can figure out how to upload it somewhere.
Yes that would be great. One of my all time favorite games, from one of the most fun Red Sox teams ever. Such a fun rollercoaster year.
 
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jaytftwofive

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My all time favorite at a game I was at was Don Baylor hitting a 3 run double to break a tie at Yankee Stadium in June of 86. That helped them sweep the Yankees and go like 6 or 7 or more up in the AL East. They made a statement they were for real and Don pointed at Georgie Porgie's box to say...."That's what you get for trading me". Sox fans went bonkers including me. What a great addition he was to our team. RIP Don! Was anybody else at that game?
 

jaytftwofive

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I suppose you could pick some other grand slam from this series but my oh my for the pennant!
Yes Shane was so clutch. Even when he was batting way below the Mendoza line. My favorite that postseason was Papi's of course but almost a tie was Johnny Gomes HR in game 4 of 2013 WS. They blew the game the night before kind of but when Gomes hit that it turned Series around and we all believed with Lester pitching game 5 our team was going to win series.
 

moondog80

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Wow - is this ever a great thread!

Most of my favorites have been linked up above. Other than O'Leary's second, I think this is the only one where I pretty well blacked out
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAgMBIu6iVk


Pretty well started the countdown to the end of the 'curse'

Also, this guy gets two clips:
Love the clang of the foul pole! View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_oo8QqXSTg

And another pole-ball: View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kYNJminXrE
Why has no other HR made the sound that Bellhorn's did in NY? Stadium miked differently for ALCS? Or does it happen other times too and I don't remember because the moment isn't big enough?
 

mwonow

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Why has no other HR made the sound that Bellhorn's did in NY? Stadium miked differently for ALCS? Or does it happen other times too and I don't remember because the moment isn't big enough?
I don't know, but that sound is one of the defining moments not just of that game, but of my baseball-watching life
 

Lose Remerswaal

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Why has no other HR made the sound that Bellhorn's did in NY? Stadium miked differently for ALCS? Or does it happen other times too and I don't remember because the moment isn't big enough?
I don't know, but that sound is one of the defining moments not just of that game, but of my baseball-watching life
I recall reading there was a mic on the pole to collect crowd noise. Got a bonus.

Wife and I were in bleachers 43 (closest section of bleachers to RF stands) that night. She gets nervous at important games and had her head buried in her arms until that clang, that we could hear clearly over the yelling. That got her attention.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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Why has no other HR made the sound that Bellhorn's did in NY? Stadium miked differently for ALCS? Or does it happen other times too and I don't remember because the moment isn't big enough?
I recall reading there was a mic on the pole to collect crowd noise. Got a bonus.
Yeah, I think it was one of those things that Fox (or whomever has a national audience) will add to enhance the telecast that a typical everyday broadcast like NESN wouldn't go to the effort of implementing. Like when they used to embed a camera in the ground in front of home plate.
 
Jul 5, 2018
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Everybody forgets Don Baylor's 2 run HR previously. If it wasn't for Baylor, there was no Hendu. The forgotten Home Run, Just as big. Agree???
Mathematically, you are correct; a 2-run homer is a 2-run homer, but there was a huge difference in probabilty. Dave Henderson had an OPS for the Sox that year of 46 while Baylor was an experienced, good hitter. Baylor's homer was hit with 1 out and Henderson's was 2 outs and 2 strikes. If I remember correctly, he was badly fooled by the penultimate pitch and barely tapped it foul.

I was alone in a hotel room and was thinking that if Hendu hit one out, the Sox would take the lead, but I knew it was a pipe dream. When he did, I bounced off of the bed, jamming my hand against the ceiling and shouted like a lunatic for the next 5 minutes or so.

Henderson's homer in the top of the 10 against the Mets was almost as good. I was at a bar this time with some HS friends. A couple of them were rooting for the Mets which irritated me to the point where, with out saying a word, I moved to table that was all Red Sox fans. I was immediately accepted as being a close friend and we went berserk after Henderson's HR.

People focus on Buckner, but for me, I knew all was lost after the Stanley WP. I also new that in the 7th game the Sox would take an early lead, lose it, come back, but ultimately lose and break my heart, so I couldn't, and didn't, watch the game. I did record the game and had they won, I would have bought a 6-pack beer, watched the recording and enjoyed one of the finest nights of my life. That was before smartphones so when I was sure the game was over, I called a local news station, got the score and that was that.
 

Nator

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The game didn't particularly matter, but this is the one that comes to mind when I think of the unstoppable magic of the 2018 team. Boston comes back from a 7-1 deficit in the 8th, then Brandon Phillips, in his Sox debut, goes majestic in the 9th.

View: https://youtu.be/1j6g_O4VKUk
The outfielder making no attempt whatsoever at even tracking that ball cracks me up.
 

steveluck7

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I loved seeing this live. The build-up as each ball left, culminating with Varitek's was awesome. Johnny Miller getting more and more excited was fun
 

runnels3

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The ball, it soars
The crowd, it roars
The dream is coming true
And now the hero crosses home
And now ... it's 3-2


One of the most underrated home runs in team history. The Twins had just tied it it at 2 and the go-ahead homer said, "not so fast, Minnesota."

Yeah, the "one run lead's not all we need" homer gave them the breathing space ... but the earlier home run was critical in the way it is in all sports -- the Sox had taken a punch and could fight right back
 

runnels3

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The ball, it soars
The crowd, it roars
The dream is coming true
And now the hero crosses home
And now ... it's 3-2


One of the most underrated home runs in team history. The Twins had just tied it it at 2 and the go-ahead homer said, "not so fast, Minnesota."

Yeah, the "one run lead's not all we need" homer gave them the breathing space ... but the earlier home run was critical in the way it is in all sports -- the Sox had taken a punch and could fight right back
Thank you, George Scott!
 

edoug

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Jul 15, 2005
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Thanks for that. After you replied, I went googling as well and that HR seems to still be the longest ever hit at Rogers Stadium.
You're welcome, It did look like it went farther than 500 ft. but whatever. Manny did have have one of the best RH swing I've ever seen.
 
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Wallball Tingle

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Jul 16, 2005
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A couple of Pedroia laying waste to the world (well, Betancourt anyway) in 2007 ALCS G7. The 2-run homer made me able to breathe after the Lofton hold at 3rd and following inning-ending DP in the top of the 7th. The bases-clearing double in the 8th had me leaping around knowing the Sox were going to the Series--the score changed from 6-2 to 9-2.


 
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TonyPenaNeverJuiced

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The Lester no-hitter was something else. Talk about goosebumps: interrupted by lymphoma (which he crushed), Lester was incredible from his debut in 2006 through 2008. His numbers in that stretch are boffo. He won a WS clinching game. And he threw that gem on May 19th, 2008.


Youkilis makes some great plays, and every play by Manny is an adventure. Jacoby's play in the 4th could be a clip in this thread on its own, and Lowell's two plays on choppers (including the close play in the 9th) are low-key vital moments.

And of course, Lester is magnificent. Only Ellsbury's play is not a routine out. It was the highest personal-performance point in one of the best pitching runs of Sox history.