Welcome back to the “10 Greatest Games of All Time“. All apologies for the delay on the list, but sometimes, like these teams, we must persevere through adversity in our personal lives. Previously, we’ve looked at crazy pitching feats, nailbiters in the playoffs, and games that have ended curses in the Fall Classic. Today, we’ll be looking at a game from the best comeback in baseball history, Game Five of the 2004 ALCS. Let’s get into it.
4. 2004 ALCS, Game Five: Boston Red Sox 5, New York Yankees 4, 14 innings
The 2004 ALCS boasted two teams from the AL East with all kinds of bad blood. The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees were playing each other in a rematch of the 2003 ALCS, which New York won 4-3. That series ended in heartbreak for the Sox as Aaron Boone crushed a walk-off home run to send the Yankees to the Fall Classic. After falling behind 3-0 in the series, including a 19-8 blowout in Game Three, Boston won Game Four. David Ortiz came up huge with a walk-off homer to extend the series at least one more game.
For Game Five, the Red Sox sent all-time great Pedro Martinez to the mound. Pedro has a notable history with the Yankees. He had been knocked around earlier in the season, but most people remember the defining moment. In the 2003 ALCS, there was a bench-clearing incident and Yankees pitching coach Don Zimmer charged out to meet Martinez, an altercation that led to Martinez throwing the 72-year-old to the ground. That is only one fracas in the long history of this intense rivalry.
In this all important Game Five, the Yankees sent Mike Mussina to the hill, giving us a great pitching matchup. Moose finished with a 12-9 record and a 4.59 ERA. Pedro came into the game with a 16-9 record and a 3.90 ERA. Game Four gave us the heroics of David Ortiz that kept the series alive. Game Five was a whole different animal.
Drawing First Blood
Martinez came out and immediately tossed a scoreless inning. The Sox were once again at home, benefiting somewhat from the 2-3-2 format. In the bottom half of the first, the Red Sox drew first blood. After Orlando Cabrera and Manny Ramirez both singled, Ortiz came through with a single, driving in Cabrera. Later in the inning, captain Jason Varitek drove in Ortiz to give the Sox a 2-0 edge.
Bernie Williams cut into the lead a bit with a solo homer to lead off the second. From there, it was cruise control for both pitchers. They both gave us what we expected to happen: quick innings with a couple of hits peppered in, but no real threats to score.
The Curse Rears Its Ugly Head…Again
Fast forward to the sixth inning. Martinez was spinning a gem that we’re so used to seeing. One could feel the electricity moving through Fenway Park. Unfortunately for Red Sox fan, a familiar adversary decided to rear its ugly head. Quick backstory on The Curse of the Babe. After the Sox sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees in 1920, they couldn’t win the World Series or suffered losses to the Yankees. They lost in the most heartbreaking of ways, Bill Buckner‘s error propelled the Mets to victory in ’86, losing to the Reds in ’75, and the infamous homer by fan-nicknamed “Bucky F’in Dent” in ’78.
After starting the inning with an out, Martinez surrendered two singles to Jorge Posada and Ruben Sierra. After striking out the next batter, it looked as if Pedro was gonna dance out of the inning with the lead intact. Hall of Famer Derek Jeter had other plans as he doubled down the right field line, clearing the bases. The Yankees now led, 4-2, in the sixth inning. After reloading the bases, Martinez finished his final inning of the night, once again snake bitten by the Bronx Bombers.
The Red…Magicians?
Finding themselves trailing once again, the Sox needed two to tie the game up. It started once again with Ortiz, who battled Yankee reliever Tom Gordon in the bottom of the eighth. On an 0-1 count, Ortiz hit a moonshot over the Green Monster to bring the Sox within one. The next hitter was Kevin Millar, who worked a similar at-bat to the previous night and found himself on first base. In a case of deja vu, manager Terry Francona brought Dave Roberts in to pinch run. Roberts threw off Gordon’s timing quite a bit and he surrendered a single to Trot Nixon, advancing Roberts to third.
Once again, the captain of the team, Jason Varitek, drove in a run via sacrifice fly, tying the game at four. Once again the Red Sox had gotten to Mariano Rivera — who had just entered the game — to drive in a run. From there on it was a roller coast of emotion for the Red Sox fans.
The Second-longest Game in Baseball Playoff History
The 2004 ALCS is home to the second-longest game in playoff history. It held the record until the 18-inning marathon between the Red Sox and Dodgers in the 2018 World Series. After tying the game up, the game became stale once again. It dragged on for what seemed like the longest time, and finally, in the 14th inning, we got some action.
After working his third inning, Tim Wakefield got to take a huge sigh of relief. In the 13th, his normal catcher was not available. Wakefield, a known knuckleballer, threw two passed balls in the inning, and the Yanks even had the go ahead run on third. Unfortunately for them, they couldn’t capitalize and the Sox escaped the jam.
In the bottom of the 14th, Yankee reliever Esteban Loaiza retired Mark Bellhorn then walked speedster Johnny Damon. After striking out Cabrera, Loaiza walked Manny Ramirez for — you guessed it — David Ortiz. Papi battled to a 2-2 count, and finally, in another form of his heroics, fought off a single into center field that scored Damon. Capped by Joe Buck’s call “And Damon can keep running onto New York!“, the Red Sox finished it off at home with their hopes still alive.
After winning Games Four and Five at home, the Sox went on the road to win both games in New York. Game Six featured Curt Schilling‘s “Bloody Sock” Game, and they totally dominated Game Seven. The Sox capitalized on their Curse breaker in the 2004 ALCS and swept the St. Louis Cardinals 4-0 in the World Series to secure their first World Series title in 86 years.
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