A Bronx Fairy Tale

It feels bad to be a fan of a team that owned the first two decades of the 21^st century, but for the third season in a row, has not only missed the baseball playoffs but also finished without a winning record. What makes it even worse, is that the Red Sox's most hated rivals, that team from New York, despisingly dubbed the Evil Empire, is cruising through the 2024 American League Championship Series (ALCS), seemingly enroute to another World Series title.  

Yet two decades ago, on this very day, the 17^th day of October 2004, the entire Red Sox Nation was undoubtedly feeling much worse, for their beloved Red Sox were on the brink of elimination in Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS against the NY Yankees. The same Yankees who had eliminated the Red Sox in extra innings of 2003 ALCS Game 7 on a walk-off homer, were 1 run ahead with their invincible closer, Mariano Rivera all set to deliver the final nail in their coffin.

What followed in the last inning of 2004 Game 4, at friendly Fenway Park was nothing short of a miracle. The outspoken Red Sox first baseman, Kevin Millar drew a walk off Rivera, pinch runner Dave Roberts promptly stole second and came home to tie the score on a single by Bill Mueller. Red Sox Star, Big Papi David Ortiz won Game 4 on a 12^th Inning home run and followed a day later with a 14th inning RBI to win Game 5. Game 6 featured the courageous Red Sox ace, Curt Shilling with a torn tendon in his right ankle and blood seeping through his socks, pitched 7 strong innings, to deliver the Red Sox to a Winner take all Game 7.

Game 7 proved to be anticlimactic, the Red Sox racing off to a big 8-1 lead in the 4^th inning and closing out the series with a thumping 10-3 win and exorcising all the demons of the past 8 decades of futility against the Yankees by coming back from an improbable 3-0 series deficit. No team in baseball’s long-storied history had ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a playoff series, no team has repeated such an epic comeback since 2004 and probably no team ever will.

And before you and I forget, the 2004 Red Sox went on to beat St. Louis Cardinals and four score and six years after their last triumph, brought the World Series trophy back to Boston. Yet for many Red Sox fans, the fairy tale ending in the Bronx, when the Red Sox vanquished the mighty Bronx Bombers, was equally as satisfying as the ultimate triumph.

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