The Red Sox’ 2004 World Series win squares off against Marco Sturm’s Winter Classic game-winner in the first round of Boston’s Greatest Sports Moment tournament.
By now, every Red Sox fan probably has replayed Joe Castiglione’s call of the final out of the 2004 World Series in his or her head hundreds, maybe even thousands of times: “[Keith] Foulke to the set, the 1-0 pitch, here it is … swing and a ground ball, stabbed by Foulke. He has it. He underhands to first. And the Boston Red Sox are the world champions. For the first time in 86 years, the Red Sox have won baseball’s world championship. Can you believe it?” For Red Sox fans — whether they had been followers for 10, 20, 50 or even 86 years – the moment was surreal. With a full moon over Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Boston’s beloved Red Sox were finally champs for the first time since 1918. Their sweep over the Cardinals ended that infamous curse and sparked one of the largest championship celebrations Boston has ever seen.
Boston teams have provided fans with plenty of walk-off wins in Fenway Park’s nearly 100-year history. None of those wins, however, have been hockey-related. Until Jan. 1, 2010. America’s Most Beloved Ballpark hosted the NHL Winter Classic, pitting the Bruins against Eastern Conference foe Philadelphia. The game certainly lived up to its billing as a classic. After the two teams played to a 1-1 tie at the end of regulation, the New Year’s Day game went to overtime. With just over three minutes to go before a shootout, Bruins center Patrice Bergeron received a pass on the left side before sending the puck in front of the Flyers’ net. Waiting there was Marco Sturm, and the winger tipped the puck in to send the nearly 40,000 fans into a fenzy. The ending was a different kind of walk-off for the Fenway faithful, but the fans celebrated just the same.
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