Is Pedro Martinez's 1999 ALDS Game 5 Performance or Adam Vinatieri's 'Snow Bowl' Field Goal a Bigger Boston Sports Moment?

Is Pedro Martinez’s 1999 ALDS Game 5 Performance or Adam Vinatieri’s ‘Snow Bowl’ Field Goal a Bigger Boston Sports Moment?

by NESN Staff on Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 12:15AM

Pedro Martinez’s Game 5 performance during the ’99 ALDS squares off against Adam Vinatieri’s clutch kick in the snow in the third round of Boston’s Greatest Sports Moment tournament.

4. Pedro’s 1999 ALDS Game 5 performancePedro Martinez was one of the most dominating starting pitchers in Red Sox history. But Martinez’s most memorable performance came in relief. During the 1999 ALDS against the Cleveland Indians, Martinez left his start in Game 1 after only four innings with back problems, and his status for the rest of the series was questionable. But in the series’ decisive Game 5, with the game tied 8-8, Martinez stepped up out of the bullpen when the Red Sox needed him most. He pitched an unbelievable six no-hit innings with eight strikeouts, giving the Red Sox a victory and a chance to face the Yankees in the ALCS. In a season in which Martinez went 23-4 and earned the first of back-to-back Cy Young Awards, his relief performance in Game 5 was the defining moment for many Boston sports fans.

9. Vinatieri’s game-tying ‘Snow Bowl’ field goalDoing anything outside when it’s snowing is difficult. It’s even harder to play football in the snow. Kicking a 45-yard field goal in the snow? Forget about it, right? Well, not if you’re Adam Vinatieri. Vinatieri made kicking in the snow look easy in a 2002 AFC divisional playoff game against the Oakland Raiders in New England. During a game that would later be referred to as the “Snow Bowl,” or the “Tuck Rule Game,” Vinatieri kicked a 45-yard field goal to tie the game 13-13 with under a minute remaining in the fourth quarter. The game eventually went to overtime, and Vinatieri again saved the Pats with his leg, kicking a 23-yard field goal to win the game. The Patriots would go on to win their first Super Bowl in franchise history later that postseason.