Is Red Sox' 2004 World Series Win or Rocky Marciano's 49-0 Record a Bigger Boston Sports Moment?

Is Red Sox’ 2004 World Series Win or Rocky Marciano’s 49-0 Record a Bigger Boston Sports Moment?

by NESN Staff on Thu, Sep 1, 2011 at 8:00AM

The Red Sox’ 2004 World Series win squares off with Rocky Marciano’s 49-0 career record in the third round of Boston’s Greatest Sports Moment tournament.

1. Red Sox win 2004 World SeriesBy 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.

4. Rocky Marciano retires with 49-0 recordPaper may beat rock in playground contests of rock-paper-scissors, but no one could beat “The Rock” in the boxing ring. Rocky Marciano came out from the locker room, ducked under the ropes and stepped onto the canvas 49 times. And 49 times, the Brockton, Mass., native walked away the winner. Marciano beat all challengers, including Jersey Joe Walcott, Ezzard Charles and Archie Moore. Not only that, but in 43 fights, the Brockton Blockbuster left his opponent down and out for the count on the mat. On April 27, 1956, the reigning heavyweight champion of the world — he held the title for nearly four years — announced his retirement. Now that’s what you call going out on top.