Game 2 of the 2004 World Series wound up being the final home game of the season for the Boston Red Sox.
We doubt anyone complained about the team not having to return to Fenway Park (except for the championship parade, of course).
After blowing out the New York Yankees in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series and winning a Wild Game 1 over the Cardinals, Terry Francona’s club settled down and won a relatively normal contest against St. Louis. The victory gave the Red Sox a six-game winning streak at the best possible time of the year.
Still, there were more than a few noteworthy moments from Boston’s 6-2 victory.
NESN’s latest “Red Sox Encore” series continues at 8:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday night with Game 2 of the 2004 Fall Classic against the Cardinals. Here’s what you might have forgotten about that game:
1. Legendary trio throw first pitch
Game 2 began with ceremonial first pitches from Red Sox legends Bobby Doerr, Dom DiMaggio and Johnny Pesky. The only player missing from the famous quartet who faced the Cardinals in the 1946 World Series was Ted Williams, who died two years earlier. First pitches can be hit-or-miss, with teams occasionally going overboard and turning the occasion into a tacky affair. Obviously, this was not one of those times.
2. The second bloody sock game
Curt Schilling’s performance in Game 6 against the Yankees gets all the headlines, but his heroics in Game 2 were nonetheless incredible. With blood oozing from his surgically repaired ankle and soaking his sock as it was five days prior, Schilling once again stepped up and led the Red Sox to victory. The veteran right-hander picked up the win after allowing one unearned run — the only run scored against him in either “bloody sock” game — on four hits and one walk while striking out four over six innings. Schilling, who finished the 2004 postseason 3-1 with a 3.57 ERA, donated the sock to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
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3. Red Sox again grab early lead
Boston scored two in the first inning of Game 7 against New York, four in the first of Game 1 against the Cardinals and then two runs in the first frame of Game 2. Talk about taking pressure off your starting pitchers. After Cardinals starter Matt Morris retired the first two batters of the game, Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz both walked before Jason Varitek drove them home on a triple that nearly cleared the center field wall. Morris walked Kevin Millar before retiring Trot Nixon to end the inning. At some point, it just started to feel that everything was going the Red Sox’s way.
4. Bill Mueller committed three errors
Somehow, the Red Sox won consecutive World Series games despite committing four errors in both. Mark Bellhorn picked up one miscue while third baseman Bill Mueller, typically steady at the hot corner, committed a whopping three errors, tying a single-game World Series record. One of those errors came in the fourth inning on a two-out grounder from Reggie Sanders, who didn’t pick up the RBI but nevertheless drove home Albert Pujols to make it a 2-1 game. The Red Sox were iffy on defense throughout the postseason, but were so good in all other facets that they were able to overcome the occasional sloppiness.
5. Red Sox scored all their runs with two outs
The Cardinals pitching staff surely was kicking itself after Game 2 as it had plenty of opportunities to keep the Red Sox off the scoreboard. In addition to Varitek’s two-out triple in the first inning, Boston’s offense also scored two runs with two outs in both the fourth and sixth innings. Bellhorn picked up the big hit in the fourth, and Orlando Cabrera broke the game open with a huge two-run single two innings later. On a night in which Ramirez and Ortiz went a combined 1-for-7, the rest of the Red Sox offense picked up the slack.
