Is Curt Schilling’s Bloody Sock Performance or Larry Bird and Dominique Wilkins’ 1988 Playoff Duel a Bigger Boston Sports Moment?

Curt Schilling’s bloody sock squares off against Larry Bird and Dominique Wilkins’ Game 7 showdown in the first round of Boston’s Greatest Sports Moment tournament.

5. Curt Schilling’s bloody sock performanceCurt Schilling’s debut season with the Red Sox almost had an unhappy ending. But after getting rocked in Game 1 of the 2004 ALCS and seeing the Red Sox fall into a 3-0 hole to the Yankees, Schilling got a chance for redemption. The Red Sox battled back to force a Game 6, team doctors sewed the tendon in Schilling’s injured ankle in place and the veteran right-hander took the mound for Game 6 at Yankee Stadium with a very visible blood stain adorning his right sock. Schilling made good on his promise of “making 55,000 people from New York shut up,” as he went seven innings and struck out four while surrendering only one run on four hits. The Red Sox took the game, 4-2, and went on to win the series in Game 7, becoming the first team in baseball history to overcome a 3-0 series deficit. Boston went on to sweep the St. Louis Cardinals in the Fall Classic, winning the club’s first World Series since 1918 and officially ending the “Curse of the Bambino.”

12. Larry Bird, Dominique Wilkins 1988 playoff duelThe Celtics somehow pulled off a two-point victory in Game 6 of the 1988 Eastern Conference semifinals in Atlanta to force a Game 7 at home. The Hawks held a two-point advantage heading into the fourth, backed by Dominique Wilkins’ 33 points. Larry Bird, meanwhile, had only managed 14. The forward would catch fire, though, putting on a magnificent display of jump shots, layups and floaters. Larry Legend ended up outscoring Wilkins 20-14 in the fourth, while making a crucial layup in the final minute to give the Celtics a two-point victory. “The basket was like a well,” said Wilkins, who finished the game shooting 19-for-23. “I couldn’t miss. He couldn’t miss. … It was two guys who just did not want to lose.”

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