Oct. 20, 2004.
Ask any Boston Red Sox fan what he or she was doing that evening. You’ll likely be treated to a detailed account, though words still don’t do the occasion any justice.
The Red Sox’s successful run, in which they won three World Series titles in 10 years, can be traced back to four days in October of 2004. Boston, of course, rallied from a 3-0 series deficit in the 2004 American League Championship Series to defeat the New York Yankees en route to the club’s first World Series title since 1918. The Sox completed the comeback 10 years ago Monday.
The Red Sox’s amazing comeback sent shockwaves throughout the baseball world. No team had ever overcome such a series deficit. And the fact it was the Red Sox (a team known for its playoff failures) defeating the Yankees (Boston’s biggest rival and a dynasty hated by almost every fan base besides its own) made the historic feat even more unfathomable. Seriously, was this real life?
As the 2004 ALCS comeback turns 10 years old, every Red Sox fan should take a moment — or several — to reflect on and appreciate an event in sports history that will never be matched. Sure, there will be comebacks, upsets and insane rivalries. But the whirlwind that transpired from Oct. 17 through Oct. 20, 2004, featured everything that makes sports so unique.
Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@985TheSportsHub
