The Boston Red Sox’s run to the World Series in 2004 was nothing short of historic.
It all started with the greatest comeback in sports history when the Sox became the first team in baseball history to erase a 3-0 deficit in the postseason, coming back to top the New York Yankees in seven games to advance to their first Fall Classic since 1986. They followed it up by sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals for their first title in 86 years.
Stars were immortalized, heroes were born and moments were ingrained in New England lore forever.
But was their an unsung hero in all of it? Kevin Millar points to Mark Bellhorn.
He homered in Games 6 and 7 in the ALCS and then again in Game 1 of the World Series to give the Sox an 11-9 lead in the bottom of the eighth.
“When I look back, without Mark Bellhorn, we don’t win the World Series,” Millar said in a promotional video for MLB Network.
Bellhorn batted just .191 through 14 postseason games with the Red Sox in ’04, but he batted .300 in the World Series and undoubtedly had a couple of massive clutch moments. It’s safe to say that people always jump to Dave Roberts’ stolen base, Curt Schilling’s bloody sock and David Ortiz’s heroics, but Bellhorn, for being a role player, certainly made a big impact.
