Oct. 27, 2004, is a date that will never be forgotten in the history of the Boston Red Sox.
That night in St. Louis, under a full moon, the Red Sox finally reached the top of the baseball mountain, winning the World Series for the first time in 86 years. The Red Sox completed a sweep of the Cardinals, breaking through for the first time since 1918.
The curse was erased with relative ease, as the Sox steamrolled the Cardinals after a historic comeback to send the New York Yankees packing in the American League Championship Series.
Red Sox fans can relive that glorious outcome Friday night on NESN at 8:30 p.m. ET, as Red Sox Encore brings you that deciding game. Here’s what you might have forgotten about that game ahead of the NESN broadcast.
1. Setting the table
Another Red Sox star who got right at the perfect time was Johnny Damon. The leadoff man had a paltry .277 on-base percentage through nine games to begin the playoffs. As he turned things around, so did the Red Sox, beginning in the ALCS. Starting with his historic Game 7 in the Bronx, Damon went 9-for-27 the rest of the way, hitting three home runs and driving in eight while scoring six runs. He got the Sox started off right in Game 4 of the World Series, hitting a leadoff home run to begin the contest. If there was any question whether the Sox might be nervous about the chance they had that night, Damon answered them right away.
2. Lowe and behold
Derek Lowe had, all things considered, a pretty brutal 2004 season. The 96-win Red Sox won just 18 of Lowe’s 33 starts, as he finished the campaign with an unsightly 5.42 ERA. He allowed at least five earned runs in more than a quarter of his starts and was hammered down the stretch, allowing 16 runs in his final 10 1/3 innings. He entered the postseason without a spot in the rotation. But things happen in October, and Lowe was handed the ball as a starter three times in the postseason with Boston winning each game. He saved the best for last, shutting out the Cardinals over seven innings in Game 4, ensuring St. Louis never really had much of a chance to get off the mat.
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3. 3-0, and oh so close
Trot Nixon, for all intents and purposes, ended the game in the top of the third inning. The scrappy right fielder came to the plate with the bases loaded and a chance to blow the thing wide open. Cardinals starter Jason Marquis fell behind in the count, 3-0. If there ever was a time for a take, it was now; it wouldn’t make sense for Nixon to get overaggressive and end the inning by trying to do too much. Well, so much for that. Nixon had the green light and hammered a nothing, 92 mph fastball right down the middle. The outfielder missed a grand slam by about a foot, but two runs came around to give the Red Sox a 3-0 lead that would stand as the final score.
4. Champions.
What else is there to say?
