Kevin Millar Reveals Wild Move From Red Sox During Legendary 2004 Comeback

The Boston Red Sox stayed loose as their epic comeback in the 2004 American League Championship Series made its way back to Yankee Stadium.

The Red Sox apparently had some help in that department, though.

Former Red Sox first baseman Kevin Millar told a story on the new Netflix documentary titled, “The Comeback: 2004 Boston Red Sox,” about how the team forewent batting practice prior to Game 6 with the New York Yankees playing a montage of their history on the scoreboard. The Red Sox instead went back to their clubhouse and passed around Gatorade cups.

But it wasn’t the hydrating sports drink or water in those cups.

“Walked by Lou Cucuzza’s office, who’s the visiting clubhouse manager for the Yankees, awesome dude. Huge bottle of Jack Daniel’s,” Millar said. “Yeah… Gatorade cups we all did shots.”

Johnny Damon joked that it was another one of Millar’s “amazing ideas,” but Millar didn’t have any problems getting his teammates to partake even with so much on the line. Derek Lowe said it was something that was accepted in the Red Sox clubhouse.

“These are a lot of myths out there about teams do this or teams do that, but if you wanted to fire one down before you went, no one judged,” Lowe said.

The Red Sox didn’t show the nerves that were evident for the Yankees and with their Game 6 win, it became the first time in MLB history a team forced a Game 7 after trailing 3-0 in the series.

According to Millar, Boston stuck to tradition in Game 7 and broke out the Gatorade cups again before completing its comeback.