Only Papi remained -- but plenty remembered.
Editor's Note: Red Sox historian Bill Nowlin approached each 2013 Red Sox for their '04 reflections, Portions of some of the best are below, with Bill's questions and comments in italics; for the full roster's reflections, check out the "Blog" section of Bill's great new website, Boston Baseball, at http://bostonball.com/
By Bill Nowlin
As the 10th anniversary of
the 2004 season was approaching, I asked members of the 2013 Red Sox
for whatever memories they might have of the 2004 postseason. Only
one Red Sox player was on the 2013 team who had also been on the 2004
World Champions – David Ortiz. His thoughts are recorded elsewhere,
and at some length. See, for instance, the book DON’T LET US WON
TONIGHT.
The ages the 2013 players had in 2004 ranged from 14
(Jose Iglesias) to 29 (Koji Uehara) – and neither of them saw that
year’s playoffs since they were in Cuba and Japan respectively. Only a very few of the players in 2013 were in the majors in
2004 – Ryan Dempster, David Ross, Jonny Gomes, and John Lackey. The
latter – Lackey – would likely have started Game Four for the
Angels against the Red Sox had Boston not swept the Division Series
in three games. The only one who appeared in the postseason that year
was David Ross, who was with the Dodgers and got into two games
during the Division Series against the Cardinals. Dempster had been
with the Cubs and Gomes had appeared in five May games for Tampa Bay.
Perhaps befitting their roles as
professional ballplayers and perhaps reflecting their sense that
their career might take them from organization to organization, few
of the players held a strong rooting interest for any team in the
playoffs, though they did tend to pull for individual players.
Andrew Bailey was a 20-year-old student at Wagner College on Staten Island.
Man, I remember – all of my
teammates were Yankee fans and I like rooting against my friends in
some competitiveness so obviously I was rooting for the Sox that
series. Coming back from 3-0 was incredible. One of the greatest
stories in baseball history. I was obviously not in the professional
level at that point in time but for a really true fan of the game,
that’s something you’ll never forget. Now being part of that
organization is such an awesome feeling.
I sort of wondered if most of the
students there would have been Yankees fans.
Oh, yeah! It’s like, my buddies
are sitting there rooting for the Yankees and my team wasn’t in it
– the Phillies weren’t in it. I grew up as a Phillies fan. My
team wasn’t in it so I wanted to root against my buddies, you know?
Xander Bogaerts, with an October 1
birthday, had just turned 12 in Aruba a few days before the playoffs
began.
There’s a lot of Yankees fans and
Boston fans in Aruba, but most of them were Braves fans because of
Andruw Jones. He was a big thing back then.
Did you watch any of that on
television?
Oh yeah, definitely. That’s the
one with Dave Roberts and the steal. Pretty much everyone was
saying that the Red Sox were done and then seeing them come back.
Millar was always positive – Kevin Millar, he said things are going
to change. If they win that night, he was positive that they would
win the next one. The Yankees were obviously stunned that they came
back.
Clay Buchholz, 20, was a student at
Angelina Junior College.
We watched all the games. They were
down 3-0. Sitting and watching those games unfold after [Boston] being down
that much in the series and coming back and winning is obviously the
thing that stands out in my mind. I grew up in Texas so I was always
for the Rangers and Astros, and my favorite player to this day was
always Derek Jeter. I played shortstop growing up. A lot of the
guys who are right-handed pitchers came up playing shortstop in
Little League and high school. So I watched him play.
If the Red Sox were playing the
Yankees, then, were you rooting for…?
No, I just liked Jeter. I liked watching him play. The thing that stands out in my head in that series is just David – Ortiz – and what he did. I definitely watched it. I just watched all the games. It was neat watching it unfold as they came back knowing no team had ever done that.
Would you say you began rooting for
the Red Sox?
I definitely wanted them to win the World Series that year after they finished that series in New York. It was neat to watch. It had been a long time.
Pedro Ciriaco was 19.
He’d played in the Dominican Summer League earlier that year,
signed to an Arizona Diamondbacks contract.
I was, you know, a Red Sox fan at that
time. I never did like Yankees. You know, Pedro [Martinez] was here at that
time. Manny. Papi. So I was a really huge fan.
You were in the D-Backs system, in
the Dominican Summer League, but they weren’t in the playoffs.
Yeah, I was already with the
Diamondbacks, but I remember that series. I enjoyed every game. The
series with the Yankees, that was unbelievable. I remember every time
Pedro Martinez was going to pitch, everybody in the country – the
whole country was watching.
Felix Doubront turned 17 the day of
Game One of the 2004 World Series. He was living in Puerto
Cabello, Venezuela at the time.
I had signed with the Red Sox in
July 2004. They were my team.
Were you able to watch some of the games on TV?
At that moment, we were in the
Parallela. [The Parallela Liga is a minor league in Venezuelan
baseball.] I was a rookie for Boston in Valencia. All the excitement
– the guys, the manager, the hitting coach – they came here to
watch the World Series. Josman Robles. Miguel Garcia. A lot of those
guys. They came up to watch the World Series.
So I don’t have to ask you who
you were rooting for?
No (laughs). It’s weird. My
favorite team at that moment, before I signed, was the Yankees and
the Mets. Those were the two teams that I followed the most right
before when I signed with Boston. My agent told me that Boston didn’t
have enough lefty pitchers in the minor league system, so I…
You thought you might have a better
chance to move up.
To move up. Quicker. At that
moment, it was very exciting to sign.
Jonny Gomes played outfield for
Durham and appeared in five games for Tampa Bay in 2004, at age 23.
I don’t pick a team [to root for in a situation like that] but
I’ve been to eight World Series. Seven as a fan, one as a player.
I’m a big fan of the game. What really stands out is Kevin Millar’s
walk, which led to Dave Roberts’ stolen base and, you know, Bill
Mueller. But what I would say stood out to me the most was each
series clincher and then, of course, the World Series clincher and
the celebration between 25 guys and the staff. Some people might look
at it like, “Oh, they were going crazy” but you just really saw
the passion of how tight-knit they were. The hugs and the champagne,
it was just like…
There was a little criticism that
they over-celebrated in clinching a playoff spot in the first place.
Well, it turned out those people
were wrong – again. You know, again! But that’s what stood
out – it was like a wedding almost. Just like a family. Everyone
having a good time.
Jon Lester pitched for the Florida
State League Sarasota Red Sox in 2004. He was 20 years old.
I came to Game 3 up here
against the Yankees. The bad one. I was just kind of thinking they
were pretty outmatched. Obviously, being part of the organization you
watch them. I followed them a little bit, but I was probably like 99
percent of the country, saying, “The Yankees are going to another
World Series.” But once they came back, I figured it would be over.
They were on that momentum. That’s a big part of the playoffs,
momentum. You forget about yourself some. I figured once they got to
the World Series, it was going to be pretty easy for them.
John McDonald had just finished his
sixth season with the Indians in 2004.
I like baseball so I like watching
the playoffs. I was actually in Boston for a little bit of that –
not at the games but seeing the madness, and the excitement of the
team not wanting to give up. It was really
enjoyable and after they won [over the Yankees], I don’t think
anybody could reasonable think they were going to lose after that.
They just played great baseball.
The pitching they had –
I think that’s what I remember the most about it. How well Derek
Lowe pitched. How well Pedro pitched. And I’d played with Dave
Roberts in the past – we were teammates in the
minor leagues for Cleveland. Watching him go to first base,
everyone knew he was going to steal in that situation. I don’t
remember how many times Rivera threw over; he still went first pitch.
Which was not surprising to me. He was going as soon
as he [Rivera] picked up his front leg. That’s what he does. That was his
gig. It was fun to watch.
You grew up in Connecticut. Red Sox
fans? Yankees fans?
We grew up Yankee fans. Going to
the Stadium. We went to both, though. We rooted for the Yankees more.
That’s when I was a kid. You don’t watch as many baseball
games after you start playing a lot more in high school and college.
As soon as I was an Indian, I was an Indian. I didn’t have any
other allegiances besides the team I was on.
By 2004, when you were watching
those games, with the Red Sox down three games to none, did your
Yankees background kick in for you or did you start rooting for the
underdog?
No, I was just watching. My wife is from Boston so I think
it was pretty easy to identify with that team the Sox had. They were
fun. Plus I knew some of the guys on the team, too. I was a little
more familiar with them. You want to see them get over the hump. You
want to see that excitement. After they won that first game, you
wanted to see them win the second. They win the second, you want to
see them win the third, and after they win the third, you want to see
them finish it.
It obviously made for a good story but
I’ve got a lot of friends and family up in this area so it was fun
to watch and listen to their reactions and their excitement going
through it.
Will Middlebrooks was 16, at Liberty
Eylau High School in Texarkana, Texas.
I was a freshman in high school. I
remember watching. I always enjoyed watching playoff baseball with my
buddies. I remember it being really fun baseball to watch –
high intensity baseball. A lot of intense situations. It was a lot of
fun to watch.
The Red Sox swept in the first
round against the Angels when one of your current teammates homered
in the 10th inning.
Yeah, David. I remember that. And I
remember the Damon grand slam. I wanted the Red Sox to win. I
just wasn’t a Yankees fan. I wasn’t a Yankees hater, by any
means, but when I grew up I liked the Rangers and the Red Sox. That was the team I was able to go
watch because I was from there, so I liked them and I liked the Red
Sox because of their history.
So you were pulling for the Red Sox against the Cardinals, too.
Oh, yeah. Absolutely.
Dustin Pedroia was in the Red Sox
system. He had played with Augusta and Sarasota in the summer of
2004. He was 21.
I was in the Fall League, in
Arizona [during the playoffs].
Watching the games on TV with some
of your friends?
Yeah. Everyone saw the games.
It was awesome. I just thought it was great, the comeback, you
know? All the stuff they did was awesome.
And then you were up here for the next one [2007].
Yeah, we gotta get another one of
those, you know.
Maybe this year...
There you go.
(Editor's Note: Mission accomplished -- at least in 2013)
Brandon Snyder turned 18 the month
after the 2004 playoffs were over.
I was a junior in high school. My
dad was a Yankees fan. My younger brothers – they’re twins –
one’s a Yankees fan and one’s a Red Sox fan. At the time, I just
kind of sat back and watched them battle it out. It was just one of
those all-time greatest moments in baseball where you see a series
turn around so quickly. The way they did it, it was just amazing. If
you’re going to do it, you might as well make it interesting,
right?
After that, it was just a different
mentality. We stopped talking about curses and all this other stuff
and we started talking about building good organizations to win
baseball games.
Alex Wilson was 17,
still in high school at Hurricane, West Virginia.
I actually was a Red Sox fan, a
huge Nomar Garciaparra fan. That kind of led me to like the Red Sox.
I definitely remember watching the games. I think the biggest thing
was them coming back from the 3-0 and everything. That was definitely
something to remember.
I was a shortstop. I wore #5. I
pitched some but I was definitely more of a position player.
I was really happy. I was
razzing my buddies that were Yankees fans in the Championship Series
and in the World Series everything fell into place.
--END
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