There's Always Next Year, Part 3

Saturday, July 24, 2004

The dog days of summer were now in full swing in Boston, just eleven days after the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. Temperatures were up, and many weekends consisted of trips to the beach and barbeques. Similar to the heat, the Red Sox and Yankees rivalry was about to be brought up to a new level.

           

During 2004, I was living in Watertown, Massachusetts with my friend Alan. We lived in a two-bedroom apartment that was on the second floor of a two-family home. Watertown is conveniently located just outside of Boston towards the western suburbs. Where we lived was a couple of minutes’ drive to the river roads and Storrow Drive, which led right along the Charles River and into the city. We also had an MBTA bus stop up the street that could take us right into downtown Boston by way of the Massachusetts Turnpike. It wasn’t city living, but we were close enough and had the resources that we could be in Boston in a short amount of time. We used this to our advantage to spend many weekend nights out in the city.

          

Every Red Sox season Alan always tried to take his dad to a game, and he was lucky enough to buy tickets to the game today. The Yankees were back in town, and had a comfortable nine and a half game lead over the Red Sox in the American League East standings. It appeared the Sox were going to finish second in the division yet again to the Yankees for the eighth straight year.

I was at home watching the game on television. The main living area in our apartment was a pretty wide open space made up of auburn, hardwood floors that consisted of both a living room and dining room. In the living room there were two busted recliners and a love seat, and none of them matched. My old warped pool table from home sat conveniently under the chandelier in the dining room where a nice dining set should have been. A picture of the Rat Pack, playing pool themselves, hung on the wall. It was a typical bachelor’s paradise. We spent most of our time here watching many sporting events, including the New England Patriots’ win five months earlier in Super Bowl XXXVIII over the Carolina Panthers.

The game began with a rain delay for almost an hour, not starting until around 4:30. All I could picture in my mind was Alan being miserable while braving the weather, but it was well worth hanging around for. With the Red Sox trailing 3-0 in the top of the third, Sox pitcher Bronson Arroyo hit Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez in the back with a pitch. On his way down to first base, Rodriguez glared at the pitcher’s mound and had some choice words for Arroyo. The Red Sox catcher and team captain, Jason Varitek, moved himself between Rodriguez and the mound, and the two began a heated exchange and until Varitek pushed Rodriguez in the face. Both dugouts and the bullpens emptied, and the melee ensued.

When it comes to baseball brawls, they’re similar to train wrecks; they don’t happen very often, but when they do, it’s hard to pull your eyes off of them. They can be downright ugly and embarrassing for the teams involved. Rodriquez made his best effort to take down Varitek, but the Red Sox catcher was built like a tank, and he wasn’t budging. The skirmish extended to right in front of the stands next to the Red Sox dugout, with other players becoming involved and piling on top of each other. I was totally captivated by the whole thing.

Eventually order was restored and the game continued, and the Sox would take a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the fourth. This would be erased by the Yankees scoring six more runs in the sixth inning, and the Red Sox trailed 10-8 going into the bottom of the ninth. The Yankees called upon their dominant closer, Mariano Rivera. A Red Sox killer if there ever was one, Rivera had converted twenty three consecutive save opportunities going into the game. Rivera sacrificing a lead was about as rare as snow in July; it just didn’t happen. Things were looking bleak, and the Sox were three outs away from dropping another game in the standings.

One of the city’s most beloved players, shortstop Nomar Garciaparra, hit a double to begin the ninth. He would score on a Kevin Millar single, bringing the Sox within a run with Bill Mueller coming to the plate. Mueller would do the unthinkable, hitting a walk off home run into the bullpen in right field. The Red Sox dugout emptied for the second time of the day to greet Mueller as he crossed home plate to score the winning run.

When Alan returned home, he was still firing on all cylinders from the game. He said the atmosphere was the most intense that he had ever experienced at a Red Sox game. The rain delay didn’t help matters either, allowing fans extra time to consume more beers and adding to the rowdiness of the crowd.

It was later reported that the game was almost postponed due to the rain. The grounds crew was ready to call of the game, but the Boston players argued otherwise. Some of the Yankee players had already showered upon being informed the game was going to be cancelled. The brawl was the spark the team needed, and the late inning comeback win only added to the heroics. Many fans, including myself, saw this as a crucial turning point in the season with two months left to go.

Saturday, July 31, 2004

           

It was a week after the brawl, and the Red Sox were on the road in Minnesota. The game was tied at four going into the bottom of the eighth inning until the Twins’ Jacque Jones hit a home run that put Minnesota up for good. The Sox would lose 5-4. But the big news of the day was that the Red Sox had traded their star player Nomar Garciaparra in a three team deal to the Chicago Cubs.

           

When I first heard the news I was stunned. Nomar had been with the team since his rookie season in 1997, and during his tenure he was one of the best hitters in the American League, winning back to back batting titles in 1999 and 2000. But more than being one of the team’s best offensive players, Nomar was a cult hero in the city of Boston. His name naturally rolled off the tongue of every Bostonian: “Nomaahhh.” His batting glove ritual upon stepping into the batter’s box before each pitch was enough to drive opposing fans crazy. His popularity was unrivaled, and he was the player I always thought would be in a Red Sox uniform.

           

But there were rumors swirling around in the media that Nomar was unhappy in Boston. With his impending free agency at the end of the season, the organization offered him a sixty million dollar contract extension before the season began, which he declined. His recent history with injuries, including an a right Achilles that kept him out of the first fifty-one games to begin 2004, had made him expendable.

           

The Red Sox received two good players in the deal, acquiring shortstop Orlando Cabrera from the Montreal Expos and first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz from Minnesota. Nomar would be going to the Chicago Cubs, who were also fighting for a playoff spot in the National League, and Nomar would certainly fit right into the middle of their lineup. The trade did accomplish one thing for Boston; they acquired two defensive oriented players, which they were lacking at both the shortstop and first base positions.

           

Although I did not like the trade, it was something I was going to have to accept. Like any other trade or signing in professional sports, regardless of my opinion, it something I was going to have to wait and see how it played out. What happened over the next month I don’t think could have been predicted by anyone.

Monday, September 27, 2004

           

With a week left in the season, the Red Sox trounced the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 7-3 to earn their ninety-fourth win of the season. The team hit four home runs and Bronson Arroyo earned his tenth win of the season. Along with the victory, the Red Sox clinched a playoff berth for the second straight season. The players celebrated in typical fashion, exchanging hugs and cigars in a champagne soaked clubhouse.

My father always told me that the toughest part in a long baseball season is reaching the post-season, which couldn’t be more accurate. The Red Sox made their case with an unprecedented month of August, posting a 21-7 record during that time. At the end of July when they traded Nomar, they were 56-46. Since then, the team’s record was 38-19. Arroyo’s victory also made him the fifth pitcher on the staff with ten wins, the first time the team had accomplished that feat since 1979. They were one of the hottest teams in baseball at the right time of year.

Who their opponent in the first round of the playoffs was still to be determined, and trailing by three games in the standings to the Yankees, they still had a chance to win the division with six games left in the regular season. It would be great if they caught the Yankees, but to me at this point it didn’t matter. They still had a lot of work ahead of them, but the toughest part was over. They had made the post-season, and in October anything can happen.