⚾ Starting to Steal the Series - Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS ⚾

When your team is down it can be easy to lose hope. As a player or a fan sometimes you may feel victory is too far out of reach. But it is important to always remember to believe.  

Tonight we will hear the story of a baseball team and a city that refused to give up against their biggest rivals. With hard work, speed, and strength they began to overcome 86 years of history that had felt like a nightmarish curse for their fans. 

This is the story of Game 4 of the 2004 American League Championship Series between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees.  ⚾ ✨

Transcript

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Hello sports fans, and welcome to Once Upon a Game, where the greatest moments in sports history become unforgettable bedtime stories. Whether you're winding down after a long day, sharing a story with your family, or simply wanting to relive some of sports biggest moments, you found the perfect place to settle in. So get comfortable, close your eyes if you'd like, and let your imagination carry you field side, courtside, or rinkside and into the biggest moments sports have ever seen. This is Once Upon a Game, and tonight's story begins now. When your team is down, it can be easy to lose hope. As a player or a fan, sometimes you may feel victory is too far out of reach. But it's important to always remember to believe. Tonight we will hear the story of a baseball team and a city that refused to give up against their biggest rivals. With hard work, speed, and strength, they began to overcome 86 years of history that had felt like a nightmare's curse for their fans. This is the story of game four of the 2004 American League Championship Series between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. Once upon a game, in the cool October air of Boston, under the bright lights of Fenway Park, the hometown Red Sox were in big, big trouble. They were playing in a playoff series against their arch rivals, the New York Yankees. The first team to win four games would move on to play for the World Series Championship, and the Yankees had beaten the Red Sox in the first three games in a row. One more win for the Yankees, and they would move on, and the Red Sox season and their dream of a championship would be over. The Red Sox have a long history, playing baseball for more than 100 years. In their early years, they were one of the best teams, winning baseball's grandest prize five times. But those victories were long ago. For many, many years, 86 to be exact, the Red Sox had failed to become champions. Even when they came close, something always seemed to go wrong. Many people even said that the team was cursed. If anyone was responsible for this curse, Red Sox fans believed that it was another team, the New York Yankees. To many, the Yankees were like the evil empire of baseball. Strong, confident, and used to winning with the sport's best players. Year after year, they played with robot-like skill in their pinstripe uniforms. No other team could come close to the amount of championships the Yankees had won. The Yankees' winning ways had begun many, many years ago. 86 to be exact, right after the Red Sox's last championship. The Yankees had bought one of Boston's best players, a fast pitching, home run hitting star named Babe Ruth. Since then, the Yankees had collected 26 championships, while the Red Sox had won zero. For years, Red Sox fans hoped that their team could find a way to break this curse and become champions again. The year before, the Red Sox had been close. They almost beat the Yankees in the playoffs, but in the seventh and final game of their series, the Yankees had come from behind to tie. Then they blasted a home run to win the game in the extra innings and the Red Sox season. It was a heartbreaking loss. The next year, the Red Sox had played well against the Yankees in the regular season, which gave their fans hope. But now, back in the playoffs, it seemed like New York was destined to march forward to another championship, while the Red Sox would come up short to the Yanks once again. The last thing Red Sox fans wanted to see was their rivals celebrating on Boston's field. Despite the odds, the ballpark was full of fans wearing red shirts, holding signs, waving towels, hoping and thinking, please, just one more game. Don't lose tonight. As the game began, the Red Sox were in trouble almost immediately. In the third inning, Alex Rodriguez, the Yankees' shiny new star, crushed a home run over the Green Monster, the tall green wall in left field that guarded Fenway like a giant. This home run was extra painful for Sox fans. Alex had almost come to play for Boston earlier in the year, but he chose New York instead. And now he had given the Yankees an early 2-0 lead. But the Red Sox weren't scared. The teams played on. In the bottom of the fifth, with two outs, the Red Sox offense started to wake up. First, they got a base hit that scored a runner from third base. They were now down only two to one. Later in the inning, David Ortiz, nicknamed Big Poppy, came to the plate with the bases loaded. Big Poppy had come up with many big hits before. If he could get one now, he might be able to give the Red Sox the lead. David took a mighty swing and hit a line drive to center field. At the crack of the bat, the Red Sox base Verners were off and running. Two scored on the play, giving the Red Sox a 3-2 lead. The fans leapt up and cheered. Maybe, just maybe, this lead would hold. But their excitement was short-lived. The very next inning, the Yankees bats began to boom again. They knocked hit after hit until two more runners crossed home plate. When the inning was over, the Yankees were back ahead four to three. And that is how the score remained as the teams played later into the Boston Knight. Fans of both teams grew anxious, wondering how this game would end. Yankees fans, ever confident, began to think ahead to their next championship, while Red Sox fans tried to cling to the hope of one more run that might give them a chance to see just one more game this year. But as the innings passed, the Fenway fans grew more and more nervous. At last, the teams had reached the ninth and final inning. The Red Sox would now have to do battle with one of the Yankees' best pitchers, the great Mariano Rivera. Mariano was a closer, an expert at getting the last outs in a close game, and he was one of the best ever at this position. In the playoffs, Mariano was almost perfect. He had saved over 30 games for the Yankees and only failed twice. If he could get three more outs, the Yankees would be headed to the World Series. Three outs. That was all that was left in the Red Sox season if they couldn't find a way to score off of the mighty Mariano. First up for the Red Sox was Kevin Millar, a cheerful, talkative player who liked to make people laugh. Before the game he had called across the field, they better not let us win tonight. It was as if he knew something special could happen if the Sox could just survive this game. Kevin was patient as Mariano carefully threw pitch after pitch. Mariano tried to trick Kevin by throwing pitches he couldn't hit, but Kevin did not swing. After four balls missed the strike zone, Kevin was able to walk to first base. With a runner on base, excitement began to grow amongst the fans. Then the Red Sox turned to a special weapon. A player named Dave Roberts came into the game and took Kevin's spot on first base. Baseball players can be known for a lot of different skills. Some are known for their hitting, others for their pitching, and others for their fielding. Dave Roberts was known for his speed. He could zip around the bases faster than anyone else on the Red Sox. He had joined the team just recently hoping for a moment like this, when his speed might be the superpower his team needed. Everyone in the ballpark knew why Dave was coming into the game. The fans, the Red Sox players, even the Yankees, everyone knew that Dave was going to try and steal second base. As the players got set for the next batter, Dave took a few steps off of first base. He wanted a head start for when he made his dash for second. Mariano, the Yankees pitcher, took his time and tried to peek out of the corner of his eye to see how far ahead Dave was trying to sneak. In a flash, Mariano turned and threw to first base, trying to catch Dave off of the bag. Dave dove and touched the base just in time. Safe, said the Empire. Mariano tried to catch David two more times. Each time he dove back safely. Even though he had just come into the game, his white uniform was now covered in dirt. David took his lead off of first once again. This time, Mariano pitched home. As he did, David burst for second. The crowd held their breath as the Yankees' catcher caught the ball and fired it to second base with all of his might. The throw was perfect. David dove for the base, stretching his fingers as far as he could, just as a Yankees player brought down his glove to tag him with the ball. The umpire threw his arms out to the sides and yelled Safe! The Fenway fans screamed and cheered. Dave Roberts had stolen his way to second base. The fans knew if the Red Sox could get a hit now, Dave might be able to fly all the way around the bases and score the tying run. Mariano continued to pitch. But just two pitches later, the Red Sox batter drove a ground ball straight back, past Mariano, past second base, and into center field. Speedy Dave Roberts did not hesitate. As soon as the ball was hit, he was off and running. He sprinted past third base, turned the corner, and headed for home as the Yankee center fielder threw the ball in. Dave slid safely across home plate. The game was tied. Now the Fenway fans erupted like a volcano with joy. The Red Sox were still alive and would not be beaten in this inning. But one more run was all the Red Sox could manage. That meant that the teams would play extra innings to decide the game. On and on they played, later and later into the cool October night. The tenth inning passed and no one scored. Same with the eleventh and into the twelfth, with the score still tied four to four. It was now after midnight, the time when magic often runs out in fairy tales. As the Red Sox batted in the bottom of the twelfth inning, with one runner on base and everyone holding their breath, Red Sox Slugger, David Ortiz, Big Poppy, stepped to the plate again. The pitcher threw. Poppy swung. Crack The ball soared high and far into the black Boston night. Then it disappeared behind the right field wall. A walk off home run. Big Poppy raised his arms in celebration as he circled the bases. His Red Sox teammates rushed onto the field and met him at home plate. Ortiz stepped on the plate and his teammates piled on top of him in a joyous laughing heap. The fans danced, the city sang, and that tiny flicker of hope that their team was not done continued to burn. The Red Sox were still playing. They hadn't won the series yet and still had a lot of work to do. Could they win games five, six, and seven to come all the way back and defeat their arch rivals? Could they break the curse that had haunted them for eighty six years? Well, that is a story for another game. But from that night forward the fans of Boston believed anything was possible. The End Thanks for spending a small part of your day with us here on Once Upon a Game. If tonight's story brought back a favorite memory or introduced you to a legendary moment for the very first time, we'd love to have you join us again. Be sure to follow our podcast so you never miss a new episode. And if you enjoyed what you heard, leave a rating or review to help other sports fans and families discover these stories. Do you have a favorite game, championship, athlete, or unforgettable sports moment that you'd love to hear featured on the show? We'd love to hear your ideas. Reach out on one of our socials or our website. Until next time, remember that every game has a story. Every champion has a journey, and sometimes the greatest adventures begin with the simple words once upon a game. Good night, dream big, and thanks for listening.