{"id":7684,"date":"2024-11-15T23:05:57","date_gmt":"2024-11-15T23:05:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=7684"},"modified":"2024-11-15T23:05:57","modified_gmt":"2024-11-15T23:05:57","slug":"red-sox-notebook-quotes-tidbits-as-2004-anniversary-takes-final-bow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=7684","title":{"rendered":"Red Sox Notebook: Quotes, Tidbits As 2004 Anniversary Takes Final Bow"},"content":{"rendered":"<article id=\"post-1964122\"><!--?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ??--><!--?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ??--><!--?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ??--><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nesn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/05\/2004-red-sox.jpg\" alt=\"Red Sox Notebook: Quotes, Tidbits As 2004 Anniversary Takes Final Bow\" \/>The 2024 season marked the 20th anniversary of arguably the most important season in Boston Red Sox history.<\/p>\n<p>That ball club changed the course of the franchise, stunned the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series and defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series to win their first title in 86 years.<\/p>\n<p>NESN.com commemorated the anniversary with four oral histories focusing on some of the greatest turning points of the season for the Red Sox. You can catch up on those below.<\/p>\n<p>Despite all of the coverage surrounding the anniversary, there\u2019s some news and notes that did not make the oral histories. So, along with a gathering of additional coverage, consider this a director\u2019s cut with some extra tidbits on the 2004 Red Sox in this notebook:<\/p>\n<p><strong>New Curse?<\/strong><br \/>\nJohnny Damon played one more season with Boston before departing in free agency to the Yankees after the 2005 season. He played four seasons with the club and never felt the need to \u201cbash\u201d them from their rivalry with the Red Sox.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know what the Yankees are all about,\u201d Damon told NESN.com. \u201cThey\u2019re all about winning. They\u2019re all about championships. It\u2019s never easy to go up against a powerhouse like the Yankees. There\u2019s a reason they continue to go to the postseason.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<p>The Yankees last won the World Series in 2009 when Damon won his second ring. New York returned to the Fall Classic in 2024, only to watch the Los Angeles Dodgers take their championship dreams in five games.<\/p>\n<p>The Red Sox broke the \u201cCurse of the Bambino\u201d in 2004. Now 20 years later, Damon joked that a new curse might be looming in baseball.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey haven\u2019t won since the year they got rid of me,\u201d Damon said. \u201cThere\u2019s another story \u2014 \u2018The Curse of Johnny Damon.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lights, Camera, Action<\/strong><br \/>\nNetflix brought the story of the 2004 Red Sox back to life with a three-part docuseries. Several players shared their thoughts with NESN.com on the finished product and NESN.com\u2019s Greg Dudek shared his takeaways from the three hours of new 2004 content.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Jared Carrabis Reflects on 2004 Red Sox World Series Memories and Being at ALCS Game 4! || Sox Talk\" width=\"790\" height=\"444\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZkHC_tn8vaE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Switch It Up<\/strong><br \/>\nJason Varitek switch-hit throughout his MLB career. The 2004 postseason had the Red Sox see him do something new: hit from the same side as the hand of the pitcher.<\/p>\n<p>Varitek struggled against Yankees starter and MLB Hall of Famer Mike Mussina. Varitek hit just .171 off the right-hander in his career and went 0-for-2 against him in Game 1 of the 2004 ALCS. When Mussina got the ball in Game 5 at Fenway Park, the Red Sox catcher stepped up to the plate right-handed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell, nobody was supposed to know but I think Tito went ahead and told the media beforehand,\u201d Varitek told NESN.com in June. \u201cI hadn\u2019t hit Mussina well at all. I think I was probably 0-for-50. Desperate measures for desperate times. Let\u2019s throw a monkey wrench in this. I think I ended up walking with the bases loaded, which ended up being good. I probably would\u2019ve punched out left-handed. Later on, his arm slot dropped and I hit him better. Just try to make an adjustment to make a different moment. I came in like, \u2018Tito, I\u2019m gonna hit him right-handed.\u2019 He\u2019s like, \u2018OK.\u2019 I was hoping for it to be a surprise, but we let the cat out of the bag earlier.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Varitek did not record a hit against Mussina that day, but he did draw a bases-loaded walk to bring in a run in the first inning as the Red Sox pulled off a second consecutive walk-off victory.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cNot Like Us\u201d <\/strong><br \/>\nThe MLB on FOX pre- and postgame crew is a constant 2004 reminder anytime you turn on the broadcast. David Ortiz sits in between Yankees legends Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter.<\/p>\n<p>FOX has aired highlights of the 2004 ALCS over and over since this crew came together, but the 20th anniversary year only heightened that in recognition of the championship as well as using it as context in the 2024 World Series.<\/p>\n<p>The Yankees fell behind 3-0 to the Dodgers in the World Series. That sparked the the thought: Could the Yankees do what was done to them 20 years prior in the ALCS?<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>New York won Game 4 before dropping the series, adding another moment for Ortiz to enjoy the defeat of his former rivals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou know, I was just trying to put a little pepper in it,\u201d Ortiz told NESN.com. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to come back, especially against a good team like the Dodgers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>From \u201cLowe\u201d Lights To The Finisher<\/strong><br \/>\nDerek Lowe became a postseason hero for the Red Sox in 2004. That certainly seemed like a fantasy when that playoff run began.<\/p>\n<p>Lowe moved to the bullpen after regular season struggles to the tune of a 5.42 ERA in 33 starts. He noted how he had an up-and-down season \u201cto put it mildly,\u201d before he saved his best outings for October.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cHow I got that start, at the time I was a long reliever,\u201d Lowe told NESN.com. \u201cMy job was to come up and mop up situations. Game 3 was a mop-up and (Tim Wakefield) said, \u2018No, I\u2019m going to do it.\u2019 I still to this day don\u2019t know why. That offer allowed me to start Game 4. I had such a bad year. I almost pitched that game selfish for me. I needed to at least show the people that I could at least somewhat pitch. It actually made it easier for me because I didn\u2019t take the whole totality into account. I gotta go out there and at least have one good game going into free agency.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s where Lowe hit a turning point to keep the Red Sox alive and thriving.<\/p>\n<p>Lowe became the first player in MLB history to be the winning pitcher of all three clinching games of a playoff series for a championship team.<\/p>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the 20th anniversary of the 2004 Boston Red Sox comes to a close, here&#8217;s some final news and notes on the memorable season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7690,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Red Sox Notebook: Quotes, Tidbits As 2004 Anniversary Takes Final Bow - 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