ALCS Game 7 – Oct. 20, 2004 – Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
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| Bos | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 13 | 0 |
| NYY | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 1 |
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It’s the newest fad – blogging through the roller coaster ride of angst, terror, and joy that is a Red Sox – Yankees ALCS, and I can’t stop myself any more from joining in during ALCS Game 7 (October 20, 2004):
8:45 PM (approx.) – Dale, you’re fired! You cannot send Damon home with Matsui so shallow and Damon’s slow start! By homering, Big Papi made the only play that could keep Sveum from sending any more runs to their death. 9:00 PM – Just learned that -ucky Dent threw out the first pitch. Typical classless move by the once-proud franchise, and yet another aspect that would make a Sox victory tonight just that much sweeter. 9:09 PM – Bye bye, Kevin – sorry you couldn’t stay longer – don’t hurt yourself on the way out, or in the dugout, or in the clubhouse, … By the way, both clubs must be breathing a sigh of relief not to have to face the Rocket in WS Game 1… Clemens vs Suppan in NLCS Game 7, both former Sox starters) 9:14 PM – My brother phoned during the commercial, and as I was describing my blogging, I suddenly screamed into the phone as Damon’s ball headed into the right field stands. He didn’t know what I was excited about about my nephew had changed the channel!!! Thank you, Jesus – I am a disciple! He called to ask me where I was 29 years ago tonight (Rich, I was in my first apartment in Raleigh sitting on the edge of my seat all night) – he was at Fenway behind home plate watching Carbo, Fisk, Dewey & Co. immortalize 1975 WS Game 6. Let’s hope the karma of the anniversary outweighs that of the ceremonial first pitch. 9:32 PM – Classic lifelong Sox fan thinking creeping in: Vasquez has just struck out Varitek and Nixon … could a 6-0 lead be the prelude to a greater horror than last year??? For strength I turn to my newly printed “Believe” rally card from Boston.com
9:39 PM – My blogging heroes are Bob Stocking (“Keeping The Faith”), who is watching games 6 and 7 in that Red Sox hotbed, Fargo ND; and the incomparable Bill Simmons, the Sports Guy, who has been channeling my thoughts and emotions for years. 9:44 PM – Like Damon, Cairo should not have been sent home either, but Manny reverted to a Game 1-like defensive lapse. Before the game, my growing nervousness made it impossible to concentrate on anoything butthe game; I was calmer in the second, but the nerves are back now … but Mueller’s pickup of a hot smash to end the inning and the sight of Pedro loosening up helps (I don’t know if I buy McCarver and Buck’s point about Jeter’s look of panic – check back with me later on that) … 18 more outs … 9:54 PM – OH MY GOD! What a day to break out of a batting slump!! Thank you, Johnny, thank you!! Do I dare hope yet?? I was in the process of confirming Yankees hitting coach Don Mattingly’s career of never having won an AL pennant as a player (or as a coach). Maybe his presence on the Yankee bench is an omen – for the Sox … 10:05 PM – Please, Fox, don’t show us the “Largest Deficit Overcome by the Yankees – 6 runs” graphic, not in only the fourth inning, not when the lead is only 7, not when the Sox strand 3 … 10:08 PM – Jim “Frito” Leyritz, who Peter Gammons correctly called “clubhouse poison” when he joined the Sox and never stopped complaining about playing time, was just interviewed on TV and proclaimed himself a Yankee fan (good – just be wrong about your prediction of the Yanks rallying). The stadium seems to be filled with ghosts tonight … 10:16 PM – Kudos to Derek Lowe, with four innings of one-hit ball so far. Looks like the theory of using a tired sinker pitcher to get even more action on the ball is proving out … 10:21 PM – Did Yankee/Fox announcer Tim McCarver just call the leader of Damon’s Disciples a demon?? Sounds pretty sacriligeous to me … Joe Buck is the master of understatement, calling Manny/Papi a pretty good 1-2 punch; McCarver straightened him out, putting the duo in perspective as the top Sox homer pair ever, but then he tries to apply a jinx by projecting Pedro as the WS Game 1 starter while still in the fifth inning … 10:41 PM – TV Family Hour is over: Levitra ad, followed by Seed of Chucky ad, then finally a Derek Jeter ad – which is the most sickening? 10:47 PM – Scott Boras is increasing his salary demands for D Lowe’s next contract with every inning of this game; with 6 innings of 1-hit ball it’s great timing to make a free agent salary push … 9 outs to go … 10:50 PM – Should Pedro come in? You can’t hold anyone back for the WS, but especially if they score again in this inning, Francona should go to Embree, Timlin, Leskanic & Co., not Pedro. Of course, there will be plenty of time to warm up a reliever during the 2 hour seventh inning stretch … 11:00 PM – So Pedro is going to confront his daddy after all … Has Terry gone back to being Francoma? Is this the same as McNamara leaving Buckner in? I’ve seen two doubles, and already I’ve seen too much of this – get him out of there … 11:07 PM – Olerud’s injury has been a key factor in the ALCS – he was killing Boston when he was in the lineup – thank God he’s not a factor this time … 11:14 PM – Pedro’s velocity is amazing, vintage stuff; maybe the crowd got him angry. Just stop the madness and put Timlin in next inning, my stomach is starting to burn … 11:17 PM – GO MAHK!! The two guys an ESPN.com columnist wanted benched last weekend (Damon and Bellhorn) are the Sox who have carried the offense in Games 6 and 7. I confess to considering the same thing, especially after Bellhorn’s DP last night. Remarkable (or should I say remahkable) … 11:30 PM – Just crossed the 5 out barrier (from 2003) and it was a K by Pay-Rod – how sweet!! I keep thinking about the Brooklyn Dodgers of the ’40s and ’50s, losing so often to their Bronx neighbors but finally winning once in 1955. Once always beats never … THREE OUTS TO GO 11:48 PM – Rivera’s in the game and he can’t get a blown save – without the pressure, he managed to finally get Boston’s last out … 11:49 PM – I’ll finish this later – I have to watch the bottom of the ninth and then do some screaming, some crying, some phone calls to fellow longtime suffering members of Red Sox Nation, and a private talk with my father. Remember: this is incredible, amazing, unbelievable, historic, unprecedented, worth savoring forever, but it is not redemption. That may come next week in Fenway Park or Busch Stadium or Minute Maid Park, or maybe what will still hold up is the quote “First they killed our grandfathers, then they killed our fathers, and now they are coming after us” (Jerry Demery, New Haven bartender – 1978). If what is important is not the destination but rather the journey, then let’s enjoy the ride, tonight and through the World Series! BELIEVE!! 11:59 PM – Super job, Mike Timlin! ONE OUT TO GO and it could be Olerud (see 11:07), no, it’s Sierra and it’s midnight – time for Steinbrenner’s team to turn into pumpkins YES!!!! Last Update: August 22, 2005 (previously October 28, 2004) – links updated November 5, 2019
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