Latest / Bleacher Report / Inside The Greatest Comeback in MLB History | 2004 Red Sox ft. Pedro Martinez

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Inside The Greatest Comeback in MLB History | 2004 Red Sox ft. Pedro Martinez · Bleacher Report

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: This is Pedro Martinez.
• 0:01
  Speaker 2: You are there to challenge me, and I'm here to
• 0:04
  Speaker 2: beat you.
• 0:06
  Speaker 3: 2004 World Series champion with the Boston Red Sox, and
• 0:09
  Speaker 3: he's going to take you through their entire postseason run.
• 0:12
  Speaker 4: It's the biggest embarrassment in all of the sports.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: The way only someone who was there can.
• 0:18
  Speaker 4: This is the run.
• 0:19
  Speaker 3: Heading into the 2004 season, the curse of the Bambinos
• 0:23
  Speaker 3: still lingered over Red Sox fans. Their team hadn't won
• 0:26
  Speaker 3: the World Series since 1918. In that time, their rival
• 0:31
  Speaker 3: New York Yankees had won 26.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: The rivalry came to a head.
• 0:35
  Speaker 3: In the 2003 ALCS, where the Red Sox lost a
• 0:38
  Speaker 3: seven-game series in a heartbreaking fashion after dropping a four-run
• 0:42
  Speaker 3: lead and having their World Series hopes ripped away by
• 0:44
  Speaker 3: an Aaron.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: Boone walk-off home run.
• 0:47
  Speaker 3: In the offseason, the Red Sox made some big moves,
• 0:50
  Speaker 3: bringing on five-time All-Star Curt Schilling, free agent Keith Folk,
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: and hiring Terry Francona as manager. The 2004 season was
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: filled with tense moments between the two AL rivals, and
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: the Red Sox ultimately won the regular season series against
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: the Yankees 11 games to 8. Still, Boston finished three
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: games back from New York in the ALEs. Heading into
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: the postseason, all eyes were on the Red Sox and
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: Yankees rivalry.
• 1:18
  Speaker 4: It was probably at the peak.
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: We were beaten the year before after we kind of
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: had it. The way they You know, being the Yankees
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: in so many championships and for us to be kind
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: of the underdogs, we look like idiots outside.
• 1:37
  Speaker 4: Of the field.
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: But when we came to play, we were dirty. We
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: didn't feel intimidated by the Yankees. We weren't afraid of
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: the Yankees. We felt like we were as good as
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: they were. We could play with them every single series
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: we played during the regular season.
• 1:53
  Speaker 4: I felt like we were the better team. We did
• 1:56
  Speaker 4: what we.
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: Had to do. except finish it. I don't believe in curses,
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: but there were times where.
• 2:05
  Speaker 4: I really wanted an answer. Why is it that we
• 2:08
  Speaker 4: can't finish it?
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: But before they'd have a chance to face their rival
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: in the postseason, the Red Sox would have to knock
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: off the Anaheim Angels in the ALDS. Cy Young runner-up
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: Curt Schilling took the mound in game one. Schilling got
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: out to a strong start, allowing just two runs through
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: the seventh, reinforcing his key role in the Boston rotation.
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: Before that, Derek Lowe, Wakefield, Arroyo, everybody that we threw
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: out there wasn't enough to beat the Yankees.
• 2:41
  Speaker 4: With Schilling, we had a one-two punch. Curt Schilling had one.
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: Of the most consistent shots Release points on a fastball, on.
• 2:49
  Speaker 4: A split finger that I've ever seen.
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: It was like he was born to just have that
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: release point where he had it.
• 2:57
  Speaker 4: But we were very different. Big, tall guy, straight over
• 3:00
  Speaker 4: the top. I was a three-quarter.
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: A lot of movement, a lot of flexibility, fingers moving
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: all over the place, baseball moving all over the place.
• 3:09
  Speaker 4: But Chil could just place it, boom, boom, boom, consistently.
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: And be careful because a knuckleballer, after a 97 or
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: 98 mile an hour fastball from me and Chilink, is
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: very drastically uncomfortable. I felt like we were a really,
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: really good combination, all of us, together.
• 3:31
  Speaker 4: But without Juan... We will fall a little short.
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: Schilling.
• 3:38
  Speaker 4: Whoa! Fires that away for Mankiewicz.
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: It looked like he might have hurt himself there. Maybe
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: that's why he couldn't stop. It looked like after he
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: made the throw, he reached down to grab his ankle.
• 3:49
  Speaker 4: I was the ace. So I felt responsible for everyone else.
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: When you see, especially your backup, get hurt, it's scary
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: because that's exactly what we needed. We needed a little
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: bit more help and more depth in the rotation. We
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: needed someone that was a big game pitcher, and Curt
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: Schilling was that.
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: An injured Schilling would come out in the bottom of
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: the seventh, but still get the win as the Red
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: Sox cruise to a 9-3 game one victory. The next day,
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: Boston would win game two, 8-3, with Pedro starting on
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: the mound.
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: But in Game 3, despite the Red Sox.
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: Getting out to a 6-1 lead, the Angels battled back,
• 4:32
  Speaker 3: sending the game to extras on a grand slam from
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: Vladimir Guerrero in the 7th.
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: When the Red Sox needed.
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: A hit in the bottom of the 10th, in came
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: David Ortiz.
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: And here's David Ortiz. You see that number today with
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: three hits.
• 4:48
  Speaker 4: He's took me far. Back it goes. It's over.
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: The Red Sox win, and they're moving on.
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: It brings me a lot of joy to remember that
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: moment because I feel like.
• 5:01
  Speaker 4: I was as part of those at bat.
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: As David because I was always looking to find David
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: an advantage. I will really spend a lot of time
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: talking to David about sequence. Believe it or not, we
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: were talking about that at bat. I said, David, you're
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: going to have to go to the Green Monster, especially
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: if they bring a lefty because they're not going to
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: get close to you in a situation.
• 5:26
  Speaker 4: See... Those are unwritten rules.
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: If you're in to save a game, you want to
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: limit the person's power. I'm pretty sure he wanted to
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: get that ball a little further out to see if
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: he could keep David in the park.
• 5:41
  Speaker 4: But he hung it. It's a hanger.
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: And that's why David got to put the good barrel
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: on the baseball and was able to shoot it up.
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: Instead of going right field, which he had a lot
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: of pop, straight away center field, right center, Right field,
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: he went to left field. That's exactly, you know, one
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: of the advantages that we had if you played in Fenway.
• 6:05
  Speaker 4: You knew when to go to the green monster.
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: That's exactly what I tried to explain to him all
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: the time. And David was just like a sponge, soaking
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: all the information that we would give him. And that's
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: how he became so good. Every time I saw David
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: or Manny in a situation to win a ball game,
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: We all felt like it's almost expected that they're going
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: to do something.
• 6:29
  Speaker 4: And most of the time they did.
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: With the Angels out of the way, it was time
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: for the series everyone had been waiting for. The Red
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: Sox and Yankees would meet once again in the ALCS.
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: The Yankees roster was stacked with eight all-stars, including Golden
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: Glove Derek Jeter, MVP runner-up Gary Sheffield, and new addition
• 6:49
  Speaker 3: Alex Rodriguez. A battered Schilling got the Game 1 start
• 6:52
  Speaker 3: in Yankee Stadium, and it didn't take long for the
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: Yankees' bats to find their rhythm. New York put up
• 6:58
  Speaker 3: six runs on Schilling in just three innings before he
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: was pulled.
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: Boston would try.
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: To mount a comeback, but would lose Game 1 10-7.
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: In Game 2, Pedro Martinez.
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: Got the start and immediately gave up a run in
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: the first after walking Jeter, hitting A-Rod, then giving up
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: a single to Gary Sheffield.
• 7:18
  Speaker 4: I could tell.
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: By the way I started that game, that I wasn't right.
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: Didn't have the velo, didn't look like it in the
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: first inning or so.
• 7:27
  Speaker 4: Breaking ball seemed to be okay, but erratic?
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: For me to start a game erratic where I didn't
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: have command of the baseball? Something must have been wrong.
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: And I was really pushed that postseason. And they told
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: me too, we're gonna ride you a lot. Baseball is
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: a game of inches, especially for pitchers. We had to
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: place the baseball. Two inches in, two inches and three
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: inches up, six inches down. And that's your main concern,
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: especially with an offense like the Yankees.
• 8:00
  Speaker 4: Bernie, Jeter, Matsui, Sheffield, Alex.
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: All of those guys were great guys.
• 8:07
  Speaker 4: To take a bat. I'm talking about a bat, not swings.
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: They will force me to go to 110 pitches within
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: six innings.
• 8:17
  Speaker 4: But the fans? Meh. Didn't bother me at all. Just
• 8:20
  Speaker 4: block everything. They would chant my.
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: Name, Pedro, Pedro.
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: Man, it didn't bother me. We were used to being
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: hated by New York. And New York was really spoiled.
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: The fan base in New York still is really spoiled.
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: If they don't win, there's a reason to cry. When
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: I was pitching, very protective.
• 8:45
  Speaker 4: I wasn't friendly. I was a bully.
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: I wanted to really beat up on the other team regardless.
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: But they got to me on one of those days
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: where I was a little shaky, and they were probably
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: my daddies that night.
• 9:01
  Speaker 3: Pedro allowed just three runs that night in Yankee Stadium,
• 9:04
  Speaker 3: but it was enough with the Red Sox bats going
• 9:07
  Speaker 3: stagnant for a final score of 3-1. Back at Fenway,
• 9:11
  Speaker 3: Game 3 was one Boston fans would rather forget. The
• 9:14
  Speaker 3: Yankees ran through six Red Sox pitchers on their way
• 9:17
  Speaker 3: to 19 runs and a dominant victory. Heading into Game
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: 4 of the ALCS, the Red Sox were down three
• 9:23
  Speaker 3: games to none, a deficit no team in history had
• 9:28
  Speaker 3: ever come back from.
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: We started off ugly. We did not do much of anything.
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: We were hoping that being in our beloved Fenway Park
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: and the fans and the chanting and all that, We
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: were going to turn it around. But nothing seemed to
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: be going right for us. It was just, everything would
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: just go south. We didn't play clean defense. We didn't hit.
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: We couldn't figure out, you know, pitchers that we were
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: facing the entire season. And they seemed to have everything
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: on us.
• 10:02
  Speaker 4: They had a deep bench.
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: Guys that could run, could move, could take pitches, could
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: take you deep. They were the complete package. But we
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: were the closest thing to them. We just didn't have
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: momentum in our favor.
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: How did you turn that momentum?
• 10:18
  Speaker 4: We didn't. Mariano did.
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: Entering the bottom of the ninth in Game 4, the
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: Red Sox trailed 4-3. Yankees closer Mariano Rivera needed just
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: three outs to send New York back to the World Series.
• 10:40
  Speaker 4: Very unusual.
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: The best reliever I've ever seen, especially during the postseason,
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: was Mariano. That was the biggest walk of his life.
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: and probably the worst one at the worst moment of
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: his career. If you ask Mariano, Mariano would turn around
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: and say, I want that at bat again. And everybody,
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: including the little kids that were in Fenway, knew that
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: Dave Roberts went out there to swipe that back.
• 11:09
  Speaker 4: And by this much, probably, he stole it.
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: It seemed like God had it for us at that moment,
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: right there. Because if you watch, they said, we walk
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: them off. Not easy, but we walk them off. And
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: all havens open for us. And that's what we needed.
• 11:34
  Speaker 3: A David Ortiz walk-off had turned the tide for Boston,
• 11:37
  Speaker 3: but their battle back from.
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: 3-0 was just beginning.
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: Only 16 hours after game four ended, Pedro Martinez got
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: the start in game five and allowed just one run
• 11:47
  Speaker 3: through five innings before giving up three on an RBI
• 11:50
  Speaker 3: double from Jeter in the sixth. Down 4-2 in the
• 11:53
  Speaker 3: bottom of the eighth, David Ortiz led off with a
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: home run followed by a sack fly from Veritech to
• 11:59
  Speaker 3: tie the ball game. Tim Wakefield and Esteban Loaiza battled
• 12:03
  Speaker 3: it out in extra innings.
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: Then in the bottom of the 14th, with two outs,
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: Big Papi delivered once again.
• 12:10
  Speaker 3: His third walk-off in 11 days. The Red Sox had
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: momentum going into Game 6, and back on the mound
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: for the first time since his Game 1 loss, injured
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: starter Curt Schilling.
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: They went on and did a small surgery on his ankle.
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: Reebok sent him a boot. Shield used to pitch on
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: low shoes, but the low shoe would rub against the
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: stitch that he had. When he went with the boot,
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: he didn't feel comfortable. The day before, when he was
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: trying to pitch off the mound, he bled a little
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: bit on the boot and the stitch. And then the
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: next day, he wore the same socks, something weak, Most
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: of us will do.
• 12:55
  Speaker 4: Gamers are gamers.
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: If you wear it one way and you win, you
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: wear it the same way if you continue to win.
• 13:03
  Speaker 4: And he finally went and pitched it. Wow. One of
• 13:06
  Speaker 4: the best games I've ever seen.
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: Kurt Schilling pitched in near perfect six innings, giving up
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: just a single run on a Bernie Williams home run
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: in the seventh. thanks to an explosive fourth inning capped
• 13:18
  Speaker 3: off by a three-run home run from Mark Bellhorn. The
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: Red Sox were up 4-1 heading into.
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: The bottom of the eighth.
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: An RBI single from Derek Jeter brought up Alex Rodriguez. Suddenly,
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: the tying run was at the plate with just one out.
• 13:32
  Speaker 3: On a grounder off the end of the bat, Arroyo
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: goes to tag A-Rod when suddenly the ball comes loose.
• 13:38
  Speaker 3: Jeter scores, and now it's a one-run game. Red Sox
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: fans can't help but think, here we go again, when
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: suddenly Terry Francona is out of the dugout. After discussion,
• 13:50
  Speaker 3: interference is called on Alex Rodriguez, swatting the ball out
• 13:53
  Speaker 3: of Arroyo's glove.
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: Two outs, and Jeter back to first.
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: If it was any other game but a postseason game,
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: I guarantee you we would have probably a brawl. It's
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: not clean what he did. And we had to let
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: it go because it's the postseason. But that was one
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: of the cheapest moments in Alex's career. Should have never
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: done that.
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: The Red Sox would hold on to their 4-2 lead
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: with Keith Folk narrowly escaping two runners on in the
• 14:28
  Speaker 3: bottom of the ninth. Boston had evened the series and
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: were headed to a Game 7. The game started as
• 14:35
  Speaker 3: many before it ended, with heroics from David Ortiz. Followed
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: by a Johnny Damon grand slam in the second, the
• 14:41
  Speaker 3: Red Sox took control early and never let go. After
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: years of finishing second to the Yankees, the Boston Red
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: Sox had done the impossible, coming back from down 3-0
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: and winning the pennant with a Game 7 final score
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: of 10-3.
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: I thought I had the worst feeling when we lost
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: game seven in all three.
• 15:03
  Speaker 4: I thought I had it bad.
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: But for them to blow a three-game lead to none
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: and the way they did it against us and then
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: end up losing it in their own park, the way
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: we did it, it's hard to imagine that you have
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: to carry that on your shoulder for the rest of
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: your career. I imagine how painful it was for the
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: Yankees and their fans to see now that I could
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: ask him, who's your daddy now?
• 15:35
  Speaker 4: When you tell them oh and three, oh and three.
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: They don't talk anymore, because it's the biggest embarrassment in.
• 15:42
  Speaker 4: All of the sports.
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: After finally defeating their rivals, the Red Sox made quick
• 15:47
  Speaker 3: work of the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.
• 15:50
  Speaker 3: With strong starts from both Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez
• 15:53
  Speaker 3: and a powerful offense led by Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz,
• 15:57
  Speaker 3: the Red Sox found themselves with a three-game lead of
• 16:00
  Speaker 3: their own and one game away from their first World
• 16:03
  Speaker 3: Series title in 86 years.
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: We were ahead of the San Luis Cardinals, three games
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: to none. You can't help but to think we did
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: the same thing to the Yankees. If we allowed them
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: to win at least one, And with the history in Boston,
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: we might just give them a break. We need to
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: put them away right away. And that's exactly what the
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: guys did.
• 16:32
  Speaker 4: It was Manny. It was David. It was Stratt. It
• 16:35
  Speaker 4: was Miller.
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: It was everybody just boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: And we never stopped. Same thing with the pitching. Put
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: them away, put them away, put them away. And then
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: when Keith Falk, got the ground ball and couldn't quite
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: flip the ball out. I'm like, flip it, flip it.
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: It's like, it took forever. And it was just a second.
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: I wanted to see that ball in Minkiewicz's glove as
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: soon as possible to finally unload everything that we had
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: in our shoulders, in our minds, in our hearts, all
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: the suffering. If you watch how we all entered Me
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: and David entered a little bit later than the pile
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: of players because we had to.
• 17:27
  Speaker 4: Thank God for allowing us to accomplish the mission.
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: I wanted to actually overcome the best team in baseball,
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: which we did. A lot of suffering in between, but
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: that's okay. It's all part of the game. You win
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: and lose. And we did that for many years. Actually,
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: 86 years, the Red Sox team. For me, it was
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: seven long years under the Yankees. And in the seventh one,
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: I finally got my wish. It's the most proud I
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: can ever be of a team.