Indelible or Favorite Moment in Boston Sports?

TheoShmeo

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A few more come to mind:

- the A-Rod Slap.


- Mariano being mock cheered during the opener in 2005, and a fan yelling out during a quiet moment "a-rod you suck!"

Edit: the Slap was arguably a specific play, thereby violating the request in the OP. But I really meant the play itself, Jeter scoring and fist pimping, only to be sent back to first, the umps conferring and amazingly getting it right, A-Rod looking like Eddie Haskell with his hamburger helper gloves and "who me?" expression on second base, the fans at the Toilet embarrassing themselves by throwing bottles and baseballs on the field, the security force lining the field, OCab mocking the fans with his hands on the crying eyes routine and the surreal atmosphere that surrounded the whole thing.
 
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Minneapolis Millers

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These are too hard. There have been so many! I don't think I've ever been more euphoric, in that moment, than when Fisk's shot hit the pole. I was a kid and didn't yet know how snakebitten the Sox had been and would continue to be, but getting to stay up late and to win it in such dramatic fashion? Mercy.

I'll throw out a couple others that I don't think have been mentioned. Henderson's steal in game 2 against LA, 1984. And 2004 ALCS game 7 - the whole game, really, but one moment that really stands out for me was Bellhorn's homer in the 8th, because you could hear it hit the foul pole screen, and that shattering sound was just so perfect - shattering the MFYs, and all of that history, in their house. Just a beautiful thing.
 

E5 Yaz

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So, we're just ignoring the opening post's request that these be "the favorite moment which wasn't a specific play in a game"?

Because then it just because a list of favorite plays
 

pk1627

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October 20, 2004. Watching fans of the home team vacate the toilet as fast as they could while Sox fans gathered behind the Sox dugout and chanted deliriously.
 

RetractableRoof

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Among my memories is that of Ted Williams hitting a game-winning home run in April of 1952 in his last game before his call-up to the Marines for the Korean Conflict and then after popping out as a pinch hitter in his first game after his return in August of 1953. He pinch hit a 3-run homer in his next at bat.
In person/live??? I can't imagine even seeing him on TV once a week like we saw Ortiz, never mind seeing him at the park. Wow.
 

tims4wins

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So, we're just ignoring the opening post's request that these be "the favorite moment which wasn't a specific play in a game"?

Because then it just because a list of favorite plays
Seriously, what is so hard to understand about this. Malcolm Butler!! Ortiz!!
 

RetractableRoof

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So, we're just ignoring the opening post's request that these be "the favorite moment which wasn't a specific play in a game"?

Because then it just because a list of favorite plays
Agreed, that would be different thread for another person to start on another day...

The ones that aren't a specific play in a game are kind of letting me remember things I've forgotten, but also remember some of those moments from another angle.
 

steveluck7

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I've never been able to find video of this but for me a moment that sticks is the national anthem at the first Patriots home game after 9/11. It was sung by the Mass State Trooper who has performed many times at different events. He began with a preamble about how Francis Scott Key came to write the song and then went into it.
 

Minneapolis Millers

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So, we're just ignoring the opening post's request that these be "the favorite moment which wasn't a specific play in a game"?

Because then it just because a list of favorite plays
Oops. Yes, you're correct. I and others missed that.

Trading for Pedro was fantastic. After 2003's gut punch, the Thanksgiving Day treat of trading for Schilling was also delicious.

Indelible in a bad way was the bungled 1980 offseason, losing Fisk and Lynn. Things felt hopeless at that point.
 

Bergs

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It's May 3rd. There's a lot of baseball to talk about. These types of threads happen in winter. It's pretty transparent what the intention is.

A bunch of white dudes suddenly needing to discuss cute, fuzzy memories because someone brings up an uncomfortable topic only affirms that Boston has an embedded cultural problem with talking about race.

Y'all can do what you want. But it's ugly.
 

Lose Remerswaal

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This doesn't match the Normand Leveille story, but the last Celtics game at the garden they brought back all the greats and had like 20 of them on the floor and passed the ball to each other . . .


I was under the basket where the play started.
 

RetractableRoof

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I've never been able to find video of this but for me a moment that sticks is the national anthem at the first Patriots home game after 9/11. It was sung by the Mass State Trooper who has performed many times at different events. He began with a preamble about how Francis Scott Key came to write the song and then went into it.
If you don't mind me asking, why do you think this most resonates with you? There is the obvious of 9/11, but if there is more to it, can you put your finger on it? One of my most indelible (non Boston edition) is the Whitney Houston national anthem at the Super Bowl. I've probably watched it 25 times and it never fails to cause me chills.
 

steveluck7

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If you don't mind me asking, why do you think this most resonates with you? There is the obvious of 9/11, but if there is more to it, can you put your finger on it? One of my most indelible (non Boston edition) is the Whitney Houston national anthem at the Super Bowl. I've probably watched it 25 times and it never fails to cause me chills.
It was certainly the backdrop of being the first game after 9/11 so there was ample pre-game ceremony and an actual televised anthem (uncommon for a regular season game). This was also the game with the Andruzzi's as a part of the pre-game ceremony and, of course, Mo Lewis vs Drew Bledsoe.

The preamble was delivered very passionately (best way i can describe it) and it caught me. When he started, i remember thinking "What is this guy talking about?" Just one of those things that stuck, i guess.
 

RetractableRoof

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It was certainly the backdrop of being the first game after 9/11 so there was ample pre-game ceremony and an actual televised anthem (uncommon for a regular season game). This was also the game with the Andruzzi's as a part of the pre-game ceremony and, of course, Mo Lewis vs Drew Bledsoe.

The preamble was delivered very passionately (best way i can describe it) and it caught me. When he started, i remember thinking "What is this guy talking about?" Just one of those things that stuck, i guess.
Thank you, I'd forgotten about the Andruzzi family and the other elements that made that game remarkable.
 

Kliq

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I liked during the 2013 playoffs when Ortiz was hitting .800 and the rest of the team was below the Mendoza line. Ortiz smacked a double and slid into second base and looked right at the Boston dugout and yelled "Let's go! Vamanos!" Don't know why but I always though that was a cool moment.

Richard Sherman's face melting after the Butler interception is great. Also the shots of Butler crying on the sideline after the pick, those are something else.
 

tims4wins

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I liked during the 2013 playoffs when Ortiz was hitting .800 and the rest of the team was below the Mendoza line. Ortiz smacked a double and slid into second base and looked right at the Boston dugout and yelled "Let's go! Vamanos!" Don't know why but I always though that was a cool moment.

Richard Sherman's face melting after the Butler interception is great. Also the shots of Butler crying on the sideline after the pick, those are something else.
Speaking of Ortiz, the pep talk in the dugout in St. Louis
 

LeoCarrillo

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"Moses does eat shit." -- Bird at the 1980-81 title rally at Government Center.

Sure, it's a little juvenile in retrospect. But it was indelible to hear the word "shit" on TV in 1981. Spoken by your hero. I was also 12 years old. So...
 

charlieoscar

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In person/live??? I can't imagine even seeing him on TV once a week like we saw Ortiz, never mind seeing him at the park. Wow.
Unfortunately I wasn't at the park. The April game was on a Tuesday afternoon, so if was televised I saw it when I got home from school; otherwise, I listened to it on the radio. However, the August game was played on Sunday and I saw that one on television. I only got to Fenway once when I was a kid and Williams was playing: August 14, 1957 when he went 2 for 3 with an intentional walk and a 3-run homer off Don Larsen. That was when Mantle and Williams were battling it out for the league-lead in batting and Williams came into the game hitting .388 while Mantle was hitting .384. Mantle went 1 for 4 with 2 Ks to drop to .380 while Williams moved up to .390.

Williams and a love of math got me into baseball statistics as I tried to prove he was the best hitter ever. That led me to develop a form of OBP, which I learned in later life that others had done before me.
 

OnWisc

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North Stars at Bruins 2/25/93. It was Cam Neely's first game in over a year, and he was far and away my favorite athlete at the time. Didn't have tickets but Rev's familial connections were able to get us into the Garden anyway. The place basically exploded when Neely came out for warmups and stayed that way, with the whole Garden on their feet every shift he took. Then he scored- I think it was pretty early on. Banged home a rebound on a power play if I recall. I still think the Garden at that point might be the loudest thing I've ever heard. It was awesome.
 

Buzzkill Pauley

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Derek Lowe freezing Terrence Long in Game 5 with the bases juiced.

But then again, I always loved the 2003 squad more than the 2004 one.
 

RetractableRoof

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I thought of another heart breaking one... In general the passing of Reggie Lewis but specifically the somber mass of people waiting to pay their respects at Matthews Arena. That was especially striking in contrast to being in Matthews many times getting chills making the building vibrate with Reggie, Reggie, Reggie chants when he played there for NU.
 

NoXInNixon

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I was at ALDS game 3 last year. The ovation Papi got after being removed for a pinch runner, and then the extended ovation he got after the Indians were done celebrating were moments I'll never forget.
 

BuellMiller

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I liked it the day that Manny became a U.S. citizen and ran out on the field with a small American flag that he planted in front of the monster.
I was at that game in 2004. Pedro started, and Ortiz hit a bomb of a homer, and the Red Sox came back and won it after future friend VMart hit a homer off of Embree. Good times.
 

PC Drunken Friar

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A few more come to mind:

- the A-Rod Slap.


- Mariano being mock cheered during the opener in 2005, and a fan yelling out during a quiet moment "a-rod you suck!"

Edit: the Slap was arguably a specific play, thereby violating the request in the OP. But I really meant the play itself, Jeter scoring and fist pimping, only to be sent back to first, the umps conferring and amazingly getting it right, A-Rod looking like Eddie Haskell with his hamburger helper gloves and "who me?" expression on second base, the fans at the Toilet embarrassing themselves by throwing bottles and baseballs on the field, the security force lining the field, OCab mocking the fans with his hands on the crying eyes routine and the surreal atmosphere that surrounded the whole thing.
The mock cheer to Mo Rivera was awesome. And the Arod, you suck, was during a moment of silence for Dick Radtz. Within a millisecond of the "suck" ending, the PA guy says... "thank you". Absolutely perfect timing.
 

Hoya81

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Two retirement ceremonies:

Bird
IIRC This wasn't even held during a game but a whole separate event broadcast on Sportschannel or WSBK. The whole thing is great, especially the segment with Magic.

Bourque retires no.7 forever to honor Esposito.
 

8slim

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I'm sure I'll remember more, but the moment the Pats roared out of the tunnel before SB 36 and were announced as a team rather than individual players. I had high hopes for that game despite the point spread, and in that moment I knew we could win.
 

aksoxfan

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I'm sure I'll remember more, but the moment the Pats roared out of the tunnel before SB 36 and were announced as a team rather than individual players. I had high hopes for that game despite the point spread, and in that moment I knew we could win.
I recall wishing I had bet $500 on the Pats at that moment. I knew then that they were going to win.
 

Philip Jeff Frye

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Not quite sure why these sprung to mind as I'm generally a pretty positive guy, but both what immediately sprung to mind when reading the initial post are both sad memories from 1986. Both involved sitting in my parents' kitchen and listening to WEEI and just wondering how these things could have happened - the night after Game 6 in the World Series and, a few months earlier, the afternoon Len Bias died. Both very, very sad moments shared with all these strangers on the radio. My family had just moved to Boston (even though we grew up as Sox and Celtics fans), and the whole sports radio thing was new to me. Sharing the grief didn't exactly make it better, but both were very memorable sports moments for me.
 

reggiecleveland

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I've never been able to find video of this but for me a moment that sticks is the national anthem at the first Patriots home game after 9/11. It was sung by the Mass State Trooper who has performed many times at different events. He began with a preamble about how Francis Scott Key came to write the song and then went into it.
You mean losing the war of 1812?
 

canyoubelieveit

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#1 = The unfurling of the giant 2004 World Series Champion banner (someone else beat me to it, but that's what I came here to post).

Some other great non-play moments were were...

...when Wakefield, Lowe, and Schilling all walked out together to the overtaxed bullpen during the 2004 ALCS

...the giant ovation Bill Buckner eventually received at Fenway

...honoring Ted Williams at the 1999 All Star game

...any moment that Johnny Pesky was smiling and interacting with the younger generations.

Honorable mention: every camera shot of dejected Yankees fans from the Damon grand slam until the Pokey flip to first. (edit: and then after that flip to first too!)
 

TheoShmeo

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Another: the Brady-Ortiz double header in October 2013 when, within a few hours, Brady lead the Pats to a last second come from behind victory over the Saints, leading Rob Ryan to wince in pain, and Papi hit his game and series changing grand slam in game two of the ALCS.

Each moment was iconic on its own but the combination of the two biggest stars in Boston sports at the time coming through to that extent on the same day was epic.
 

RetractableRoof

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Another: the Brady-Ortiz double header in October 2013 when, within a few hours, Brady lead the Pats to a last second come from behind victory over the Saints, leading Rob Ryan to wince in pain, and Papi hit his game and series changing grand slam in game two of the ALCS.

Each moment was iconic on its own but the combination of the two biggest stars in Boston sports at the time coming through to that extent on the same day was epic.
As a sports fan, I think that is an understated gift of living in a city with all 4 teams - those two sport double headers and rare three sport triple headers.

Edit: Included in this gift of sports is of course the Patriots day double header.
 

TFisNEXT

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The sound of Bellhorn's 2-run HR in the 8th inning that hit the foul pole in game 7 echoing through the Toilet was very memorable to me. It was like an exclamation point in exorcising the past demons. It seemed very symbolic. The subsequent shots of all the dejected MFY fans that followed was just the icing. Any doubts that were raised in the 7th inning mini-rally off Pedro were put to rest.
 

Valek123

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The sound of Bellhorn's 2-run HR in the 8th inning that hit the foul pole in game 7 echoing through the Toilet was very memorable to me. It was like an exclamation point in exorcising the past demons. It seemed very symbolic.
This is absolutely the most memorable part to me as well, that sound combined with watching it on TV almost felt surreal. The moment that ball stayed fair any doubt was removed, and it is without a doubt the memory I will pull back up most vividly in 40 years...
 

bankshot1

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I thought the "See you Sunday" chant of Game 5 1982 ECF, with the Celtics down 3-1, and the precursor to "Beat LA", was one of the greatest sports non-plays of Boston history.
 

TheoShmeo

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Along those lines, the "Beat LA" chant to the Pistons after they eliminated the Cs in, I think, 1988 conference finals, is one of those signature moments I will never forget.
 

The Napkin

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right here
The time when people around the plate at a Red Sox game were watching a playoff game (pretty sure it was Celtics not Bruins) on the tvs and reacted to something so loudly that the pitcher freaked out a little bit.
I haven't been able to come up with the magic search words to find it on youtube sadly.
 

Riconway3155

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The time when people around the plate at a Red Sox game were watching a playoff game (pretty sure it was Celtics not Bruins) on the tvs and reacted to something so loudly that the pitcher freaked out a little bit.
I haven't been able to come up with the magic search words to find it on youtube sadly.

I think I was at that game and if memory serves me right, it was Big Baby hitting a clutch shot against Orlando in the playoffs.
 

Ramon AC

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From the bad end of the spectrum, the Clemens meltdown in the 1990 ALCS was an unforgettably embarrassing moment, and helped to reduce my ardor for all thing Red Sox. I draw an emotional line through that nonsense to other early nineties garbage like the Matt Young un-no-hitter that led to me abandoning baseball.

However the indelible moment that brought me back to the light was reading that the Red Sox had this shortstop who had won a unanimous ROY, and just pulled off a trade for a pitcher who won a Cy Young up in Montreal. I haven't looked back since. Thank you Nomar. It is sports-tragic that 2004 wasn't his.
 

RetractableRoof

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I'm surprised there has been no mentions of events around the Conigliaro beaning/comeback, etc.

Or anything related to Jonny Most - I didn't listen to much radio, but we've all heard clips of his calls I guess. I know there was a story of him lighting himself on fire with a cigarette while on the air.

I didn't follow the Patriots until just a bit before Parcells so I know I missed a lot there.