the 2004 ALCS, ten years later

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canyoubelieveit

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For the first time in a while, I recently enjoyed watching the full 7 games of the 2004 ALCS.  It's amazing how intensely the feelings of gratitude and relief are still there a decade later.
 
One thing I always wished I had was a collection of WEEI broadcasts of those games.  They are very hard to find, and I'm surprised that mlb never tried to sell these (that I'm aware of).
 
About a week ago I had considered starting this thread because 1. I was curious if anyone had a way to share the radio broadcasts for these games, and 2.  I always enjoy reading SoSH posts that wax nostalgic about my favorite sports memory.
 
Then, a few days ago, I stumbled across this working link to the game 5 broadcast:
http://1918redsox.com/music/supersunday/WEEI-ALCS5.mp3
 
By changing the last number at the end of the link I discovered games 6 and 7 too:
http://1918redsox.com/music/supersunday/WEEI-ALCS6.mp3
 
http://1918redsox.com/music/supersunday/WEEI-ALCS7.mp3
 
The radio calls for games 5 and 6 are fantastic, and I thought others here might also appreciate them.  For some reason the games above are the only ones available, and game 7 very frustratingly cuts off just before the Damon grand slam.  Hopefully someone out there can share a file of game 4 and/or game 7 in its entirety...thanks in advance if you can.
 
 
2004 ALCS trivia question:  did Doug Mirabelli make an appearance in the series?
 
 
 
 
 

phrenile

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canyoubelieveit said:
Then, a few days ago, I stumbled across this working link to the game 5 broadcast:
 
By changing the last number at the end of the link I discovered games 6 and 7 too:
That guy whose bandwidth you're using -- he's a member. Buy his books (1 and 2). Especially the latter, if you're in the mood to relive 2004.
 

canyoubelieveit

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Spacemans Bong said:
There are high quality mp3s of Games 5, 6, and 7 that were made by a SOSHer from WEEI Providence... I think they're available on the Pedro server. 
 
Where can I find the Pedro server? (sorry, I don't know what this is...)   Thanks!
 

smastroyin

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My favorite random thing was having the below strike zone camera feed (embedded in the ground near the foul line, looking up at the batter) for a couple of a games.  Did those make it up to the Pedro server?
 
The owner of the 1918redsox.com website is member joyofsox.
 

canyoubelieveit

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phrenile said:
That guy whose bandwidth you're using -- he's a member. Buy his books (1 and 2). Especially the latter, if you're in the mood to relive 2004.
 
This will be purchased today.  I'm excited to read it.
 

HomeRunBaker

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I was living in NC in 2004 and drove up on the Thursday travel day (it really was a travel day) on short notice......I needed to be there. Friday was a rainout so with Game 3 set for 8pm on Sat I met some SoSHers and friends at GameOn for a day of food, drink and college football. We arrived at 12:30pm, got seats right at the bar and by 3pm the place was packed with a line wrapped around the corner. It was a great day......until.

Anyway what I remember best is listening to WFAN on the trek up from NC following Game 2......and then following Game 5 on my overnight drive back to NC. It was like two completely different fanbases who were completely defeated despite being up 3-2. Folowing Games 6 & 7 at night i was able to get WFAN in my car (neighbors must have thought i was insane) and Steve Somers was awesome on these overnights!! Flat out awesome!

Then the WS happened and another impromptu drive up 95 to go to a wet and cold parade that i ended up watching on tv with family instead. Best two weeks of my life.
 

mwonow

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It still gets a little "dusty" around here when I hear "Don't let us win tonight." Thanks for bringing it back to the forefront! That whole series (well, games 4-7, anyway) are a peak that can't be matched again. Kind of like May 5, 1977 for a subset of the folks here...
 

smastroyin

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So, being up 2-0 on the Angels is pretty good.  Not too happy about the way Curt limped off the field in Game 1, maybe he should have been pulled.  Pedro looked pretty good in Game 2, this team would be unstoppable if he were in peak form.  We'll see how Saturn Nuts can do in Game 3. Still surprised Tito demoted Derek Lowe to the pen.  Angels seem afraid of David Ortiz so far, wonder if they will pitch to him in Game 3.
 

joyofsox

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Thanks for the plugs, phrenile!
 
(Reminds me to finally get the 2004 books by Ian Browne and Saul Wisnia.)
 
***
 
I am uploading all of the radio stuff I have. Link to come shortly.
 

JohntheBaptist

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smastroyin said:
So, being up 2-0 on the Angels is pretty good.  Not too happy about the way Curt limped off the field in Game 1, maybe he should have been pulled.  Pedro looked pretty good in Game 2, this team would be unstoppable if he were in peak form.  We'll see how Saturn Nuts can do in Game 3. Still surprised Tito demoted Derek Lowe to the pen.  Angels seem afraid of David Ortiz so far, wonder if they will pitch to him in Game 3.
 
No chance. I know he's not exactly been Reggie Jackson in the playoffs just yet, but I don't see how that's a winning strategy. Kinda worries me, actually.
 

joyofsox

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smastroyin said:
My favorite random thing was having the below strike zone camera feed (embedded in the ground near the foul line, looking up at the batter) for a couple of a games.  Did those make it up to the Pedro server?
 
Pretty sure someone here has them for at least ALCS 4 and 5. I'd love to have these, too.
 

Vinho Tinto

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HomeRunBaker said:
Anyway what I remember best is listening to WFAN on the trek up from NC following Game 2......and then following Game 5 on my overnight drive back to NC. It was like two completely different fanbases who were completely defeated despite being up 3-2. Folowing Games 6 & 7 at night i was able to get WFAN in my car (neighbors must have thought i was insane) and Steve Somers was awesome on these overnights!! Flat out awesome!
 
 
Sports radio is tied to many of my memories from that period. I still remember Ted Sarandis after the Aaron Boone home run. I think he stayed on the air [SIZE=13.63636302948px]taking calls from devastated fans it was time for [/SIZE]Dennis and Callahan . I believe the first 10 minutes of Mike and the Mad Dog after the '04 ALCS is about as good as sports radio can get. They perfectly summarized the game and what that game meant in perspective to the rivalry. 
 

smastroyin

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someoneanywhere said:
 
No chance that bimbo makes the 25-man for the LCS. 
 
They have Foulke, I know, but they always seem to need another guy in the playoffs.  I'm still titillated by that pitch he threw to strike out Terence Long last year, think he could play a role going forward, if his confidence isn't completely shot.
 

JohntheBaptist

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Derek Lowe was absolutely one of the worst starters in baseball this year. No way I want him anywhere near a mound except in mop-up for the rest of the postseason. He isn't helping us win anything, mark my words.
 

Hank Scorpio

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Looking back on that series, it seems like something someone wrote as fiction rather than something that actually happened.
 
Two epic extra inning victories, the mounting Yankee frustration in game 6 (Slappy, fans throwing garbage), concluding with a 10-3 humiliation in game 7.
 
I just listened to the final at bat of game 5. I was on the edge of my seat, even though I knew what was about to happen. Joe and Trup did a hell of a job with these games.
 

jacklamabe65

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Thanks for the links, JoyOfSox!
 
As many of you know, at 11:53 am on October 20th, I began the Win if For thread. It doesn't seem possible that it was ten years ago. These radio calls bring it all back (even more than the TV replays). Those three weeks - from the Angels series - through to the last out against the Cardinals - are something that I will be forever grateful to have experienced in person. 
 

jscola85

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Amazing how packed Fenway was in the 14th inning when you compare it to what Nationals Park looked like in the late innings of their 2-1 loss to the Giants.
 

JimD

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The ten days that stretched from Game 4 to the moment that Foulke made the toss to Mientkiewicz ... it's cliche'd to say that it will never be the same for Red Sox fans, but it's true - it just can't be.  I was completely consumed by the Red Sox and their quest in a way that I've never been about anything else in my life.  It's still mind-blowing to think that it actually happened, never mind to consider the 3-to-1 edge in championships that the Boston Red Sox have owned since then over the New York Yankees.
 

Homar

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jacklamabe65 said:
Thanks for the links, JoyOfSox!
 
As many of you know, at 11:53 am on October 20th, I began the Win if For thread. It doesn't seem possible that it was ten years ago. These radio calls bring it all back (even more than the TV replays). Those three weeks - from the Angels series - through to the last out against the Cardinals - are something that I will be forever grateful to have experienced in person. 
I remember reading that thread, weeping with the power of so many of the stories, so many of the relationships.  When the umps assembled twice in game 6 (the Bellhorn HR and the Slappy play) and they reversed them both and got them right: that was the moment that I knew that the Sox were going to complete the comeback, win the ALCS, and the series, too.  Reading the Win It For thread with that certainty in my heart that all the pain, waiting and anguish was over remains the single clearest moment of my life when sport and life meshed perfectly together.  I shall always be grateful for 2004, but it wouldn't be as full and rich as it is without that thread...
 

TomBrunansky23

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What feed is this?  What I wouldn't have done to avoid listening to Buck and McCarver.  DOB and tons of cheesy techno music?  You could have counted me in.
 
M

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2004 ALCS Game 5 is the game I would offer to aliens if they came down and asked what the big deal with baseball is all about.  Even if the other games in the comeback get more press, I think it's the most dramatic and captivating.
 
Ortiz looks like he basically hasn't aged in the last 10 years.  The man is a marvel of science, rice and beans.
 
As to those asking about the Pedro server, I'll check in on it and maybe bump the thread in P&G.  We should have the 2004 playoffs up in full, if nothing else.
 

8slim

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I was at Yankee Stadium for both games 6 and 7.  
 
Kids, marriage, and all that... but those were two of the greatest days of my life.
 

canyoubelieveit

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joyofsox, I cannot thank you enough.  You are a hero.
 
I grew up in Maine as a diehard Red Sox fan, was catatonic at age 12 in 1986, and pledged for about one week to never invest myself again after 2003.  In 2004 I was living in San Francisco when a family friend who owned a couple of Taco Bells (who sponsored the series, you'll recall) called me to say he had an extra Taco Bell ticket available for games 3-5...if I could fly across country the next day.  Not cheap, but a bargain in retrospect.  It was the only time in my life I could have done such a thing (after grad school, before fatherhood).
 
When the Sox lost game 3, several fair-weathered Taco Bell Sox fans abandoned hope and I was able to get two extra tickets for my brother and a good college friend, both true Sox fans.  Unbelievable.  I've never felt a remotely similar electricity at any other time in my life as I did at those games.
 
Random thoughts from rewatching the series:
 
1.  There are many celebrated moments from this series, but one of my favorites was the 3-1 hit-and-run single by Trot Nixon against Tom Gordon in the 8th inning of game 5.  Without looking at a fangraphs win-probability chart, you could just feel the chances of winning swing significantly from a little below 50% (down a run, runner on 1st, no outs) to above 50% (down a run, first and third, no outs, home game).  That said, there were a million ways that Mariano Rivera could have gotten out of that with some vintage combination of weak infield grounders and strikeouts...Varitek's sac fly was an immense relief.
 
2.  The moment I "knew" (i.e. went from clenching my sphincters uncontrollably to just voluntary / superstitious clenching) was when Mientkiewicz dug out Mueller's throw to retire Jeter for the first out of the 8th in game 7.  If Jeter reaches, Yankees somehow go on to score 4, it's a 9-7 game...ugh.  That out was huge.
 
3.  I love Tito and I like how he managed in the post-season more often that not, but a couple of choices in game 5 still make me wince.  Leaving in Pedro in game 5 after Jeter cleared the bases was nuts.  He had nothing, and was so lucky to end the inning when Matsui hit a bases-loaded laser right at Nixon.  And in extra innings with Wakefield on the mound, why not bring in Mirabelli?  Varitek had been catching for about 50 hours over the past 3 days, and the threat of a passed ball just seemed too high (of course he had 3 in an inning that night).  Again, it all worked out.
 
Thanks again for the link, joyofsox.  I am forever grateful.  Buying your book doesn't count as a token of thanks, since it looks awesome and I'm doing that for me.  :)
 

Marceline

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Spacemans Bong said:
There are high quality mp3s of Games 5, 6, and 7 that were made by a SOSHer from WEEI Providence... I think they're available on the Pedro server. 
 
I recorded and edited those (removing commercials), and another SoSHer, MoVaughnsTruck, performed the amazing work of syncing them back into the DVDs as an alternate audio track. I think we should have those DVDs with the WEEI audio available, too. If not I may be able to dig up the DVD images.
 
I actually still have the original .flac files hanging around somewhere, too.
 
Edit: Is the one from Allan's site really cut off before the end of game 7? My recording was of the full game, including postgame.
 
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MentalDisabldLst

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The opening segment of Mike and the Mad Dog, the day after Game 7, was an all-time classic moment of sports radio.  Fifteen solid minutes of sober analysis, framing the events in the context of history, prognosticating about what it all means... they were about as inspired as commentators can be.  And in re-listening to it, Mike Francesa towards the end utters this bit:
 
"They no longer have any connection, and it's going to get worse and worse because guys who have been the staple of that [success]... such as Rivera, who, right now, may be ready to hand off the mantle to this kid Lidge, as the next great closer.  I mean, he's already had a decade of it, you can't expect him to go forever.  OK?  And Bernie Williams, who is winding down - and again, they try to bury Bernie Williams, and he was probably as consistent as any Yankee again in this series and was the guy you want up in the big spot every single time - and you know what, he's winding down.  So the guys who are the remnants of that run... and Jeter made that point last night, Dog, and he did it with a little fire in his eyes, when he said 'don't be comparing those teams to these teams, there's no relationship'.  And he's right.  It's now 4 years removed from a championship, and that group has whittled down to 4, and will whittle down from there.  Soon - soon - it will just be Posada and Jeter.  Eventually that's what you'll be left with for a while."
 
Boy did they underestimate Rivera in the aftermath there.  And Pettite too, probably.
 

Rasputin

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chrisfont9 said:
That was one of my five favorite all-time pitches.
 
Me too.
 
Has SOSH ever ranked the heroes in that series? The doofi in Four Days In October made a point about Derek Lowe pitching Game 7 on two days rest and being the #7 hero or something.
 
He'd be behind Papi and Schilling, but I'm not sure who else. Mueller gets some credit for the hit that tied game 4, Roberts for the steal, Nixon for the hit that got Roberts to third in Game 5, Foulke gets a lot of credit for pitching his arm off and not allowing a run the whole series, and I'm sure I'm missing some guys, but I'm not sure they would outrank Lowe.
 

canyoubelieveit

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Wakefield can be considered a hero for saving the bullpen in game 3 and winning game 5.  Timlin got lots of big outs, as did Arroyo, Embree, and even Leskanic and Myers.  Millar should be considered a hero for working those walks, Damon for a huge game 7, and Bellhorn for coming through in games 6 and 7.  Varitek had an outstanding series and caught about 10,000 pitches.  OCab was excellent both offensively and defensively.  Hell, I'll even give Mientkiwiecz a small hero ribbon for that pick in the 8th inning of game 7.  
 
It actually is quite amusing that the pitcher who won the biggest game 7 in history (IMHO) on two days rest at Yankee stadium giving up one (!) hit in 6 innings can get overlooked in the pile of heroes.  If Pedro and Manny weren't such elite stars, we'd have a better appreciation for their meaningful contributions to the series too, just hard to label them heroes.  But that's what made this series so amazing...since there was so little margin of error and the stakes were so high, any player who made even a small positive contribution can legitimately be considered a hero.
 
Pokey Reese and Gabe Kapler get a nice pat on the head for their smooth, not-unheroic contributions.  
 
Doug Mirabelli played briefly in game 3 garbage time, but gave Tek a little rest.  Ramiro Mendoza sucked (but amusingly had a better ERA than every Sox pitcher except for Foulke, Lowe, and Embree).
 
 
 
My hero ranking:
 
1.  Papi
2.  Schilling
3.  Foulke
4.  Lowe
5.  Varitek
 
The order I actually think of them when remembering the series:
 
1.  Papi
2.  Roberts
3.  Schilling
4.  Damon
5.  Foulke
 
Lowe probably doesn't show up until #8 or 9 on that second list, which is sort of the point Bill Simmons was making.
 

Wallball Tingle

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canyoubelieveit said:
Pokey Reese and Gabe Kapler get a nice pat on the head for their smooth, non-heroic contributions.
 
I dunno...if Kapler isn't right on top of that line drive Jeter hit in the 12th in Game 5 (thank goodness Kapler replaced Trot at some point), game could have gone the Yanks' way that inning.  It might not have looked heroic, but Buck even remarks on the jump Kapler had on the ball.  Pokey I can't remember any particular bit of heroism, though.  Just solid defense on the occasions the ball was hit to him.
 

ivanvamp

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1. Ortiz.
2. Foulke.
3. Schilling.
4. Roberts.
5. Lowe.

Roberts only had one moment. But what a moment. A franchise altering moment.

Ortiz, well, because. And Foulke was incredible. Lowe was unreal in game 7. As was Schilling in game 6.

Just incredible.
 

LostinNJ

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I agree with Foulke after Ortiz. He threw 100 pitches total in three games over three days, without giving up a run. No way they win without him.
 

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LostinNJ said:
I agree with Foulke after Ortiz. He threw 100 pitches total in three games over three days, without giving up a run. No way they win without him.
 
I still think it was a travesty that Manny got the WS MVP.  Foulke pitched in all 4 iirc, and between that and his ALCS performance, he was my pick hands-down.
 
Edit: found the Pedro Project thread and bumped it in P&G.  It's a gold mine.  Thanks to all who contributed.
 

SumnerH

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canyoubelieveit said:
Wakefield can be considered a hero for saving the bullpen in game 3 and winning game 5. 
...
4.  Lowe
 
 
Game 5 to me basically starts with Tony Clark's automatic double preventing Sierra from scoring.  Then LOOGY Mike Myers finally just coming on, facing his one man, and striking him out in.  And then Wakefield pitching the final three including that absolutely terrifying 13th inning where every other ball was to the backstop and he had to get 4 outs.  And Ortiz, glorious Ortiz.  And "he can keep on running all the way to New York".
 
(And that was after the cardiac arrest of game 4, with the hammer of God coming on with a lead in the 9th and us down 3 games and Millar and Roberts and Mueller and Leskanic's arm and Papi going boom, and before the reversed HR call/A-Rod slap play/riot police game where Yankee Stadium went quietly lunatic fringe.  Crazy.)
 

canyoubelieveit

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Check out the following ERAs of Sox pitchers in this series:
 
Pedro          6.23
Schilling       6.30
Arroyo       15.75
Wakefield    8.59
Myers          7.71
Leskanic    10.13
 
I'm not sure many of us would have guessed that Ramiro Mendoza had the 4th best ERA on the staff (4.50), after Foulke (0.00), Lowe (3.18), and Embree (3.86).  I'd still want Ortiz to be the MVP, but Foulke certainly deserves the honor too.
 
 
It's also fun to look at Mariano Rivera's numbers in that series, when we finally "got to him":
 
1.29 ERA, 7IP, 6H, 1R, 2BB, 6K, 2 saves
 

SumnerH

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canyoubelieveit said:
 
It's also fun to look at Mariano Rivera's numbers in that series, when we finally "got to him":
 
1.29 ERA, 7IP, 6H, 1R, 2BB, 6K, 2 saves
 
The scary thing is, that actually legitimately was "getting to him" come playoff time.  Career in the postseason:
 
0.90 ERA, 141 IP 86H 13R 21BB 110K 42 saves.
 
He had 23 postseason series with a better ERA than that, including 22 series with a 0.00.  And only once did he have an ERA over 3.00: a 4.50 in the 1997 ALDS constituted his worst performance in that category.  Yikes.
 

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I have never been more nervous, and then relieved and exhilarated, than the Tony Clark at bat to end game 6. I was at the Can and will admit to have been standing near the ramp in the aisle in case Clark took Foulke deep there. Having been at the Grady is a Total Idiot Game, I wasn't willing to stand among the masses for another celebration at our expense for very long if disaster struck.

God bless Keith Foulke. How he managed to get through that at bat after his heroic performances in games 4 and 5 is one of the great somewhat under appreciated aspects of that wonderful series. Ortiz, Schill and Lowe deserve all the credit they get. But damn it, no reliever gives his team what Foulke gave the Sox in those three games.

When Clark missed strike three, I let out a primal scream that seemingly everyone in my vicinity heard. It was not exactly intentional and did not engender a lot of love among the Toilet Dwellers.

Such an amazing time.
 
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