Yankees reportedly declined to be a part of initial idea for Netflix documentary on 2004 Red Sox
An original idea for the documentary would've been more focused on the rivalry between the two teams.
Thousands of Red Sox fans have likely enjoyed the three-part documentary series “The Comeback: The 2004 Red Sox” since Netflix released it on Wednesday. If the initial idea for the documentary was approved, though, Red Sox fans might not have had as enjoyable of an experience watching the film.
The Yankees turned down the original pitch for the documentary series that became “The Comeback,” The Boston Globe‘s Dan Shaughnessy shared in his column.
“One last note on the Barnicle brothers’ excellent ‘The Comeback’ documentary on the 2004 Red Sox, which is now on Netflix: Journalist/author Howard Bryant originally conceived of the doc as a series called ‘Superpowers,'” Shaughnessy wrote. “It was going to be about the Sox-Yankees rivalry in 2003-04, but the Yankees declined to participate, saying, ‘We don’t have rivals.'”
The Yankees’ decision to decline to participate in the original idea for the documentary series likely explains why there were a lack of members from their 2004 team that interviewed for “The Comeback.” Former Yankees manager Joe Torre is the only person from that team who interviewed for that series.
However, the Yankees were a part of a documentary series that recently began airing on Amazon Prime titled “Game 7.” One of the episodes of the documentary series was focused on the Yankees’ win over the Red Sox in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS.
Of course, the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry is also viewed as the best in baseball history. Boston’s decision to move Babe Ruth ahead of the 1920 season sparked New York’s dominant run while the Red Sox went 86 years without winning a title.
The 2003 and 2004 seasons were widely viewed as the apex of the rivalry, with drama on and off the field dominating headlines surrounding both teams. The Yankees’ 2003 ALCS win featured a benches-clearing brawl where Pedro Martinez notably threw down New York bench coach Don Zimmer before Aaron Boone hit a walk-off home run in Game 7.
Obviously, the Red Sox got their revenge a year later. Following an intense offseason pursuit of Alex Rodriguez and a benches-clearing brawl in a game in July of that year, Boston became the first team to come back from a 3-0 series deficit and win in MLB history.
Maybe that’s enough to constitute a rivalry.
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