‘The bottom line is they got lucky’: Gary Sheffield’s thoughts on the Red Sox comeback in the 2004 ALCS
Sheffield, who went 1-for-17 during Boston's historic comeback from a 3-0 deficit, blamed former Yankee manager Joe Torre and New York's bullpen for the defeat.
Gary Sheffield’s thoughts on the 2004 Red Sox comeback: While the current state of the Red Sox may leave fans with a sinking feeling, one way to put a smile on any Bostonian’s face is to remind them of the miraculous 2004 comeback against the Yankees in the American League Championship Series.
Trailing in the series 3-0, the Red Sox staged a famous rally to win, advancing to the World Series (in which they defeated the Cardinals to clinch their first championship in 86 years).
Though it might seem like a subject that has no new talking points, former Yankee outfielder Gary Sheffield dispelled that notion by making some bold claims in a recent appearance on “Foul Territory.”
In an apparent reference to either Games 4 or 5 of the series — in which New York blew late leads — Sheffield claimed the Yankees’ defeat was down to the bullpen.
“The bottom line is we lost the game because our relievers couldn’t close the game out,” he said. “That’s how we lost the game, end of story.”
He dismissed comments from Red Sox players, including Kevin Millar (who famously admitted that Boston players stayed loose by sipping whiskey before some of the postseason games).
“No, they were scared,” Sheffield claimed. “I remember going to first base and [Millar] was like ‘Man, y’all going to do us like this? You can’t let us get one?’ Who talks like that in the middle of a game? That’s [a] guy that’s scared.”
Having built up to it, Sheffield uncorked a truly incredible take on the Yankee collapse.
“The bottom line is they got lucky. That’s what happened,” Sheffield said of the Red Sox, who remain the only baseball to ever rally from a 3-0 hole. “You took advantage of [the fact that] you all had the stronger pitching, you [had] deeper pitching and it worked for you in the long run.”
Sheffield also cast blame on then-New York manager Joe Torre.
“Joe Torre made some moves that blew it. That’s what happened,” he added.
Of course, a more complete examination of events might also include additional context, such as the fact that Yankee bats — which had pounded Red Sox pitching for the first three games of the series — went ice cold as Boston rallied. Sheffield, after batting .692 in New York’s opening three victories, went 1-for-17 over the final four games (an .059 average).
Trivia: Gary Sheffield was involved in several notable trades during his MLB career. After being dealt to the Marlins in advance of the 1997 World Series run, he was subsequently also part of the massive fire sale of the team’s roster that general manager Dave Dombrowski executed following the championship.
In May of 1998, Sheffield was traded with Manuel Barrios, Bobby Bonilla, Jim Eisenreich, and Charles Johnson to the Dodgers for Todd Zeile and what future Hall of Famer?
(Answer at the bottom).
Hint: This player was traded again eight days later to the Mets.
Scores and schedules:
The Bruins lost to the Penguins 6-5 in overtime on Thursday night. Boston will face the Lightning at TD Garden on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Tonight, the Celtics host the Jazz at 7 p.m.
And on Sunday, the Patriots play the Bills in the regular season finale at Gillette Stadium at 1 p.m.
More from Boston.com:
- Caleb Porter introduced as Revolution’s new head coach
- Bill Belichick reportedly drawing interest from teams in this division
- Chris Sale explains why he approved trade from Red Sox
- Jim Montgomery explains what went wrong during Bruins’ high-scoring loss to Penguins
- Report: Patriots’ Trent Brown ‘openly discussed plans’ to play for another team in 2024
- Report: Bill Belichick has a ‘final meeting’ with Robert Kraft scheduled for Monday
- Bruins’ David Pastrnak named All-Star for 4th time in his career
- What does Brad Stevens think the Celtics need at the trade deadline?
- Bruins’ Matt Poitras ready to use World Juniors experience as motivation
- Report: Patriots’ OL coach Adrian Klemm confronted team executive over lack of talent
- Rob Gronkowski, Devin McCourty explain why they don’t believe Bill Belichick will get fired
Victor Wembanyama takeover: The rookie turned 20 on Thursday, marking with the occasion with several ridiculous plays in what was ultimately a loss to Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Bucks.
Here’s a fairly outrageous move for a 7-foot-4 player to make:
He also threw the ball off the backboard before dunking it himself:
On this day: In 1986, the Patriots defeated the Raiders 27-20 in the AFC Divisional Round of the playoffs (en route to Super Bowl XX).
The postgame scene was marred by an incident between Raiders linebacker Matt Millen and Patriots general manager Patrick Sullivan. A scuffle broke out, ending with Millen punching Sullivan (claiming afterward that he didn’t know who the Patriots’ executive was).
Associated Press photographer Dave Bauman captured a now iconic image of the immediate aftermath of the punch:
Daily highlight: Nikola Jokic somehow nailed a running half-court three at the buzzer to give the Nuggets an improbable comeback win over the Warriors.
Trivia answer: Mike Piazza
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