Original subtitles

Ten-game homestand for the Red Sox beginning tonight.

And trailing eight to three with two outs in the ninth.

Kapler strikes out.

And Buehrle with back-to-back strikeouts

to open things up here in the last half of the second inning.

Thought about it, but takes it. And it's strike three.

I remember the prevailing thought was,

"We need to win the division."

I wasn't real thrilled with where we were at the time,

but Larry Lucchino called me.

He was like, "This is not acceptable, what we're doing."

And I'm like, you know, "Good morning."

And he goes, "This isn't fucking acceptable."

Now understandably, people are troubled

because of the last couple of, uh, games.

But, uh, I... I think people will recognize

that it's time to, uh, get our act together.

This team I think should be better in the second half,

and, uh, and I hope we'll do better in the future.

We were going through this slump.

I remember Tito, I came out to hit early...

and Tito is behind the cage.

David is ready.

Watching me taking swings over and over and over and over.

And at some point, I take a swing,

I look at him, and he's just locked in watching me.

And I'm like, "Hey, you... you're the fucking manager."

"There something you wanna tell me about my swing?"

He went like this...

"Who, me? I hit .170. You're one of the greatest."

"What am I gonna tell you? Figure it out, big guy."

Fenway.

Green Monster.

From that point on...

I got hot.

Hits it high in the air to deep left center field.

That one is back, and it may never come down.

That ball was crushed.

Swinging three-and-oh, David Ortiz jacks it!

- Whoo! - Yeah!

We fucking went off.

High and deep to left, way back!

The hitting kicked in. The defense was shored up.

On the ground, Reese picks it at second.

From his knees onto first, a double play.

How about that one?

People forget, the '04 team, the rotation was stacked.

Strikeout number four for Tim Wakefield.

- Back-to-back Ks for Arroyo. - Lowe is doing his job.

Swing and a miss. Schilling strikes out Rowand.

Martínez, the pitch.

Swing and a miss, it's all over!

The Red Sox win.

The last two and a half months of the year, we were rolling.

There was no more speculation.

We got rid of Nomar, we added a few guys, and now we go.

You know what I mean? We don't have to worry about this crap anymore.

- You look like an idiot. - Hey, long live the idiots, bro.

- No more "Cowboy up" this year? - Heck no.

We're a bunch of frickin' idiots, man.

So I said it one day to a reporter.

I was like, "Yeah, we're a bunch of idiots."

Hey. And it stuck.

Damon started back, has a long way to come,

and he makes a diving catch!

Johnny! Johnny! Johnny! Johnny!

Pretty much like me.

Wild, crazy.

- You locked in. - Where the magic happens right here.

I was traded from the Dodgers at the deadline,

and we did have a bunch of idiots.

Know anything about this? Got something on that?

I mean, how sexy is that, though? If this guy's not sexy from like here up.

If you start going below this area, you might lose your lunch.

That's before, and now give me after.

I think that that mindset of idiots, aloofness, funny, jovial...

♪ If you're fat and you know it Clap your hands ♪

♪ If you're fat... ♪

We needed that to combat the stress.

This is how you guys get bodies. Look at the food.

I go into a restaurant and a guy says,

"The Red Sox got my grandfather, they got my father,

and you guys are coming after me."

And I had just got traded over. I'm like, "How am I guilty of this?" Right?

I mean, this is 86 years of pain and heartache for Red Sox fans.

That's the pressure that we were up against.

Hey, guys, watch out. Watch out, watch out.

That was awesome! Good job, brother.

Yeah, that was awesome.

Yeah.

The big cat!

You about to hit some shit right there, boy.

No, that's gangster.

Collectively, there was nothing like this bunch.

And he's got the spinners on his tires.

- Yeah. - Look, Number 34!

- Yeah. - What?

Here you had a combination

of fearless players, fearless front office,

give you everything you need to win.

- This the life of one-five? - Yeah, yeah.

How about this one?

Yeah, you better put that down, boy.

These guys had the attitude that they were not afraid of the Yankees.

And they were not afraid of the moment.

Don't wanna look down the road, but would it seem fitting for you guys

to once again wind up playing for the ALCS?

Hope so. It means we're there. You know?

So, uh, you can't really worry about that right now.

We're trying to win a division. You worry about those things later.

The Red Sox still couldn't win the division against 'em.

But for the first time, this team has enough.

For the visiting Boston Red Sox,

the wild card team out of the American League,

they had a record of 98-64 during the regular season.

They finished three games behind the Yankees in the AL East.

Swing and a fly ball to left field! Way back! Way back!

The Red Sox are going to the American League Championship Series

on the back of David Ortiz,

who hits a two-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th!

- You want the Yankees now? - I don't care who we get.

Bring whoever you want, you know? The Yankees or Minnesota.

Would you like the Yanks?

It don't matter. I... I really don't care.

Whoever it is, we'll take care of business then,

but we feel we match up with anybody.

And the Yankees are headed

to the American League Championship Series.

The Red Sox and Yankees have played 45 times

over the last two years, and we all know

about all the machinations on and off the field,

so let's get out and play ball.

Yeah, I think it's almost impossible for this series to live up to the hype.

This is our dream series.

Our dream series because we just got beat in Game 7.

And we've kinda proven to everybody that, yeah, we're not going anywhere.

We're opposites.

Nation! Sox Nation!

Now here we are again, the same two teams,

same seven-game series.

'04, we go in the postseason, and we knew the Red Sox were good.

They had good pitching. I mean, that's the thing that can stop us.

The question is,

how are we gonna handle Pedro and Schilling?

If we handle those two guys, we're winning this series.

And that's all I was thinking.

"Let's handle those two."

I loved pitching at Yankee Stadium

because they were just loud and just nasty.

The shit they said to me? Oh my God.

Boston sucks! Boston sucks!

But I was never uncomfortable kinda talking shit.

I'm not sure I can think of, uh, any scenario more enjoyable

than making 55,000 people from New York shut up.

Tomorrow, you can fucking shut up every one of these people.

Well, it's hard to believe it was almost exactly one year ago tonight

that Aaron Boone hit that 11th inning home run

to beat the Red Sox, put the Yankees in the World Series,

add more heartbreak to the Boston fans,

and yet, for some reason,

it seemed predetermined that we'd be right back here a year later

for a rematch of sorts.

But there was gonna be a problem.

Early on in the playoffs,

we're playing Anaheim,

and I try to jump and kinda turn sideways to throw the ball,

and the tendon in my ankle just snapped.

Curt Schilling was bothered by tendonitis in his right ankle.

At Game 1 against the Yankees, I was warming up,

and it was just a cluster.

Pitching with a short-acting anesthetic.

It's taped up, it's supported.

But I always looked at the postseason as, you know, "This is what they pay me for."

"This is why I'm here."

And so I walked out of that bullpen thinking,

"Give me Babe Ruth." You know? "Fuck 'em."

I hit the top step of the dugout.

My tendon was basically popping out of place.

But, uh, it was a... it was a nightmare.

Is there any more intimidating presence

on top of the plate than Gary Sheffield?

To be honest with you, I didn't realize that he was hurt

until he got on the mound.

And I realized his stuff wasn't his stuff.

Two out, nobody on, here's Sheffield,

right on top of the plate. Takes a strike.

The first pitch he threw me, I was like, "That was it?"

Three-one pitch.

Fair into the corner.

Sheffield will start this ALCS with a double.

Curt Schilling is hurt. Pedro is the only ace they got.

We got this series.

The pitch to Matsui. Fly ball, deep down the right field line!

It is one hop off the wall.

Here comes Jeter. Here comes A-Rod.

Matsui stands at second with a double.

Now coming home to score is Sheffield!

I said, you know, "I can't think of anything better

than making 55,000 people from New York shut up."

I mean, how'd that work out?

You know, I get my ass handed to me.

I just blew the game

that they literally brought me there to pitch.

I can't do this again.

There's no way. I can't... You know.

So I thought my season was over.

Pedro Martínez gets set to go.

The Red Sox hopes hanging on his right arm.

Pedro Martínez referred to the Yankees as "my daddy"

after a September loss to the team.

I mean, what can I say?

Just tip my hat and... and call the Yankees my daddy.

Tonight, fans are getting ready for him.

Let's go, Yankees!

Fifty-six thousand here at the stadium,

screaming in unison, "Who's your daddy? Who's your daddy?"

Who's your daddy?

Who's your daddy?

It was just you and me. Mano a mano.

And I knew I had to hit those two to three inches off the plate.

Make it look good.

But something was going on.

You see Varitek right there changing the signs? That's not good.

When you're feeling that already in the first inning,

of having to change your signs,

you're thinking about other things other than executing a pitch.

I remember before the game just getting up

to the ceiling of the clubhouse,

and pulling a microphone and a little...

I... I guess, a little device that was... that was relaying our conversations.

I know the difference between a microphone and... and not a microphone.

And this was a, uh, like a lapel mic.

And it was attached to, uh, the same thing you guys have,

you know, a little box with the red light on.

Shit. I say it didn't happen.

And... And if it did happen, um,

we didn't get the benefit of a microphone, somebody else did.

He has Jeter at second, A-Rod at first, and no one out.

The pitch, swung on and lined to center field.

It is a base hit.

It'll fill the bases. No, Jeter's coming home.

Damon's throw is off line. Jeter scores!

I thought about, "How bad,

or how worse, can this get?"

He struck him out swinging, slider away.

Jon Lieber, you thought Mussina was good last night,

this... this guy's been unbelievable tonight.

Game over.

It's that quick.

You almost want like a redo. Mulligan, please. Joke. Can we start over?

We're better than this.

That's it. Yankees up two games to none.

Pitching dominated again tonight.

Based on what we saw for the first two games,

it's not looking good for the Red Sox.

You guys have been known to come back the last several years.

What's the feeling on this team, the mood of the team, down 0-2?

We're okay. Um... And we know our back's to the wall,

but, um, we... we haven't played our best... best games yet.

Would you classify Game 3 as a must-win?

Oh, it... it definitely is.

Because the, uh, Yankees really don't lose four in a row.

And, um, so, yeah.

Um, every game is a must-win for us now.

The Red Sox are coming back home where they're a different offensive team.

I think it's about 150 OPS points difference,

home and away.

As of now, they're still there.

I mean, they believe they're better than the Yankees.

They've never proven it, but they believe it.

Hi again, everybody.

Game 3 of the American League Championship Series.

Yankees lead two games to none

as Derek Jeter gets set to face Bronson Arroyo.

I remember them calling me in and saying, "Hey, you're gonna be the guy, man."

"You're going in the three hole behind Schilling and Pedro."

And then I get beat up by Yankees in... in Game 3.

Rodriguez hits it down into the left field corner.

Matsui hits it to deep right field.

It was a carousel just going around the field.

This guy's got four hits, this guy's got three hits,

this guy's got two.

And the New York Yankees are a juggernaut here in Game 3.

We get boat-raced Game 3. Whatever that score was.

Boat-raced.

This is a master class of an ass-kicking.

Look at Alex Rodriguez.

Alex Rodriguez is the ALCS MVP.

He hits a ball off Bronson Arroyo that landed in Cambridge somewhere.

Sailing out of Fenway Park!

I remember thinking that the Red Sox were just done.

The Yankees have pounded their way to a three-games-to-none lead

in this ALCS.

Now the Red Sox are gonna have to come up with a rally

that would go down as the best in the history of baseball.

Obviously, it's embarrassing. I mean, to look up at the scoreboard,

and, you know, it looked like a damn football score up there.

This is the worst in history!

I... I, uh, just can't... can't put myself through it anymore.

No team in Major League Baseball history has ever come back

from a three-games-to-none deficit in a best-of-seven series.

So we're down three-nothing, go home. A bunch of us all lived

in the same apartment building.

And we're sitting around just moping, talking about the series.

"You can't believe this." We got the TV on.

Bottom of the 11th inning in a 5-5 game, this is, uh...

They were five outs away in the eighth inning.

They're showing Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS.

As a cosmic kick in the nuts, this game is on.

Someone's like, "Oh, sorry!" And was like, you know, keep flipping the channels.

I'm like, "No, let's watch it. Let's face our demons."

Leading by three as Boone hits it to deep left!

That might send the Yankees to the World Series!

Boone a hero of Game 7!

So we sit there drinking until like five or six in the morning.

I remember just hoping that somehow we could salvage a game

and, like, maybe make it a series,

and... and maybe not be remembered as the great team that got swept.

You have to understand

that every baseball fan

who has ever watched a postseason game

had heard it said one million times,

"No team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit."

You're gonna tell me

the Red Sox are going to do it to the Yankees?

Early August, I... I came out hard on them.

Like, if this thing doesn't turn right,

these guys are gonna go down as the biggest pack of frauds of all time.

I brought it back again when they got down 19-8.

"Hang down your heads, John Henry, Larry Lucchino, and Theo Epstein."

"You too, Terry Francona."

"And all you guys in uniform."

"You just keep telling yourselves that any day now,

you'll take off on a hot streak."

"You have a chance to be remembered as the biggest pack of frauds

ever to don a Sox uniform."

I went to go take a deuce, excuse my French.

But I was using number two. Back then you read the paper,

so I've got the paper, and the word "fraud..."

was part of that article,

which I thought was over the line. You ain't getting away with that one.

That was our whole job.

Dan Shaughnessy comes walking in.

- All I'm saying... - It's embarrassing, man.

- What's embarrassing? - You guys are better than this.

Sometimes there's dudes that bully the media, but that wasn't us.

Today... "Dan, your hair sucks."

"Your hair sucks, Dan."

People say, "Why... Why would you say it? What... What are you, frauds?"

Yeah, I mean, I hate to say that we don't like letting guys score

19 runs on 25 hits.

But let me tell you, don't let us win today.

- Okay. That's a start. - We got Petey tomorrow. Petey tomorrow.

- And we got Schill Game 6. - Okay. That's a start.

Then you can take that "fraud" comment back.

We got Pedro Game 5, Schilling Game 6, and anything can happen Game 7.

And we could put you out there in Game 7, Dan.

- Dan Shaughnessy hitting ninth. - All right.

Think about it. You choke up a little bit...

So this is it. This is it.

Don't let the Sox win this game.

Millar was saying that shit to everybody.

Just put us to bed tonight, don't let us win today.

Don't let us win this game tonight.

This is the way we like it.

Down and out, and then pow! Sox Nation take over.

I'm smart enough to know this was tough.

But the players a lot of times take their cues off of me and the staff.

Now, they see me with my tail between my legs,

that's not gonna help anybody.

Oh my God, dude.

And I do remember coming in the food room,

and there was a bunch of players.

They were in there watching Animal House.

And right when I walked in,

Belushi's hitting D-Day over the head with a guitar.

And the players are laughing.

You know, you walk out in the clubhouse and Millar's yelling.

No, no. You're doing a horseshit job.

You're running back and forth

to the training room and worrying about this ankle.

You gotta remind me about Vicodin. Screw the ankle!

We gotta get to the ankle game.

I remember thinking we're a bunch of crazy fucks,

but we believe in each other,

and we're not gonna back down from anybody.

I don't remember getting my ass beat that bad

since like, maybe, like, when I was playing, like, soccer

when I was a kid, we lost, like, 12-nothing or something.

Now, tonight, trying to slow down that Yankee lineup

will be the right-hander Derek Lowe, who has yet to start

for the Red Sox this postseason.

He's really about all Terry Francona has left.

So you're going into '04, last year of your contract.

Mmm. Messed that up.

Bad would be an understatement.

I had a five-point-what? Six ERA?

Tejada hits it deep to left.

The throw gets away from Lowe.

Derek doesn't look too pleased in that corner.

That's when you get as far away from the pitching coach as you possibly can.

I was the last person.

The last.

It was either gonna be me or Bill from, like, Aisle 12.

'Cause everyone had pitched already.

Now think about the confidence I have going into this game.

I've pitched one inning in the last, probably, ten days.

And we're down three-nothing.

Ah? How we doing?

They should be the most cocky team.

You just beat us 19-8,

and you got this clown going to the mound in Game 4.

You guys staying tonight if you win or no? Probably?

Yeah.

- Doesn't make any sense. I mean... - No, it doesn't.

I just wondered. I'm flying out tomorrow if you guys win.

Yeah. No, we're staying one night.

Regardless.

Yeah, I used to always go out to center field and look at the stadium.

And... And I remember saying to myself,

"Buddy, you better enjoy this, 'cause this is it."

"This is gonna be your last start ever."

Hi again, everybody, welcome to Fenway Park.

Another full house as the Red Sox try to get a win here

and stave off elimination.

If I could somehow get through the first two innings,

like even one run...

I'd be happy with it.

The Red Sox really wanna keep the Yankees off the board.

The Yankees have scored in the first inning of all three games.

Two men down for Gary Sheffield,

who's been big poison in this series as well.

When you have somebody down, you keep 'em down.

We got a chance to sweep these guys.

The 0-1 delivery.

Swing and a fly ball, right field, shallow.

Nixon is there, and he has it for the out.

Lowe retires the side on nine pitches,

and the first time in this series

the Yankees don't score in the first inning.

I'm like, "Okay." I'm feeling okay about the start.

Runner at first, two out, with this crowd chanting "D-Lowe."

Runner goes. Sierra...

Inning over.

Got into the sixth inning.

It... It went way better than I think a lot of people thought it would go,

including myself.

Lowe is finished, and this crowd appreciates his effort.

But I still need a miracle.

Grounds to the right side.

Bellhorn knocks it down, can't make a play,

and the Yankees lead again.

We need to win this game.

You know, we had that one-run lead,

so I brought Mariano in in the eighth inning.

Red Sox facing elimination here in the eighth inning.

Ortiz... strikes out.

Nobody even up in the bullpen for the Red Sox.

Matsui strikes out.

And Keith Foulke does a tremendous job to keep this a one-run game.

Well, Red Sox were down, and the Yankees, uh, had Mariano Rivera.

So you didn't have a lot of confidence that you could beat Mariano,

the greatest closer of all time.

Mariano Rivera will work to the bottom of the order

here in the ninth, trying to finish off a sweep.

Rivera's pitching. This is it.

They got you. They got you right where they want you.

They have a lead, and they have Rivera, and you're going down.

And I went up to the L1, Larry Lucchino's box.

Werner was drinking Glenlivet scotch, like, the only time all season.

I'm sitting in this... in this, uh, suite,

writing down a concession speech.

Once again, we've come close,

but we are not going to get to the promised land.

Just turned midnight here at Fenway Park.

The Red Sox are three outs away from being swept.

What are you thinking when Mariano comes in and it's 4-3?

So I'm down underneath, and Millar's there,

Billy Mueller,

and Dave Roberts.

And I said, "When... When he gets on..." And I said, "You're gonna get on."

I said "Dave, you're pinch running."

And I said, "You got the green light right from the get-go."

My heartbeat's a million.

This is the moment, but you're down 0-3.

Okay?

You're down in the ninth inning in Game 4.

Like, all the odds are against you, bro. What...?

I'm a gangster.

Rivera looking for his 33rd postseason save.

Here we go.

Millar, ball one.

People ask me, "What were you thinking in that moment?"

And I tell you this honestly, I was trying to hit a homer.

There was nothing else in my head.

Millar rips it foul.

There's no other thing. There's no other, like, "Work a walk."

He doesn't walk people.

It's three and one.

Up until that moment, Mariano hadn't walked a batter

in the postseason in three years.

Three years?

Three years.

Holy smoking lizards.

Mariano Rivera in the postseason, six-for-six in save chances...

against Boston.

A leadoff walk. And there's life for the Red Sox.

Somebody says, "Hey, you know, you should watch what's going on here,

because Kevin Millar just walked."

So I put the speech down and watched the rest of the inning.

A pinch runner, Dave Roberts, is gonna come in for Boston.

He can run.

Bill Mueller is at the plate.

At that point in time, Tito looks at me, and he gave me a wink.

Davey looked at me, and I just winked at him.

And that's like, "Go ahead, big boy."

As I'm jaunting out to, uh, first base,

I'm telling you, it is... Maury Wills is on one shoulder.

Maury Wills, uh, God rest his soul,

he was my baserunning coach with the Dodgers.

But his project, essentially, was me.

We're on a back field in Vero Beach one year,

and he was like, "One of these days you're gonna be on first base."

"Everyone in the ballpark knows you're gonna steal."

"And you can't be afraid to steal that base."

Will the Red Sox try and steal a base?

I'm locked in. There's only one pitcher to target.

It's Mariano Rivera.

Roberts with a huge lead, draws a throw.

There was one throw over, then he throws over again.

That was close.

He's going.

He's certainly got a lead big enough to go.

The third throw over, he almost got me.

And I give, like, a little exhale. I'm like, "Oh my God."

But my emotions, my focus...

My nerves dissipated.

After that third throw over, I knew I had him.

Roberts is going.

When he ran, it was like it was in slow motion.

- Safe! Safe! - Safe!

Roberts had a great jump.

It was a good ball for Posada to throw on.

The Sabermetrics would say you never steal.

Yeah.

Well, I would say in that instance

they could probably shove that up their ass.

Now, Mueller will try to get him at least over to third base.

I was just gonna wait until he went. You know, however long that was gonna be.

You know, it was just a matter of me transitioning to,

"All right, now I gotta get him over."

Up the middle. Roberts will come to the plate.

The throw by Williams. Bill Mueller has tied it.

Those were long games.

That was the "I'll sleep when I'm dead" series,

and that's what everybody was acting on.

On the inside corner, and the tenth inning is over.

Leskanic with an inning and a third scoreless relief.

Going through the Yankees was just like going through this one monster

that is blocking the door

and there's no other way out than knocking him out.

The temperature continues to fall here in Boston

as we move to the bottom of the 12th.

A 4-4 game,

and Paul Quantrill is the fifth pitcher of the night for New York.

I wasn't listening to no noise.

I was just in my own bubble.

I didn't let nobody get into it, you know? I was... I was just locked in.

Quantrill was the type of pitcher

that he wanna throw me the front door fastball.

Which, it was nasty because it come right at you.

That ball used to... come back to the plate.

On the inside corner, a ball and a strike.

At some point I was like,

"Next time I face him, I'm gonna look for it."

Ortiz into deep right field,

back is Sheffield!

We'll see you later tonight!

The swing of where we were,

like, embarrassed, kind of hopeless,

and about to be swept by the Yankees,

to the exhilaration of Papi walking them off

and realizing, like, "Not only are we still alive

but we actually have momentum and some hope, and we're back."

The Red Sox won in dramatic fashion last night.

Earlier this morning, I guess we should say.

Yeah, this is... this is really, uh, a great performance by the fans,

let alone our players.

I've been sitting here since 2:30, and I ain't about to give up.

I'm... I'm like the Red Sox, I don't give up.

The only day that's worth living for right now

is the Red Sox winning.

It was an early wake-up call.

And a late good night. Um, which is okay.

I don't think anybody's gonna be complaining today about lack of sleep.

We'll be all right.

Hey. Hey, I'm gonna tell you some shit.

When I wake up this morning,

I thought my shoulder was on the other side of the bed.

Hey, seriously, my shoulder hurt so bad this morning, bro.

Against all odds, here we are.

Still going. Now Game 5.

And the Red Sox will stake their hopes on the strong right arm of Pedro Martínez.

I'm beat up, but there's... So is everybody.

But it's mental more than anything.

Swung on and missed, he struck him out!

Ortiz delivers again.

The fans rise to their feet.

Here it comes. Swing, and a line drive down the right field line, a base hit!

Here comes Cairo. Safe!

It felt like two heavyweights punching each other repeatedly

in the middle of the ring.

High fly ball, deep into the night, way, way back and gone!

I mean, our guys were on fumes.

In the air to center field.

That should tie it.

Roberts will tag and go.

And it's a 4-4 game.

It wasn't nine guys and three pitchers. It was all hands on deck.

Arroyo is available. Wakefield is available.

Embree. Even Foulke.

But none of them are rested.

You threw 72 pitches in a 16-hour period.

People in the stands are, like, standing up

and hollering and cheering, and like, "Foulkey, we need you, we need you."

That's one of those things that, you know, you train for your whole life.

We head to the ninth inning still tied.

You've got a pitcher who worked hard and very deep into the night last night.

Did Tito ever come to you and say, "You got one more, or...?"

No, I... I told him... I told him earlier in that series. It's like, "Don't ask."

I would've pitched all day if needed.

But, you know, I was supposed to have my knees fixed after the season,

and, uh, my needle was... was bouncing on E at that point.

Here we are in the ninth inning of a 4-4 game,

and Keith Foulke, how much more can this guy do?

I mean, yes, you're down to your last... your last inch, but don't panic.

His job now, to try and keep the Red Sox alive in this series.

We'll see what he's got left tonight.

Sierra the go-ahead run at first, two out.

And now Tony Clark steps to the plate.

You know, it was getting to where I couldn't get the fastball down.

Clark hits it into the right field corner.

So, it's like, "Man, you fucked up."

A drive down the right field line toward the foul pole.

That ball bounces up and over the wall!

Into the seats for a ground rule double,

and Ruben Sierra has to stop at third.

Talk about a fortuitous bounce for the Red Sox.

But somehow, the ball sorta climbed the wall on the bounce

and went into the stands.

If that ball stays in the ballpark,

Sierra scores rather easily.

I agree.

In Fenway Park, the fences are about this armchair right here.

Think about that.

If we're anywhere else, it hits the wall and they score.

And they go up.

So now it's second and third, two out.

And Miguel Cairo could be a hero for the Yankees.

Just give us one more chance.

One more chance.

The 1-0 pitch. Swing and a high popup.

First base side, into foul ground. Mientkiewicz has room. He's got it!

And we are going extra innings.

Again.

You tend to stay in the moments where you're just,

"How do we get out of this?"

There became a culture that, like, yeah, you've seen it, you've lived it.

You can come back from dire straits.

A battle of the bullpens,

and we move to the bottom of the 14th inning.

And now Ortiz will come up with a chance to be the hero

for the second time today.

David had that gene.

There was no moment that was too big for him.

This game, he homered to deep left center.

He is two-for-five, he's also had a walk.

Strike one. Good fastball from Loaiza.

I used to take it very personal.

"Okay, this whole team is counting on myself."

"And I gotta get things done, otherwise we go to shit."

That was the pressure that I used to put on myself.

I know he got that... that cutter

that he used to use, uh, in you or back door.

Here's the pitch. Way outside and high.

Ortiz had a rip.

Ortiz spoils it.

Swing and a shot deep down the right field line. Foul.

I know the stuff that he has, so I just battled through it.

Two and two.

Swing and a foul.

Another foul.

Here's the pitch.

Fouled off the left field line. Nine pitches have been thrown now.

Ortiz fights it off. Center field.

Damon running to the plate.

And he can keep on running to New York.

Game 6 tomorrow night.

The crowd is going bananas.

I've never seen players, Major League players,

so in awe of another player.

Like, he had become their superhero.

I'm a bad man! I'm a bad man!

So the Red Sox, who were down three games to none,

are now down three games to two, they're heading for New York...

We're all yippin' and yappin' and skittin' it away.

Bus ride, we're talking smack.

The odds are still stacked markedly against the Red Sox.

But, you know, again, they are so idiotic.

To me the Red Sox are playing with house money right now.

They're not supposed to be here.

Now the Sox are like, "That's the... Here we... This is us."

Tek in the house!

We go down to New York.

So we are getting set for a Game 6

of the American League Championship Series...

It was misty, kinda rainy.

Cold-y. October baseball-y.

I hope it snows tonight.

We come to hit and we got Yankeeography.

The history of the New York Yankees.

Yogi Berra.

Derek Jeter.

Bernie Williams.

A standard of success unmatched in all of sport.

Told Francona we're not hitting on the field.

"Wh... What?" Not hitting on the field. We're not falling for Yankeeography.

So, walk by Lou Cucuzza's office,

who's the visiting clubhouse manager for the Yankees.

Awesome dude.

Huge bottle of Jack Daniel's.

Yeah.

Kevin Millar, another one of his "amazing" ideas.

Sauce!

I mean, there's a lot of myths out there

about teams do this or teams do that,

but no, if you wanted to... fire one down before you went,

no one judged.

No, I remember doing one, not two. They hide it from me,

because if I would've found that second one, I would've hit it too.

Gatorade cups, we all did shots.

- Whoo! - Yeah!

Let's go.

And now they gotta face Schilling.

Curt Schilling is set to take the mound for the Red Sox.

How long he can go

or how well he can pitch remains to be seen.

I think everybody is anxious to see if he is back

to being himself, or as...

I think this is a lot more serious than they're letting on.

What can we possibly expect from Curt Schilling tonight?

Oh shit.

This is actually gonna happen now.

After Game 1, it was probably as low as I'd ever been.

Dr. Morgan took a closer look.

Like, it was clear that his tendon was just flopping back and forth

over the bone in his ankle.

We had tried shoes, tape. We tried everything.

None of it worked, and so I was probably done at that point.

And then after Game 4,

uh, I go to the clubhouse and Dr. Morgan comes in.

And he says, uh,

"I have an idea."

He goes, "I was working on a cadaver last night."

He said, "I think what I can do is I can suture the skin to the bone,

the tissue on top of the bone,

and create, uh, kind of like a... a wall that will keep the tendon in place."

He could literally just staple the tendon sheath

down to whatever tissue he could find.

It sounded, like, barbaric, um,

but under the circumstances,

it was sort of Schill's only chance to pitch.

I mean, as soon as he said that he had done the experimental surgery,

I'm, "Let's go."

Again, bone, tendon...

I remember him sitting on my couch in my office,

and he was explaining to me what they were gonna do.

I said, "Schill, you sure you wanna do this?"

Dr. Morgan did the procedure, um, before Game 5.

They disappeared in the back and came back,

and, you know, they were showing pictures of what Schill's ankle looked like,

and it was grotesque.

Dude. Oh, man. Like, just this cut.

Boom, stitches, stitches, stitches.

What the hell is that?

Like hamburger meat.

Crutches, sheets, sheaths, or "seeths," or I don't even know what the hell it was.

Dude, are you gonna pitch on this?

Like, what's going on here?

Charley Steiner, John Sterling from misty Yankee Stadium.

Game time temperature 49 degrees...

We had no idea if this guy was gonna throw two pitches and walk off the mound

or if he was gonna throw seven innings and give up one run.

Best case scenario, I think we were thinking, like,

just get us to the fourth or fifth inning, and we'll go to the bullpen again.

Effective will Schilling be?

Can he push off? Can he throw hard?

Can he locate? Can he follow through?

I remember coming out,

and I hit the top step of the dugout and everything felt fine.

And I knew things were right when I ran the ball up and in on A-Rod.

Off that back side.

That gets the attention of these fans and Alex Rod...

To just make sure he understood that I was out to play tonight.

Now, he's not holding back at all.

He's got a good tempo, and he's being aggressive.

Popped him up.

His velocity wasn't what it normally would be,

but his... his pitchability and his accuracy was extremely good.

Beautiful pitch by Schilling.

Schilling throwing a lot more off-speed stuff tonight, and it's working.

I was literally so calm.

Schilling is at 94 miles per hour on that fastball.

Cairo grounds to the left side.

Cabrera called into action,

and a perfect fifth inning for Curt Schilling.

And I was kind of smiling every now and then

about the fact that, like,

I'm... I'm making 55,000 people from New York shut up.

Well, Schilling has been outstanding tonight.

He had a bloody sock, and he was hurt.

Game 6, how did they not bunt off Schill?

Bunt on him, there's just no chance he can field the ball.

When you know a guy can't run and can't move

and he's got the bad ankle,

the thought on a wet night like this at all making him field his position,

dropping down bunts?

"Why didn't you tell your team to bunt?"

I just didn't want to pigeonhole them, "Let's do this,"

and take away from guys' normal at-bats.

To the right side. Schilling again has to at least go into the area.

I said, "You know, play your game."

Swing and a miss, struck him out on a splitter.

Schilling gets his fourth strikeout, the Yankees...

When he finally left the game I think all of us were kinda in shock.

Like, did this guy really just do that?

Schilling's performance tonight will long live

in New England baseball lore.

Yeah, that's one of the most remarkable things I've ever seen.

And... And knowing that I was probably gonna be a guy

who was gonna get in the game at some point,

you're just... you're just praying that you don't mess this up.

And it's 27-year-old Bronson Arroyo

in the middle of it all for the Boston Red Sox.

Swung on, lined, it is a base hit

down the right field line.

Rolling to the right field corner, extra bases. Kapler digs it out.

The pitch, swung on, lined, it's a base hit, left field.

Cairo rounds third, he'll score,

and the Yankees trail 4-2,

and they have the tying run at the plate.

So is it déjà vu all over again?

A-Rod the tying run, Jeter leads off first.

Off the end of the bat. Arroyo...

The ball gets loose.

It's down the right field line.

Jeter coming all the way around.

It's a one-run game.

The place was so loud.

Scoring is Jeter.

It's 4-3 Boston, with the tying run at second.

I just remember in that moment, having grown up in New England, yeah,

this is how '04 is gonna end, with this ridiculous play.

You know, the ghosts are gonna get us again.

Red Sox fans are thinking, "Here we go again."

It's over the wall! It's a home run for Bucky Dent!

Behind the bag! It gets through Buckner!

Boone hits it to the deep left!

That might send the Yankees to the World Series!

I'll never forget the feeling of thinking that's how it was gonna end.

And now we're gonna have an argument

as Francona comes out of the dugout.

He swatted the ball out of Arroyo's hand.

If it's in the process of running to first base,

that's one thing.

If he intentionally swatted it with one hand or one arm or the other,

I think he's out.

- Should be out. - Yeah.

I had a really good view of that.

But you gotta remember, this was before replay.

When I was going out...

I think Joe West was the home plate umpire.

And as I walked by him,

he said something, and I think he... Something like, "I got this" or something.

And I remember thinking, "Okay. They're gonna... They're gonna fix this."

- They're gonna call him out. - He's out.

They're gonna bring Jeter all the way back to first base.

And then when Joe West overturned it,

it was, like, this bizarre, like... "Oh my God."

Like, we fell through the trap door, and we... somehow we got saved.

The worst thing happened, and then got reversed.

And it felt like, at that point, it felt like things had kind of changed.

Sorts of stuff is being showered onto the diamond here at Yankee Stadium.

This place is dangerous now.

They're gonna have to call the players off the field.

It's been a bad night for the Yankees

and an embarrassing night for a lot of Yankee fans.

Those are tense moments.

And sure enough, we play the rest of the game

with, like, riot police lining the warning track.

It was surreal.

So we're gonna play baseball with these police officers on the field.

Runners go.

Red Sox force Game 7.

That was a great feeling.

It felt like, "God, we cannot wait to get here tomorrow."

Well, the Boston Red Sox become the first team in baseball history

to come from 3-0 down and force a seventh game.

What happens? We win.

What do you think is gonna happen in Game 7?

Do shots of Jack!

We get ready for Game 7 here tonight.

Winner goes to the World Series.

By that time, this is a locomotive going through.

You felt their tension in that dugout.

You felt things weren't going their way finally.

It'll be one-one to Millar, one out, no one on, top of the second.

Pitch is lined, there's a base hit, center field.

We felt like it was our year.

Nothing was going to stop us.

We're just in the top half of the second,

and Johnny Damon steps into the box with the bases loaded.

Game 7, I got... aggressive at the plate.

The right-hander Vazquez deals. Swung on, hit in the air to deep right.

That ball is high. It is far.

It is gone!

It's a grand slam!

I hit the grand slam. Was I smiling around the bases? No.

Because I know what happened the year before.

They came back and they kicked our ass.

Even after I hit the second home run.

There's a fly ball to right field,

and Johnny Damon has hit another one!

There was no smile on my face.

Now, the Yanks have come back plenty of times.

But I never had a feeling for a second

that there was gonna be a comeback that night.

And Joe Torre's Yankees are on the verge of a colossal collapse.

Not four straight. Not from three-nothing down.

That was too much to take. It really was.

It was horrifying. It was absolutely horrifying.

Red Sox can't wait to explode out of that dugout.

Hey, man, go, go, go. Don't... Just go down the line.

A ground ball to second base.

Pokey Reese throws to first...

The Red Sox have won the American League pennant!

The Boston Red Sox have pulled the greatest victory in team history.

In the 104 years of the Boston Red Sox,

this is the most important of them all,

as the Red Sox have won the pennant,

beating the New York Yankees, their archrivals.

Move over, Babe. The Red Sox are American League champions.

We're in Yankee Stadium, we're in the same clubhouse

where everyone had been crying the year before,

like, the lowest possible moment that we could have.

Hey, Theo, look at this!

American League champs. Oh my goodness, not bad!

Then to come back from three games to nothing,

do it the way we did, and finally overcame the Yankees,

it felt like that was the greatest, greatest possible catharsis

you could ever have.

Uh, I'm just thinking of, uh, you know, all those great Red Sox teams

that never quite could beat the Yankees.

The '49 team, Williams, Doerr, DiMaggio, Pesky.

The '78 team. Our team last year.

When we won in '03,

the one thing I noticed was Tim Wakefield walking off the field.

He was so good.

And he just, you know, threw a knuckleball

that didn't knuckle as much as the other ones,

and the game was over.

So in '04, when that game was over, I asked to talk to Tim,

and I told him, "Congratulations."

- I'm proud of you, man. I'm happy for you. - I'm so happy for you.

- Look around. I want you to look around. - I know.

If it's not too early to ask you about the World Series...

- It's too early. Way too early. - I'll ask anyway.

How will you keep from avoiding a letdown against either Houston or St. Louis?

There's never been a letdown. You know the biggest reason?

They like to play baseball. That's just... They just like to play baseball.

So we'll be fine.

Like, after we win that, we're so happy,

and then we're like, "Oh, son of a gun, we gotta face the Cardinals."

Like, The Curse is still there.

It's, uh... We... We need to win four more games.

The feeling here is that, because of this unprecedented comeback,

maybe, just maybe,

The Curse of 1918 has finally been broken.

There was a World Series party at Fenway

before the series started,

and I ran into Theo that night.

I remember saying at one point,

"Don't worry, we are going to crush these guys."

Hi, everybody, and welcome to the 100th World Series.

Baseball's showcase.

The Red Sox in it for the first time since 1986...

We just felt like we were a team of... of destiny at that point.

The pitch.

Swing, and a line drive deep to right if it's fair.

It's gone down the line. It is a three-run homer!

Big Papi does it again in the first inning of the World Series!

Here's the one-two pitch. Swing and a miss!

He got him on a sweeping pitch away.

Wakefield with a good knuckleball...

Wakey was a big part of... of winning that first World Series.

A guy who was signed as a minor league free agent.

Tim Wakefield has been willing to do any and everything for the Red Sox

in his ten years with the organization.

But last year, Timmy passed.

When you have teammates that are as close as we all have been,

it's... it's tough.

Wake, for me, was my first Major League start.

Played in the big leagues and I caught Wake.

He just typifies what it meant to wear this uniform.

What was he to you?

He was my friend.

You can't put together those guys that loved each other the way we did

with salary.

Those are guys you've been with the whole year,

through a lot of ups and downs,

and you believe in 'em.

Manny!

Let's get a big lead so we can take Francona out of this game, please!

The Red Sox, one win away from being World Champions.

Will the impossible dream come true?

- I want Alex. - We want Alex.

It doesn't happen overnight, or it wouldn't mean anything,

but when it happens, it's... it's fucking unbelievable.

When you're a kid and you're playing Little League...

it's the most important thing in the world to you.

The process of growing up, being an adult,

all of a sudden, you know, you get married, you have kids,

you have to provide a paycheck.

There's responsibility.

You gotta be there for people, pick people up.

And you get more focused on what's going on in your own life.

Sometimes in baseball,

when you have a team that's that connected...

'Cause you're an idiot, dude!

You're a frickin' idiot, man. Cowboy down.

The organization goes along for the ride.

Yeah! Yeah!

There's Cochran right there. He's doing work right now.

Look at that son of a bitch right there.

The lines between fans and players blurs a little bit.

Everyone's in it together.

One more game. One more. Tomorrow night. That's it. No más.

- One more, baby! One more, baby! - One more W, baby!

- One more for the promised land. - Big Josh in the house.

There it is.

You get that... that feeling of being 12 years old again.

A feeling like you're on this huge mission,

and you're part of something bigger than yourself.

Swing, and a ground ball, stabbed by Foulke. He has it.

He underhands to first,

and the Boston Red Sox are the World Champions!

For the first time in 86 years,

the Red Sox have won baseball's world championship.

Can you believe it?

♪ I retired from my fight ♪

♪ I retired from my war ♪

♪ Uh-huh... ♪

Yeah! Yeah, D. Lowe!

Ooh, yeah!

Fall asleep, you know what I'mma do to you.

I'm gonna pee on your head if I fall asleep.

Pedro is a free agent next year.

In case everybody didn't know!

Yes, as of now, I'm a free agent.

By the time we landed in Logan, the sun was starting to come up.

And we'd all made that bus ride from Logan to Fenway Park

hundreds of times.

We got out of the airport, we started driving down the freeway,

and through the streets, and people recognized the bus.

And cars are stopping, getting out,

and just, like, applauding, people hugging each other.

And you'd pass, uh, a cemetery

and there's already Red Sox hats and Red Sox pennants,

like, draped over the... the gravestones.

All I gotta say is my grandfather who passed away, God bless him, last year,

this is for him.

All I could say was, "Mission accomplished, Boston."

Mission accomplished to The Curse.

All the players are...

There's a duck tour here, we're gonna get on one of these little boats right there.

We were just a bunch of guys, our team.

Just ballplayers.

Let's go Red Sox!

But we were like brothers. And that's hard to do.

Good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to Fenway Park.

The 2004 Red Sox world championship team that reversed The Curse will be honored.

None of this happens without you guys.

Thanks for everything. Here's to the fucking '04 Sox.

- Here's to you! - Whoo!

- Nothing's changed, baby! Let's do a shot. - Nope. Thank you so much, Theo.

- Is everybody in? - Yeah!

One, two, three!

- Manny's not in it. - Oh, Manny!