Just when you thought you were going to escape a New England winter unscathed, the temperature plummets and here we are in another frigid February. What better way to add some warmth to the day than to take a look back at one of the greatest games in Red Sox history: July 24th, 2004 against, who else, the Yankees. By strange coincidence, I was in New York City with the family for the weekend. We spent the day wandering around the city and ended up at TGIF in Times Square to grab dinner.
As luck (or skillful planning on my part) would have it, the game was on in the bar. Between bites of whatever below-average meal I was having, I would run out to check on the game. The Sox were down early, but battled back to take the lead. The next time I checked, the bad guys were in the process of putting up a 6-spot in the top of the 6th. I could delay no longer, and we left to wander the city some more, with me feeling like the game was lost.
The night ended up in Rockefeller Center, where I saw the final score flash across a sign: Red Sox 11, Yankees 10. What a game it must have been. I had no idea. When I got back to the hotel and put on ESPN, I could not believe what I had missed. A-Rod calling out Varitek? Big mistake, and the result is perhaps the turning point of a championship season. The glove sandwich, the ensuing brawl, and the eventual comeback. Great foreshadowing to the ALCS, although none of us knew it at the time. And the rest is history. Feel better?
