Do not adjust your television set-you did just see that. Do not refresh the ESPN.com homepage-you are reading that right. And do not reach for your glasses-our headline says what you think it does.
The Red Sox did indeed successfully surmount the greatest comeback in more than 100 years of baseball history by defeating the Yankees 10-3 Wednesday night. In what baseball guru and respected columnist Peter Gammons called the most anticipated baseball game of all time, the Red Sox-the eternally forsaken franchise destined to fall at the hands of their arch nemesis, the New York Yankees-turned the world order on its head.
It seemed hell would sooner freeze than the Red Sox would win in the face of 86 years of history and that the Yankees would bear the burdensome label of a team on the losing end of a monumental collapse to its one true adversary, Boston. This year's Yankee collapse marked the most devastating loss in their storied history, and ranks among the top single-series meltdowns that the sports world has ever seen. The Red Sox beat the Yankees in the playoffs for the first time ever and captured their first American League pennant since 1986.
Last night, the Red Sox capped off the most improbable rally in perhaps the history of sports. Boston fell behind in the series 3-0, joining 25 other teams in baseball history to dig themselves such a hole. Of those 25 teams that came before the 2004 Red Sox, none won the series or even forced a game seven and only two forced a game six. In the three major sports leagues with playoff formats that feature seven-game formats-the NBA, NHL, and MLB-only two out of 239 teams that faced a 3-0 deficit came back to win the series, and they were both hockey teams.
The game was over before it started. Center fielder Johnny Damon went three-for-six with two home runs and six runs batteed in. Derek Lowe stepped up with a quality start and the bullpen staved off the Yankees' attempt to chip away at the lead, in spite of a questionable move by Red Sox Manager Terry Francona to bring in pitcher Pedro Martinez for relief in the seventh inning. But Game 7 was never the story. The Red Sox comebacks in games four, five and six were the reason for Boston's ticket to the Fall Classic.
David Ortiz's bat, Curt Schillings' sutured ankle and the tireless arms of the Boston bullpen carried the weight of the Red Sox' deficit, delivering Red Sox Nation from damnation to delirium. Ortiz finished the series with three home runs and 11 RBI to garner ALCS MVP honors.
This year was different. The air was let out of Yankee Stadium as the Red Sox breathed new life into their quest to reverse the proverbial curse. The comeback will take on-for Red Sox fans at least-\Do you believe in miracles?"" proportions, and if a World Series Championship follows there will be bedlam in Boston and proof in the existence of God.
After watching Rivera become hittable and Matsui become human in the final four games of the series, the Red Sox must now face the best the National League has to offer. The Houston Astros were in the process of staging a historic comeback of their own before Jim Edmonds hit a walk-off homer to extend the series to seven games. The winner of tonight's game will play in Boston Saturday in Game one of the World Series.
