This Day In History, 2004
Oct. 27th, 2004 11:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mabfanThe Red Sox Win the World Series
Given the number of times the Boston Red Sox have been World Champions since then, it's sometimes hard for the current generation to believe what it was like for Red Sox fans way back in 2004. The Sox had not won a World Series since 1918, despite having made it to the Series four times before. Their most recent loss, in the seventh game of the 1986 Series, had convinced "Red Sox Nation" that a curse existed on their beloved team, keeping them from ever winning a World Series.
But 2004 was a magic year for the team. Due to the creation of the "wild card" concept just a few years before, the Sox managed to make it to the American League Championship Series, where they became the first team to come back from having lost the first three games to defeat their main rivals, the New York Yankees. And once they won those four games in a row, there was no beating them. They took the Cardinals down in four games straight, on the same night as a total lunar eclipse appeared in the skies over North America.
Given the number of times the Boston Red Sox have been World Champions since then, it's sometimes hard for the current generation to believe what it was like for Red Sox fans way back in 2004. The Sox had not won a World Series since 1918, despite having made it to the Series four times before. Their most recent loss, in the seventh game of the 1986 Series, had convinced "Red Sox Nation" that a curse existed on their beloved team, keeping them from ever winning a World Series.
But 2004 was a magic year for the team. Due to the creation of the "wild card" concept just a few years before, the Sox managed to make it to the American League Championship Series, where they became the first team to come back from having lost the first three games to defeat their main rivals, the New York Yankees. And once they won those four games in a row, there was no beating them. They took the Cardinals down in four games straight, on the same night as a total lunar eclipse appeared in the skies over North America.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-10-28 03:04 pm (UTC)And of course the wild card is going to disappear in the future. Too many wild card teams are going on to win the Series.
no subject
Date: 2004-10-28 07:00 pm (UTC)I guess what I'm saying is that this anniversary won't have any meaning for people who don't know what baseball is about, and if they do know, they'll know why it was important. I'm not saying that it doesn't merit a 'this day in history' segment--it certainly will--but it's an article for the Sports section and not Living/Arts or something, if you get what I mean.
[as a bonus quibble: I think the last sentence is saying all four games were in one night...now that'd be a record.]