2004 ALCS Roundtable – Game 4
October 17, 2004
GROUP DISCUSSION

Michael Walls: Okay, I’ll fess up and tell you that I went to bed last night at 11:30pm, absolutely sure that the Yanks would end the game and the series with a 4-3 win over the Sox. I guess that makes me a bad fan, even a bad person. It certainly makes me a bad supporter of my team.

I even started writing my series wrap-up in the deep recesses of my mind while I slept. I started off with three words: “Burn Down Fenway.”

I really don’t believe in curses, but because most of Boston does, I was figuring that the best way to relieve this city and its fans would be to have a Fenway Park burning celebration. Call in some priests, have an exorcism, douse the Green Monster in Gasoline and light it up. After the smoke cleared, claim the land as sacred burial ground and put up a statue of Ted Williams and fence it off from trespassers. Later, build a domed, astro-turfed arena next to Foxboro Stadium, change the team’s name to the Foxboro Red Sox, change the logo design and adopt a well-groomed clubhouse rule.

Of course, now that I’ve written this, and the Sox go on to win the league championship, I’ll look like the worse flip-flopper this side of John Kerry.

Brendon McCullin: Well, I watched until the end – OK, my eyes were half closed when Ortiz hit the winning home run, and I had promised myself that I would go to sleep after that inning – and I'm still surprised that the Red Sox won in extra innings. As soon as they didn't win in the bottom of the 9th, I was sure they were doomed. Who exactly was going to pitch for them at that point? I think more surprising than the Red Sox coming back to tie it against Rivera was the fact that Boston got away with using Alan Embree, Mike Myers and Curtis Leskanic in extra innings without the Yankees scoring. Of course, give them credit for only allowing Myers to walk one batter.

They really should have won in the 9th, too. I hate it when teams strand a runner on third with less than two outs. Just make contact and you've got a good chance of the run coming home. I think Orlando Cabrera is still walking around swinging at pitches outside of the strike zone.

To be honest, I was rooting for the Red Sox to win. I don't like them any better or anything, I just thought that it would be nice to have another baseball game on a Monday evening. I'm sure I'll be rooting for them to win again, just because I wouldn't mind some Tuesday night baseball either.

However, unless Pedro is planning on pitching a complete game or the Red Sox are planning on putting up 19 runs themselves, I don't see how that's going to happen. Every reliever they have has got to be dead tired and dead armed by now. The entire Boston staff is throwing a ton of pitches. What was that statistic? The Yankees have had at least one base runner in all but four innings of the series? Eventually you're going to lose if the other team constantly has men on base.

Then again, I suppose Red Sox fans can at least take solace in the fact that they weren't swept. It's a small consolation but it's better than nothing.

Alexander Washburn: It wouldn't be like the Red Sox to get swept by the Yankees. There is no drama in being swept. There's no Bucky Dent, Aaron Boone moment when you're getting swept. Nobody cares which inning you take Pedro out of, when the broom is present. I never expected the Red Sox to lose yesterday, it wouldn't fit the script. As soon as the Yankees stranded a runner which would've given them a two-run lead, it was clear to me that the Sox were going to at least tie the game in the bottom of the ninth. Like I've said before, Mariano Rivera is not what he used to be. Rivera can hold a two-run lead with ease, the one-run leads, are becoming harder and harder for him to nail down.

Red Sox fans who stayed up well past 1:30 now have a jolt in the arm. Which follows the script to a tee. Don't be surprised to see Pedro pitch the game of his Red Sox life tonight. Wouldn't be surprised if the Sox win tonight. That way, all the “Schilling is back” talk will give Sox fans hope that they can win the series. The more the Sox win the closer to defeat they come.

Stephan Finch: Let me be the first to say it-that was a fun game to watch. At last, one of these games lived up to the billing this series got.

And if I can sneak a little commentary in here... It's not who the most loyal fan is. It's how good the baseball is. I've been a Red Sox fan, a Yankees fan, a Cubs fan, and I even went to see the Dodgers lose St. Louis last weekend and cheered for the Dodgers. I just like exciting baseball.