It appears the New York Yankees’ historic collapse against the rival Boston Red Sox in the 2004 ALCS still haunts a few players who once wore pinstripes.
The Yankees infamously became the first and only team in MLB history to fumble a 3-0 series lead, losing the final four games en route to Boston’s curse-ending World Series title.
Gary Sheffield, who started all seven games of the 2004 ALCS in right field for the Yankees, offered an interesting take on the series.
“The bottom line is they got lucky,” Sheffield said Thursday on the Foul Territory show. “You took advantage of y’all had the stronger pitching. Y’all was deeper in the pitching [staff]. And [Yankees manager] Joe Torre made some moves that blew it.”
.@garysheffield says the 2004 Red Sox, who came back from down 3-0 to defeat the Yankees in the ALCS, "got lucky"
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) January 4, 2024
▶️ https://t.co/biZEGxe4jn pic.twitter.com/errUwyQSHL
Many stories from that series live in Red Sox lore these days, like when infielder Kevin Millar inspired his teammates by coining the phrase, “Don’t let us win one” after facing a 3–0 series deficit.
Sheffield, however, isn’t having it.
“That ain’t have nothing to do with it,” Sheffield said of the Millar’s speech. “Because we kicked [Pedro Martinez’s] behind two games in a row, and we kicked [Curt] Schilling’s behind.
“The bottom line is we lost the game because our relievers couldn’t close a game out. End of story.”
Sheffield went 9-for-13 with five RBIs in the first three games of the series but went 1-for-17 in the final four contests, getting abruptly ushered into the long offseason.
The Red Sox will celebrate the 20-year anniversary of that historic ALCS comeback and their first World Series title since 1918 later this fall.
