If These Walls Could Talk

by Jerry Remy

  Even before that, the game showed that baseball is truly a game of inches. Hideki Matsui was up with the bases loaded in the sixth inning of Game 5 and he hit a vicious line drive to right field against Pedro. Nixon caught it, but that could have been three runs for the Yankees if he didn’t.

  These were absolute nail-biters. It was like sudden death all the time and the Red Sox kept surviving. It was the most suspenseful time I can ever remember in my lifetime. The Sox were down 3–2 and the same sudden-death scenario took hold for Game 6 back at Yankee Stadium.

  This was the “Bloody Sock” game. Schilling had a torn tendon sheath in his right ankle. Normally there’s no way he could have pitched. But Dr. Bill Morgan and his staff got together and tried to figure out a way they could keep things in place enough for Schilling to pitch. They decided to suture the sheath in place.

  Schilling managed to pitch pretty well. You could see the blood through his right sock. But the Sox gave him a boost when they took a 4–0 lead in the fourth on Bellhorn’s three-run homer. Schilling pitched seven innings and the Red Sox won 4–2.

  The series was tied at 3–3. The New York newspapers were starting to write about the Yankees choking. The Red Sox had come so far, but was it too far to complete the journey? The Yankees had to win sometime, didn’t they?

  Well, the Red Sox soon got their answer. Ortiz blasted a two-run homer in the top of the first off Yankees starter Kevin Brown, and Damon blasted a grand slam in the second inning for a 6–0 lead. This was no contest. The Red Sox had overturned a 3–0 Yankees lead in the series with an easy 10–3 win.

  Looking back, the Yankees scored 32 runs in winning the first three games against the Red Sox. They scored 19 runs in the third game. How could the Red Sox have been any deader and then how could they have been more alive?

  The Red Sox had gotten off to a 15–6 start to start the season. They actually lost their opener with Pedro pitching and Nomar Garciaparra and Trot Nixon injured. But Schilling, who wound up 21–6 (10–3 after Red Sox losses), picked the Sox up in the second half and Keith Foulke started a fine season of 32 saves even after a lousy spring training which was making Red Sox fans nervous.

  It wasn’t all smooth. They dropped their first five games in May. Mueller made a couple of key throwing errors in a May 4 game in which they allowed five unearned runs. Mueller was playing with a bum knee and he’d have to have surgery and miss part of the season. Despite some concerns about the team defense, Francona called a team meeting and said that he wanted the players to relax and play their game and not worry about errors. Mueller, who had won the batting title, actually responded with a three-run homer in a 9–5 win over the Indians that led to a four-game winning streak.

  Nomar had missed the first 57 games with right Achilles tendinitis but he returned on June 9 in an 8–1 loss to the Padres. In that game, more defensive problems reared their ugly head: Bellhorn made two errors and Andy Dominique made one at first base which accounted for five unearned runs. Slick-fielding Pokey Reese was on the bench and the fans were calling for him to come out and save the day.

  And it just got worse in the field. They had another bad game against the Phillies. By mid-June they had 54 errors, the most in the majors, and they were only playing .500 ball (26–26) since May 1. While Reese was a big upgrade at shortstop, he hurt his thumb and was very limited. And Mueller had missed about a month with his knee surgery. Theo Epstein started talking about having to do something to help the defense.

  One game that really stuck out for me was July 24 against the Yankees, which the Red Sox ended up winning 11–10. The Red Sox had fallen 9.5 games behind the Yankees after losing the night before. The field was really wet, and management wanted to postpone the game, but the players insisted on playing and convinced management to start the game.

  It was a big day because there was a lot of emotion from the players. It was the game where Alex Rodriguez got mad after Bronson Arroyo hit him with a pitch and he wanted to fight. Varitek whacked him in the face and it started a bench-clearing brawl. The Sox were losing 10–9 with one out in the ninth when Mueller hit a walkoff two-run homer off Rivera. This really had to be the turning point of the season.

  After that, Theo shocked the world. We were in Minnesota at the trade deadline when Theo traded Garciaparra, a two-time batting champion, to the Cubs in a four-team deal that involved eight players. The whole point of the deal was to improve the defense. So, the Red Sox acquired Orlando Cabrera from Montreal. They got Twins first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz, another Gold Glove winner. In a separate deal, they obtained Roberts from the Dodgers, and we know what that led to.

  I must admit, it was gutsy to deal Garciaparra. But he wasn’t the same player by that point in his career. Injuries had taken their toll. The team’s defense was now much improved, because Mientkiewicz could replace Millar defensively late in games and Cabrera was a Gold Glover at shortstop. Roberts improved their team speed and proved to be a guy who could steal a run.

  I remember Nomar being sad and somewhat relieved at the same time. He pretty much went up to everyone who covered him in the media and shook their hands and said good-bye. It was a graceful exit. But Nomar’s time had come. I think he probably looked back on it and wished he had been part of that championship team at the end. But he was at least there for just over half of the season and had something to do with the World Series win.

  It wasn’t until August 16 that the Red Sox really took off. They won 20 of their next 22 games and took control of the wild card race and were two games off the division lead behind the Yankees by September 8. But the Sox just didn’t have enough to catch them: New York blasted the Red Sox 14–4 and 11–1 in one September series. Francona said afterward, “They put us in the rearview mirror a little bit.”

  As far as that team goes, Millar was a little bit of a leader because he was so crazy and he’s one of those guys where nothing bothered him. He was very outspoken, talking all the time. He and Damon really took the heat off their teammates by always being available to the media. Some thought it was Johnny’s team. And he had a very good year. He was a tough guy who played hurt and was the igniter of that offense. He played hard.

  Manny was really quiet, but his hitting was devastating. He was just so much fun to watch hit. Every time up, you just wanted to watch how he took apart the pitcher. You knew something good was going to happen when he stepped up to the plate. And David was David. He hit two walkoff homers and a walkoff single in the playoffs. Think about that. Think how clutch, how dramatic one has to be to do something like that. Maybe he wasn’t as impactful in the clubhouse as he was later on in his career, but his actions, his dramatics, his feel for the moment was second to none.

  We all know what Schilling is like. He’s become very political after his playing career. But he’s the guy who brought a lot of confidence to every outing he had. When the Red Sox signed him as a free agent that off-season, you could sense that he was going to be a big part of this team after the success he had winning a World Series in Arizona teaming with Randy Johnson. Theo Epstein and his staff did such a great job convincing Schilling to come to Boston on Thanksgiving of that year when they went to his house and convinced him he needed to sign with the Red Sox.

  Pedro, of course, was great. He was always great. He kept the media on its toes with some of the great quotes he would give after a game. Things like “I’m gonna hit the Bambino on the ass.” He was just fun for all of us and he backed it up with the fabulous pitching that he provided.

  They were just a group that didn’t care about anything that went on outside those walls. They just believed that they’d go out and win it, even when they were down 0–3 to the Yankees. They didn’t think they were going to lose and they turned it into the greatest moment in Red Sox history.

  Francona, as I pointed out, was a guy who did everything right. I questioned the hire at the time because he came from a losing organizat
ion in Philadelphia. He wasn’t successful there and I was kind of surprised that he got the job. But then as you got to know him a little bit you could see why he got the job.

  He was a player’s manager. He’d be playing cribbage with different players every day. He was a Nervous Nellie. He’d pull players into the office to play cards even when they didn’t want to. I always said the shelf life of a manager in Boston is four or five years and then they just get beaten down, and I think it beat him down at the end because of his relationship with the front office. I felt bad for him because he was not a healthy guy and toward the end he was a mess. I think it was kind of a blessing for him that they decided to make a move and go in a different direction. When he got to Cleveland to manage the Indians, he was so much more relaxed and continued to prove what a great manager he is.

  Like I said, even though the Cardinals had a great team under Tony La Russa, I just didn’t think they had a chance against the Red Sox in the World Series because the momentum was so much in Boston’s favor. They were sky-high as a team. So confident. The Cardinals had Albert Pujols in his prime and he had hit 46 home runs and knocked in 123 runs that year. They had a great player in center fielder Jim Edmonds, who hit 42 homers and knocked in 111 runs. They had All-Stars up and down their lineup and their pitching staff had allowed the fewest runs in the league.

  We were really sloppy in Game 1 at Fenway, committing four errors, but we got off to a great start when Ortiz hit a three-run homer in the four-run first inning. We were ahead 7–2 after three innings, but that lead shrunk to 9–7 heading into the eighth inning. But that was short-lived as Manny’s defense reared its ugly head when he made consecutive errors allowing the Cards to tie it 9–9.

  But the Cards made a key error of their own in the eighth and Mark Bellhorn, a real unsung hero for the Red Sox that year, homered off the Pesky Pole to make it 11–9. Bellhorn had led the AL in strikeouts with 177 that season. Nowadays that’s almost routine for hitters. But he had no trouble connecting. He was also a very good second baseman and one of those quiet guys amid the loud ones.

  Schilling took the mound in Game 2 and this was after they had stitched his tendon to his leg in the infamous “Bloody Sock” game of Game 6 in the ALCS. This is where I gained so much respect for him. There was no way Schilling should have been able to last 94 pitches given his condition. But he lasted six innings, struck out four, and held them to four hits and one run. The odd part again is the defense committed four errors, three by the usually sure-handed Bill Mueller. But once again, the Red Sox put aside their defensive problems and got some timely hits with two RBIs from Bellhorn, Orlando Cabrera, and Jason Varitek as the Sox held on for a 6–2 win.

  We had won two games at home and now it was on to Busch Stadium where things would get tougher. Except, not really.

  Pedro just lit it up with seven scoreless, three-hit innings and the Sox won it 4–1. Jeff Suppan, who had spent some time with the Red Sox, made a base running blunder. He was at third and Edgar Renteria was at second with no outs in the third when Larry Walker hit a grounder toward second base. For some reason Suppan stopped on his way to the plate and returned to third, which forced Renteria to return to second. Bellhorn threw to first to get Walker and Ortiz threw to Mueller at third to retire Suppan! Walker homered off Keith Foulke in the ninth, but it didn’t matter, the Series was 3–0, much to the shock of the stunned St. Louis crowd.

  Pedro Martinez, Curt Schilling, and David Ortiz after sweeping the Cardinals in the 2004 World Series. (Getty Images)

  The Sox went with Derek Lowe in Game 4. He’s a guy who always reminded me of Bob Stanley. He could do anything and did do everything as a Red Sox pitcher, whether it was out of the bullpen or as a starter. He had that heavy sinker and when he was on, he was pretty nasty.

  He followed up Pedro’s great game with one of his own against that tough lineup. He held them to three hits, striking out four in seven scoreless innings. Bronson Arroyo, Alan Embree, and Foulke finished up the 3–0 win and secured a World Series championship. Damon’s first-inning leadoff homer was really all the Red Sox needed. After 86 years, the Curse had been lifted. Manny was named the MVP with a .412 average.

  The players and their families congregated on the field at Busch while the Cardinals fans watched. Cardinals players were on the bench stunned at what had just happened. The Cardinals had won 105 regular season games that year. La Russa, now a Red Sox executive, often commented that he would walk by the walls in the press box at Fenway and look at a photo of the Cardinals lined up being introduced before Game 1 and wonder, “How did we ever get swept?”

  It all worked out well for the Red Sox and their long-suffering fans. It was a tough season, but a beautiful one. One that Red Sox Nation will never forget.

  7. 2007

  The incredible thing about this championship team was that the Red Sox led almost from wire to wire. We went up by a half game on April 18 after a 4–1 win over Toronto and we never relinquished the lead. We were in first place for 166 days. We won the division by only two games and there were topsy-turvy times there during the second half of the season, but we never gave it up.

  You had to figure this was going to be a special season based on an April 22 game against the Yankees when the Sox hit four consecutive homers—Manny Ramirez, J.D. Drew, Mike Lowell, and Jason Varitek—for the first time in franchise history. The homers came off Yankees starter Chase Wright. The amazing thing is that it was the second time Drew had been part of a four-consecutive-homer situation, the first one coming when he was with the Dodgers on September 18, 2006.

  The closest thing to real adversity was going down 3–1 to Cleveland in the ALCS. And then this team pulled off another one of those 2004-type miracles and came back to win the ALCS and got into the World Series against the Rockies and swept them.

  A big reason for this success was the December 2005 trade with the Florida Marlins that brought Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell to Boston. It didn’t pay off in ’06, but a year later when both Beckett and Lowell had a chance to be there for the whole season, they were the pillars of the starting rotation and everyday lineup, respectively.

  Beckett was always a terrific talent, but it came shining through in ’07. He went 20–7 with a 3.27 ERA with 30 starts and 200⅔ innings. He had 194 strikeouts and only 40 walks. He finished second to CC Sabathia in the Cy Young voting. Lowell hit .324 with 21 homers and 120 RBIs. He also played a terrific third base. He was the “throw-in” in the deal as the Marlins insisted the Red Sox absorb the remainder of the contract, which had two years at $9 million a year. The Red Sox needed a third baseman anyway. They didn’t regret paying the money as Lowell also became the World Series MVP against the Rockies.

  The Red Sox received some criticism when the trade was made because they gave up highly touted shortstop prospect Hanley Ramirez in the deal. Hanley was a stud, no doubt about it. He was close to a five-tool player who could run, steal bases, hit for power and average. He wasn’t a great defensive player. When he got to the Marlins he won the National Rookie of the Year and eventually won a batting title there.

  But the deal was worth it. When you give up a young prospect, even if that guy turns out great, if you win a championship with the ones you got back, it’s worth it. You have prospects for two reasons—to build with them or to use them for more established talent. That’s what the Red Sox did.

  Anyway, the weird thing is the deal wasn’t even made by Theo Epstein, who had left the team in a dispute with Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino. Technically it was Lucchino who made the deal with the help of his senior advisers. Ben Cherington and Jed Hoyer were acting GMs at the time, but they hated giving up Hanley.

  Theo once said, “You wear rings in October, not in April.” And that’s how that team approached the entire season.

  The 96 wins tied Cleveland for most in the majors. By July 5, the lead was 11.5 games. But the Red Sox just couldn’t keep those
damn Yankees off their tail. On May 29, they were eight games under .500 and 14½ games behind the Sox. By the last week of the season they were as close as 1½ games, so it got close. But that’s about it.

  The Angels proved no match for the Red Sox in the ALDS and we swept them in three games.

  Beckett was really on his game the whole year. He got us off to a great start when he shut out the Angels 4–0. It got the whole postseason started on the right foot and that’s so important in the playoffs, because it just reinforced that great feeling you had in the regular season where you accomplished your first goal in winning the division.

  Beckett didn’t need much in the way of run support, but Kevin Youkilis got this going with a solo home run in the first inning and then Papi blasted a two-run homer in the third inning. Given Beckett’s performance, this one was pretty easy.

  In Game 2, both offenses came to life. Through five innings it was 3–3 with Daisuke Matsuzaka and Kelvim Escobar of the Angels matching up. It stayed that way until the ninth when the Red Sox put together the winning rally. Julio Lugo singled and Ortiz walked, setting the stage for Manny Ramirez’s walkoff three-run bomb over the Green Monster.

  They were up 2–0 and now heading to what at the time was called Angel Stadium of Anaheim. I enjoyed playing there when I played for the Angels. The weather was great all of the time. It was the best baseball weather you could ask for.

  The Red Sox loved it. They took the series with a 9–1 win behind Curt Schilling’s seven shutout innings. He allowed six hits and struck out four. He was dominating, very impressive with the way he kept the Angels off balance for the entire outing.