NESN to air Red Sox's 2013, '04 WS runs
BOSTON -- You are undoubtedly missing being able to watch the Red Sox.
NESN has a remedy in the form of a time warp into past Octobers.
Over the next month, you will be able to watch every winning Red Sox playoff game from two special seasons -- 2013 and ’04. The games will air each night (Monday through Saturday) at 6 p.m. ET, beginning next week.
Up first will be 2013, which is remembered as the year the “Boston Strong” Red Sox helped lift the city following the Boston Marathon bombings with one of the most unexpected championship seasons in team history.
The games will be broadcast in sequential order, so on Monday, the premiere episode will be Game 1 of the 2013 American League Division Series against the Rays. Game 2 will air on Tuesday, followed by series-clinching Game 4 on Wednesday.
Opening Day 2020 would have been on Thursday. In lieu of that, Red Sox fans will be able to watch one of the most memorable games in franchise history. That would be Game 2 of the ’13 AL Championship Series against the Tigers, when David Ortiz belted a game-tying grand slam against Joaquin Benoit, which created the iconic photo of the bullpen cop raising his arms in triumph as Torii Hunter tumbled into the bullpen.
On Friday, you can see the epic 1-0 duel in which John Lackey beat Justin Verlander on the strength of a homer by Mike Napoli. The week will cap off with a tense win by Jon Lester and the Sox in Game 5, where Napoli hit a mammoth homer.
Week 2 kicks off on March 30, with the Sox clinching the pennant on the strength of Shane Victorino’s grand slam in Game 6 at Fenway Park.
The week will conclude with the Red Sox's four World Series wins against the Cardinals from March 31-April 3, featuring Ortiz’s dominant series (.688 batting average) as Boston clinched the Fall Classic at home for the first time since 1918.
The weeks of April 6-11 and April 13-17 will be devoted entirely to that magical October 2004, when the Sox ended an 86-year championship drought.
You probably don’t remember the ALDS sweep of the talented Angels (April 6-8 airing) as vividly as the historic ALCS comeback against the Yankees (April 9-11, 13) or the World Series sweep of the Cardinals (April 14-17), but there are some compelling moments.
All was going well in Game 1 in sunny Anaheim with both Kevin Millar and Manny Ramirez going deep and Curt Schilling dominating for most of his start. But it ended with some angst, as Schilling tweaked his problematic right ankle, which would eventually lead to the bloody sock drama.
Pedro Martinez came through with a vintage performance in Game 2 to beat Bartolo Colon. And in a classic Friday afternoon game at Fenway, Big Papi walked the Sox off into the ALCS with a 10th-inning homer over the Green Monster.
Over the next three days, you’ll see Boston start to climb out of that 3-0 series hole in the ALCS to force Game 7. The historic comeback can be seen to its completion on April 13, with Johnny Damon going off (two homers, six RBIs) and Derek Lowe pitching a gem on just two days of rest at Yankee Stadium.
The next four days will be devoted to Boston’s utter domination of a 2004 Cardinals team that won 105 games during the regular season.