Gotta be quick because, well, this time of year--if you're not quick, you're dead. Here's the deal, if you're not familiar with the Mitchell Report, you obviously don't watch a lot of baseball. This is probably not for you, but please keep reading if you feel compelled.
In 2003, the Yankees and Sox met in the ALCS and, in the end, the Yanks won on a walk-off homerun by a lowly Aaron Boone off of vet knuckleballer Tim Wakefield on the first pitch in the bottom of the 11th. That moment would leave a painful and itchy scar on all Red Sox fans. We would avenge it next year when we would come back from an 0-3 deficit to beat the Yanks and begin our World Series winning streak (which now stands at eight games, National League fans).
The Mitchell Report, which to explicit detail, calls out hundreds of major leaguers alleging steroid use. It includes players (current and/or former) from all major league teams. On this list are four key names for this discussion--Roger Clemens, Jeff Nelson, Jason Giambi and, yes, Aaron Boone.
In Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS, Roger Clemens started against an embattl3d Pedro Martinez. Down but not out, the Sox fought hard into the evening. Clemens pitched three short innings surrendering four runs, three earned, six hits in 17 batters. Not a great performance, but a performance. Jeff Nelson, the lousy middle relief pitcher for the Yanks would come in and get a crucial strikeout against Nomar Garciaparra in the top of the 7th with the Sox leading 4-1. Giambi as usual, being the steroid-fueled hulk he is, cranked two solo homeruns in the game. One of which almost left Yankee Stadium altogether. Heroic performance--too bad those would've been groundballs otherwise.
Then, in the bottom of the 11th inning, Aaron Boone, on the first swing of the night, hits a Wakefield pitch deep to left field for the game-winning home run. If I can't get the two Giambi homeruns back (because they're offset by Trot Nixon's two-run blast early in the game--another play alleged in the report), I want that game-winning Aaron Boone homer back. Basically, I'm calling Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS a win for the Sox.
I tell you this, it makes watching the actual homerun much easier to tolerate. In fact, I kinda find it entertaining knowing that homie Boone was juicing like a muddah. Score one for the Sox.
1 comment:
Clearly, you have too much time on your hands. Why don't we just go back and start overturning games and come up with a hypothetical WS champion for the each of the past 15 years or so? Yeah...that's a great idea.
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