We’ll see what happens in the World Series, but another opportunity for a historic comeback has come and gone. The 2004 Boston Red Sox remain the only team ever to overcome an 0-3 series deficit in a best-of-seven series in the history of baseball.
That’s hopefully a trend that goes on forever, leaving the legendary 2004 team on a pedestal of its own. Now with that said, it’s starting to get really annoying to see the media attempt to connect a modern-day team to the ‘04 Sox every single time a club goes down three games to none in a series. Sure, it’s a nice 2004 PR bump – not that the team needs it – but doing the “but dude, remember ‘04?’ for all of these teams is getting ridiculous.
While many of these occurrences have sparked a quick chuckle and move on, the bit really gets old fast.
David Ortiz’s razzing (one of many) of Derek Jeter during the 2023 ALCS. Aaron Boone showing the 2022 Yankees highlights of ESPN’s Four Days in October to fire up his squad (because showing an all-time low point of franchise history should do the trick!). The list goes on and on.
So honestly, credit to Dave Roberts – the man who ignited that magical October to begin with – for not inserting Red Sox propaganda into the 2026 NLCS, where it had no business being. Los Angeles got swept by the Milwaukee Brewers to end their bid for a three-peat and keep Boston’s long-standing legacy alive.
The funny thing with so many of these examples is that whenever the teams or media point to 2004 to draw up a narrative, the incoming sweep (or gentleman’s sweep) feels inevitable and often plays out that way. That’s all the more reason to let the 2004 team live on their own and stop forcing the Sox into headlines where they don’t belong.
Only one other team has even forced a Game 7 after falling down 0-3. That would be the 2020 Houston Astros in the COVID season, who won three in a row before the Tampa Bay Rays finally woke up to win Game 7 and keep the Red Sox exclusive in their club. THAT was a fine time to make 2004 connections given how close Houston actually came to joining the party.
Until a team is on the doorstep for real, please stop injecting 2004 talk into every single October. What the 2004 Red Sox did was amazing. Hardly any other team has even come close. It’s more than enough.
