Boston Red Sox: Biggest heartbreaks in franchise history
By Drew Athans
Red Sox lose the 2003 ALCS
If losing the 1986 World Series was the most heartbreaking loss in Red Sox history, then the 2003 ALCS is a very close second. The mutual hatred fueling the Red Sox/Yankees rivalry was still burning red-hot in 2003 and it seemed like the Red Sox were finally ready to defeat their hated rivals.
While the Red Sox had made three postseason appearances since 1995 and failed to advance to the World Series, the Yankees had won five pennants and four World Series during that same time frame leading up to the 2003 postseason. The Red Sox had also never in their history beaten the Yankees in postseason play, but it looked like this would finally be the year.
The two teams split the first four games while showing that the rivalry was alive and well. In Game Three, a benches clearing brawl resulted in Pedro Martinez throwing Yankees coach (and former Red Sox manager) Don Zimmer to the ground. Later in the game, two Yankees, Karim Garcia and Jeff Nelson, beat up a groundskeeper in the bullpen in the middle of the ninth inning.
The teams split Games Five and Six which set the stage for an epic finish and it was epic, although not in the way Red Sox fans hoped. It looked good when the Red Sox put up three runs in the second inning and jumped out to a 4-0 lead after four. Even though their bats went quiet afterward, with only a David Ortiz solo home run in the eighth inning tacked on, they went into the bottom of the eighth with a 5-2 lead.
It looked like the Red Sox were finally going to beat the Yankees and in the Bronx, no less. Pedro went out to pitch the eighth inning, having thrown brilliantly to that point. Even though he was approaching the 100 pitch mark, manager Grady Little acquiesced to Pedro’s wishes to keep pitching. Unfortunately, disaster struck and the Yankees started hitting Pedro, eventually putting up three runs to tie the game.
We all know what happened next. The two teams were tied going into the bottom of the eleventh inning and Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield started his second inning of relief. On Wakefield’s first pitch of the eleventh, the light-hitting Aaron Boone (he’d hit six home runs all season) hit a solo home run over the left field wall to give the Yankees the pennant. Shades of Bucky Dent, indeed.
It was one of the most crushing losses in Red Sox history and now that I think of it, it’s probably worse than the 1986 World Series. In 1986, the Red Sox still had another game and another chance to win the World Series after blowing their Game Six lead; by contrast, the 2003 Red Sox saw their lead vanish and their pennant hopes go up in flames.
If the cathartic and redemptive comeback in the 2004 ALCS hadn’t happened, this one would hurt even more than it already does.