Red Sox History: The 10 best moments from Boston’s 2002 season

The ten greatest moments from the 2002 Red Sox season

Though they fell short of making the postseason, the 2002 Red Sox represented a turning point in the franchise’s history. It marked the first season of the historic John Henry-led ownership group, and by year’s end, Theo Epstein would take over the general manager’s role.

Many of the key pieces from the 2004 World Series championship team were already in place, including left fielder Manny Ramirez, catcher Jason Varitek, starting pitchers Tim Wakefield, Pedro Martinez, and Derek Lowe, and center fielder Johnny Damon who had come over from the Athletics the previous offseason.

The 2002 season also marked a considerable improvement after two extremely underwhelming seasons. The Red Sox went from 82 wins in 2001 to 93 wins in 2002, as they finished in the top 10 in the majors in both runs scored and ERA.

Unfortunately for the Red Sox, they had the misfortune of sharing a division with the 103-win Yankees, and with the Angels grabbing the wild card with 99 wins, they missed the playoffs for the third straight year.

Still, 2002 marked a huge step forward for the franchise. Twenty years later, let’s look back at the ten most memorable moments of the 2002 Red Sox season.

April 21st: A Royal Sweep

Red Sox 12 – Royals 2

Red Sox 8 – Royals 7

The 2002 Red Sox roared to a 40-17 start on the back of one of the league’s best offenses. Their best day may have been April 21, when they destroyed Royals pitching to the tune of 20 runs and 30 hits en route to a doubleheader sweep.

The story of the first game was the longball. The Red Sox belted five home runs: one each from Brian Daubach, Jose Offerman, and Johnny Damon and two from Manny Ramirez.

The Red Sox actually only held a 4-2 lead into the seventh inning before exploding for eight runs in the final three innings. Offerman’s three-run shot blew the game open in the seventh, and Ramirez’s and Damon’s homers put the game even more out of reach in the ninth.

The Red Sox’s hit just one home run in game two, but it was a big one. With the bases loaded in the third, Damon launched his second homer of the day to give the Red Sox a 4-2 lead. Two innings later, the Red Sox again came through with the bases juiced.

This time it was Jason Varitek, smacking a three-run double that broke the game open. The Royals would score five unanswered runs to make it an 8-7 game, but Urbina shut the door in the ninth to complete the doubleheader sweep.

The sweep moved the Red Sox to 12-4, a full two games ahead of the Yankees. The Red Sox were just getting started, however, and the next memorable moment would come less than a week later.

April 27th: Derek’s No-No

Red Sox 10 – Devil Rays 0

The biggest surprise of the 2002 season was the emergence of Derek Lowe. After arriving from the Mariners with Jason Varitek in one of the most lopsided seasons in franchise history, Lowe spent his first two and a half years in Boston as an improving if unspectacular reliever.

He won the closer’s role in the 2000 season and excelled, making the All-Star team and leading the league with 42 saves. His success was short-lived, however, as he lost his job after blowing six of his 30 save opportunities the following season.

Continuing his rollercoaster career, Lowe was moved to the starting rotation for the 2002 season. He got off to a hot start in April, winning three of his four starts with a 2.73 ERA. Yet even with his early success, nobody could have predicted what would happen on April 27, when Lowe allowed just one baserunner en route to no-hitting the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Lowe retired the side in order in just nine pitches in the first inning before Ricky Henderson gave him all the support he would need with a leadoff homer. Lowe got three straight-grounders in the second inning before Brett Abernathy led off the third with a walk. Lowe, an elite sinkerballer, got three more grounders to erase Abernathy, and the Red Sox broke the game wide open with six runs in the bottom half.

With the game now out of reach, Lowe was now free to focus on his pursuit of history. He threw a combined 22 pitches over the next two innings before striking out the side in the sixth inning. Lowe didn’t truly face any resistance until the ninth when the Devil Rays came awfully close to ending the no-hit bid.

With one out in the inning, Felix Esoclona made one of the best swings by a Rays batter all day, driving a ball into the left-center gap. Centerfielder Ricky Henderson, then 43 years old and in the last year of his career, still had enough speed to run down the ball and catch it in full stride. The final out was not nearly as stressful, as Jason Tyner hit a routine ground ball to second baseman Rey Sanchez to complete the no-hitter.

Lowe’s no-no was just the start of an incredible season. He would go on to win 21 games, post a career-low 2.58 ERA, start the All-Star Game, and finish third in the AL Cy Young voting. The Devil Rays, meanwhile, were not done being tormented by the Red Sox.

May 3rd-4th: Stunning the Rays

May 3rd: Red Sox 3 – Rays 2
May 4th: Red Sox 7 – Rays 5

In just their fourth year of existence, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays were a complete laughingstock in the 2002 season. They would finish with a 55-106 record, 25th in the league in runs scored and 30th in ERA. Though they piled up the losses, there were few more painful than the ones they endured in an early May series against the Rays.

The Devil Rays actually were well in position to win the first game. A Steve Cox two-run shot in the bottom of the first inning gave the Devil Rays a quick 2-0 lead, and starter Delvin James allowed just one run over seven innings. That lead held into the top of the ninth, where closer Jesus Colome came in to shut the door.

Colome retired Nomar Garciaparra on a fly ball to center for the first out but walked Manny Ramirez and allowed a single to Daubach to put the tying runs aboard. A lineout by Shea Hillenbrand put the Rays one out away from victory, and Jason Varitek stepped to the plate representing the Red Sox’s last hope.

He ripped a single into left to score pinch-runner Lou Merloni and tie the game at 2. Carlos Baerga was the next man up, but his at-bat would be moot, as catcher Toby Hall’s wild pickoff throw allowed Daubach to score and put the Red Sox ahead for good, 3-2.

The next game was possibly even more heartbreaking. This time, the Rays held a 5-2 lead headed into the ninth inning, and it was Victor Zambrano in to try to close it out. The Rays were again just one out away from victory after a Damon fly out. That’s when it all fell apart for Tampa Bay.

A double by Garciaparra brought the Red Sox within two, and, after a Ramirez intentional walk, Hillenbrand stepped to the plate with the bases juiced and two outs.

For the second time in less than a month, Hillenbrand came through in the clutch. He smacked a grand slam over the left-field wall to give the Red Sox a 7-5 lead. Urbina worked a 1-2-3 ninth, and for the second time in two days, the Red Sox had snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.

May 18th: Pedro’s Immaculate Inning

Red Sox 4 – Mariners 1

There were many questions surrounding Pedro Martinez entering the 2002 season. After back-to-back Cy Young seasons in 1999 and 2000, Martinez was off to an equally great start in 2001 before tearing his rotator cuff in June.

He returned in late August but was shut down for the remainder of the season after three very un-Pedro-like starts (13 IP, 3.46 ERA). As he entered his age 30 season, there was doubt over whether Martinez would ever be the same dominant pitcher again.

2002 put all those questions to bed. Martinez again led the league in both ERA (2.26) and strikeouts (239), all while making his most starts since 1998. He was rewarded with his sixth All-Star appearance and finished runner-up in the AL Cy Young voting.

He had many memorable performances during this campaign, one of which being his May 18 outing against the Mariners, when he threw the first immaculate inning in Red Sox history.

An immaculate inning is when a pitcher strikes out the side on the minimum nine pitches. It is one of the most challenging tasks a pitcher can accomplish, as he needs both the control to throw nine straight strikes and the power not to allow any of them to be put in play.

There have been 105 immaculate innings in baseball history, less than one per season. On this day, Martinez would be the first to do so in a Red Sox uniform. While we’ve seen more from Boston’s arms since then, nothing beats that first time.

Martinez’s perfect inning came in the first when he struck out Ichiro Suzuki, Mark Macklemore, and Ruben Sierra. The fact that Ichiro, one of the best contact hitters of his generation, was one of the victims only makes the feat more impressive. Martinez would go on to strike out nine batters in eight innings of one-run ball, and the Red Sox cruised to a 4-1 win.

May 24th: Walking off the Yankees

Red Sox 9 – Yankees 8

Before the Cleveland Indians went on their late 90’s run as one of the greatest offenses of all time, they spent the early part of their decade as one of the laughingstocks of baseballs.

The one exception was Carlos Baerga, their undersized but scrappy second baseman. From 1992 to 1995, Baerga never batted below .312 and made the All-Star team three times.

His tenure with the Red Sox was much less impressive. In his lone season in Boston, he hit only two home runs and drove in just 19 runs. None of that mattered in a May 24 matchup with the Yankees, as his 11th inning sacrifice fly drove in Ricky Henderson with the winning run and gave the Red Sox a two and a half games game lead in the division.

It appeared the Red Sox would cruise to victory when they lit up Yankees starter Roger Clemens. The Red Sox jumped him for three runs in the first, two in the second, and singular runs in the third and the fourth.

An RBI single by Garciaparra and a ground-rule double by Daubach knocked out Clemens after just 3.2 innings. In all, Clemens was battered for seven runs, nine hits, and two walks and left with the Yankees down 7-1.

Meanwhile, Red Sox starting pitcher John Burkett was cruising. Though Jason Giambi got him for a solo shot in the 4th, Burkett entered the seventh with an 8-2 lead. That’s when the Yankees mounted their comeback. Alfonso Soriano led off the seventh with a solo home run and a Derek Jeter single forced manager Grady Little to bring in Casey Fossum.

Fossum did get the first two outs of the inning but was pulled after a walk to Robin Ventura loaded the bases. Rich Garces entered and promptly walked Shane Spencer and allowed singles to Rondell White and Nick Johnson. The Yankees had pulled within one, and they would tie the game the following inning on a sacrifice fly by Jorge Posada.

After 16 combined runs through the first seven and a half innings, both offenses finally began to slow down. The Yankees went down in order in the top half of the ninth, tenth and eleventh, while the Red Sox failed to score from the seventh to the tenth. It took until the eleventh for the Red Sox to finally get a rally going.

Henderson led off the bottom of the eleventh with a single, and Shea Hillenbrand followed with a single of his own. Both runners advanced on a bunt by Trot Nixon, and Baerga assumed the role of hero with his game-winning sacrifice fly.

July 5th: Honoring the Splendid Splinter

Tigers 9 – Red Sox 5

Ted Williams was unquestionably the greatest player in Red Sox history. He spent 19 years in Boston, racking up over 2600 hits and 521 home runs and setting an all-time record with a .482 on-base percentage. He won six batting titles, four home run titles, and ten times led the league in OPS. Williams always said he wanted to be known as the greatest hitter who ever lived, and it’s hard to argue that he wasn’t.

A beloved figure in Boston even after his retirement, Williams died on July 5, 2002, at the age of 83. Red Sox fans, players, and management mourned the loss of their franchise icon. ” I know that everyone who is a Red Sox fan today is in mourning,” said Red Sox owner Henry said. “He accomplished the one thing he set out to do, and that was to become the greatest hitter of all time.”

William’s former teammate and fellow Red Sox legend Johnny Pesky also paid tribute. ” He was like my big brother,” he said. “I can’t believe he’s gone.”

The Red Sox would honor Williams before their July 5 game against the Tigers. The Red Sox wore black armbands on their right sleeve and patches with the number nine. A trumpeter played “Taps” while a video of Williams appeared on the scoreboard, and a moment of silence was held at the conclusion of the song.

The end result of the game, a 9-5 loss to the Detroit Tigers, had little significance to the over 33,000 in attendance. This day was all about honoring the memory of their fallen hero, and in that sense, it was a massive success.

July 23rd: Nomar Stings the Rays

Red Sox 22 – Rays 4

Before Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz were launching balls all over Fenway Park, it was Nomar Garciaparra who was the face of the Red Sox offense. From 1997 to 2003, Garciaparra hit an outstanding .325, won two batting titles, and made five All-Star teams. With his quirky pre-at-bat routines and awesome hitting ability, Nomar was beloved among Red Sox fans.

Like Pedro Martinez, Garciaparra was coming off a lost 2001 season. A broken wrist in spring training limited him to just 21 games all year. He returned with a vengeance in 2002, batting .310 with 24 home runs, 120 RBIs, and a league-leading 56 doubles. His best day was undoubtedly July 23, when he smacked three home runs and drove in eight runs as part of a 22-4 Red Sox over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

The Red Sox actually got off to a rocky start in this affair, and the Rays jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead-off knuckleballer Tim Wakefield. That’s where the score stood in the bottom of the third, where the Red Sox offense exploded. Johnny Damon led off the inning with a solo shot, and, after a Trot Nixon single, Manny Ramirez and Garciaparra followed with home runs of their own to tie the score at four.

The Red Sox were not nearly done annihilating Rays starting pitcher Tanyon Sturze. Back-to-back doubles by Trot Nixon and backup catcher Doug Mirabelli made the score 7-4, and an RBI single by Damon chased Sturze from the game.

Brandon Backe gave in to put out the fire, but the result was more of the same. Garciaparra’s second home run of the inning over the Green Monster made it an even ten runs for the home team in the bottom of the fourth.

Garciaparra would not have to wait long for his next opportunity. With two more runs in and the bases juiced, Garciaparra stepped to the plate in the fifth looking for his third home run in two innings. He deposited the 2-2 pitch over the Monster again, giving him eight RBIs on the day and extending the Red Sox lead to the eight.

The Red Sox offense kept rolling until the very last out, as Ramirez’s second home run of the game, a three-run shot in the eighth inning, sealed the 22-4 victory. In unquestionably the best offensive output of the year, the Red Sox set season highs in runs (22), hits (19), and home runs (7). For a team that had gone a mediocre 17-22 since June 6, this performance was a welcome breath of fresh air.

August 11th: Wakefield’s Milestone Win

Red Sox 3 – Twins 1

After co-aces Derek Lowe and Pedro Martinez, Tim Wakefield was the most valuable pitcher on the 2002 Red Sox. Whatever the Red Sox needed to do, he did: After spending most of the first half in the season as a versatile reliever, Wakefield moved back to the rotation full-time in late July and had a 2.01 ERA over his last 11 starts. The result was a career-high 2.63 K/BB ratio and a career-low 2.81 ERA.

Wakefield’s finest moment of the season came on August 11, when he outdueled the up-and-coming Johan Santana for the 100th win of his career. For a former first baseman who didn’t pitch his first full season until age 28, winning 100 games was a monumental achievement for Wakefield.

Pitching had the upper hand early on in this affair, as Santana and Wakefield traded zeroes through five innings. The Red Sox finally broke through in the bottom of the sixth, as Jonny Damon’s RBI double finally put a run on the board. Shea Hillenbrand added a sacrifice fly, and the Red Sox took a 2-0 lead into the seventh.

The Twins finally got something going against Wakefield, as a double from Christian Guzman and a single from Torii Hunter brought the deficit to one. That was all they would get, however, as Wakefield retired the final six batters he faced and exited after eight fantastic innings. The Red Sox added an insurance run on a Nomar Garciaparra RBI double, and Ugueth Urbina sealed the win with a 1-2-3 ninth.

August 26th: Damon Delivers

Red Sox 10 – Angels 9

The Red Sox August 26 game against the Anaheim Angels was their biggest game of the season to that point. The division was pretty much out of reach, as the Yankees had built a seven-game lead in the AL East. The Red Sox’s only chance at the postseason was the wild card, and the Angels had entered the four-game set in Boston up two and a half games for the last wild card spot.

With Anaheim taking two of the first three contests. The Red Sox needed a win in the finale to keep pace in the race.

The game proved to be an instant classic. The Angels scored two early runs off Red Sox starter John Burkett, but two Manny Ramirez solo shots had the score tied at two through four innings. The Red Sox had a chance to break the game open in the fifth after three straight singles gave them a 3-2 lead, but Johnny Damon was thrown out at home attempting to score on Ramirez’s base hit to left, and the Red Sox would not score in the inning.

The Angels would make them pay the very next inning, as RBI singles from Adam Kennedy and Darin Erstad put Anaheim in front 4-3.

The Angels would tack on another run in the top of the seventh and entered the bottom half of that inning with a 5-3 lead. A Nomar Garciaparra double put two on with only one out and brought the scorching hot Ramirez to the plate. The Red Sox slugger came through again, lining a two-run single to right field to tie the score at 5.

With the game tied at five and the season on the line, manager Grady Little decided to bring in journeyman reliever Bob Howry for the eighth inning. Acquired from the White Sox at the trade deadline, Howry would post a 6.45 ERA in 22 innings over two seasons in Boston.

The Angels predictably lit him up, breaking the game open on back-to-back run-scoring doubles by Brad Fullmer and Troy Glaus and taking a 9-5 lead into the bottom of the ninth.
In a move they would regret later, the Angels chose not to bring in All-Star closer Troy Percival to start the ninth, as they instead turned to Al Levine, a 34-year old career middle reliever.

Levine would face just two batters in the inning, allowing singles to Ramirez and Cliff Floyd before Percival finally came in to clean up the mess.

Percival, however, wouldn’t fare much better. Shea Hillenbrand greeted him with a third straight single to load the bases, and veteran first baseman Tony Clark walked to force in a run. Percival retired the next two batters on a strikeout and a sacrifice fly, sending Rey Sanchez to the plate with two runners on and the Red Sox down to their final out.

Sanchez, who owned a career 69 OPS+, was not exactly the hitter Boston would want up with the game on the line, but he came through nonetheless. The second baseman lined a single to centerfield, scoring Hillenbrand and pinch-runner Ricky Henderson to tie the score at nine.

The momentum was squarely in Boston’s favor, and it stayed that way into the top of the tenth when closer Ugueth Urbina escaped a two-on, one-out jam. Leading off the bottom tenth was Jonny Damon, who was 2-5 on the day.

Damon was already well on his way to a solid first season in Boston, batting .286 with a .358 OBP, but he was about to provide his first signature moment in a Red Sox uniform. Damon ripped the 2-2 pitch from reliever Scot Shields into the right-field seats, sending Fenway into a frenzy and completing the most improbable comeback of the 2002 season.