Original subtitles

Fenway Park is eerily silent.

The Yankees... are...

nine outs and one win away from another World Series appearance.

Just about everybody has left.

Too bad they didn't take the Yankee bats with them.

High drive to deep right center.

Back by the triangle.

It's gone.

And the Yankees lead it 19-8.

Stop the bleeding.

Stop the bleeding is right. Might need a tourniquet.

The Boston Red Sox are about to get their asses kicked one more time.

The Yankees have pounded their way

to a three-games-to-none lead in this ALCS.

You're about to get swept.

No team in baseball history has ever come

from a three-nothing deficit to win a series,

so the Red Sox'll have to beat history.

Really? We're just gonna be another in the long line of teams that fall short?

Eighty-six years since the Red Sox's last world championship.

All the odds are against you, bro.

But this team ain't scared.

We're coming back.

That one is back, and it may never come down!

This is 86 years of pain and heartache for Red Sox fans.

Could have some trouble here this afternoon.

Something that people call the fiercest rivalry in all of sports.

Wasn't just the fanbases hated each other. These teams really hated each other.

You can have Alex Rodriguez or you can have Manny and Nomar.

Am I pissed? Am I still mad?

We got a deal.

Those were the most intense games I've ever been a part of.

Play by Damon!

Schilling strikes him out.

Those two years, '03 and '04, nothing like it.

Just tip my hat and call the Yankees my daddy.

This is personal.

Big Papi! Big Papi!

We were like this one family.

Yeah!

I think this is a lot more serious.

- The ball gets loose. - Can you believe it?

Holy smokin' lizards.

I tip my hat to all the people in New England.

The greatest sports fans on Earth.

There it goes! A long drive, if it stays fair.

Home run!

For the Red Sox, it would be the fulfillment of a dream.

Boston is specifically and uniquely personal. You know?

Everything's personal.

Yankees suck! Yankees suck! Yankees suck!

What do you do if, uh, it's a Yankee ball that comes over?

Over the... Over the Green Monster here?

Oh, we're throwing it back if we can. We're gonna try.

How uncomfortable do you think it'll get in Fenway wearing that jersey?

Everybody's been really friendly. 'Cause I got the kid with me.

If it wasn't for the kid, I'd probably get my ♪♪♪ kicked.

The rivalry with Yankees, Red Sox,

the Yanks felt, "We're a big deal to you,

but you're not that big a deal to us. You haven't beat us."

It started with Ruth. The Curse of the Bambino.

The rookie named George Herman Ruth

is already Boston's leading pitcher and World Series whiz.

They were the dominant team, they win 5 of the first 15 World Series

ever played.

The New York team wins nothing.

And then in 1919,

the ownership sells him for cash to New York.

Since 1918, you see,

the beloved Red Sox have not won a World Series.

A curse, legend says, inflicted on the Sox

when they traded away Babe Ruth.

The Yankees win 26 World Series after Ruth is turned over there.

Yes, sir, the Bombers did it again.

Five World Series in a row.

They made baseball history.

What a team!

Showtime for Mr. October.

In full Reggie vision.

When you put the pinstripes on,

you're not just putting a baseball uniform on.

You're wearing tradition, and you're wearing pride.

Yankees-Red Sox has always been called the greatest rivalry in sports.

Okay, let's be honest.

It was as one-sided as any competition could ever be.

The Yankees are champions of baseball!

This was a beatdown.

World champions! Team of the decade!

Most successful franchise of the century.

The Red Sox, they lost the World Series seventh game

four times during this period.

I been a Red Sox fan my whole fucking life.

'46, we lost that in seven.

'67, absolutely terrible loss.

Scott strikes out. They're the new World Champions.

'75...

There it goes. A long drive, if it stays fair.

Home run!

And I kid you not...

Cincinnati has won...

we blow Game 7.

Beating the Boston Red Sox.

Two out, two on, two-nothing Boston, top of the seventh.

1978...

Red Sox-Yankees, one game playoff at Fenway.

Pinstriper Bucky Dent hits a three-run homer.

- It's gonna be out of here! - Bucky fucking Dent.

Yankees win the pennant and go on to win the World Series.

The Curse. It's fucking crazy.

It's terrible.

Welcome back to Shea Stadium in New York.

1986, don't piss me off. I don't want to get into this.

Both teams would be a deserving World Champion.

But for the Red Sox, if they should win tonight,

it would be the fulfillment of a dream.

Roger Clemens is attempting to clinch it for Boston tonight.

I started my career here in Boston.

Got him.

Got him.

Got him on the corner. Four strikeouts for Roger Clemens.

Game 6, I'm on fire.

Roger Clemens has not allowed a hit.

After I came out of the game, I was back in the locker room,

I've never seen a World Series trophy, and it was there.

The, uh, champagne was there uncorked.

The lockers had the plastic in front of 'em.

You know, you just figure it was gonna happen. I go, "We're winning."

They are ahead by two runs in the bottom of the tenth

with two outs and nobody on base in Game 6.

That thing's over.

Ninety-nine out of a hundred, 999 out of a thousand, that game's over.

Lined into left field.

Base hit for Carter, and the Mets are still alive.

Curveball, and that's gonna be hit to center.

And that's gonna be hit into center field, base hit.

Here comes Carter to score.

And the tying run is at third in Kevin Mitchell.

And it's gonna go to the backstop.

Here comes Mitchell to score the tying run.

And Ray Knight is at second base.

A little roller up along first.

Behind the bag! It gets through Buckner!

Here comes Knight, and the Mets win it!

To this moment, that game is still... It's Boston sports' Kennedy assassination.

Near misses. Take you to the edge. Boom.

Lucy pulls the football away.

Here we are, here, and we... we tolerate this,

and it's part of our passion.

We had the fans, we had the tradition, we had the stories, we had the ballpark.

Everything except the championships.

What has plagued the Red Sox is not the supernatural.

It's the super obvious.

The Red Sox were a country club. They weren't trying to win hard enough.

There was a feeling that the Red Sox lacked a killer instinct.

They didn't have the killer instinct to acquire players that they needed.

They didn't do the things that you have to do to be a champion.

So it's a big deal... in 2001 when they're up for sale.

Here they come. Here they come. Get on it.

It's a pleasure for me to welcome John Henry and Tom Werner

and their team to their soon-to-be home here at Fenway Park.

John Henry's group comes in,

and now it's like, "We're just trying to win."

"What we were, we will never be again."

That is the demarcating line.

This was going to have meaning for your life, your legacy.

This seemed like an epic quest, so to speak,

that the Red Sox had, for decades, been losing to the Yankees.

And I was determined to make changes.

The prior ownership just didn't really focus on what does it take to win.

You know, paying attention to what is, rather than hunches.

And paying attention to the data, analytics.

So we needed a general manager to run the team

in a way that addressed those issues.

Baseball players are a collection of traits.

They have foot speed, they have ability to throw and field.

They have ability to hit, hit with power.

What are these things worth?

Billy Beane looks at the market and says,

"Well, some of these traits are radically, radically overvalued."

"The market for just an ability to get on base,

like walking a lot, dramatically undervalued."

"Go buy that."

So it seems to me that he is far more valuable,

if I listen to you, than any player playing the game.

You put your finger on it. And you know who figured that out?

The man who just bought the Boston Red Sox, John Henry.

I thought Billy was far and away the best general manager in baseball.

He gets on base. He's got about a .380, .385 on base,

and, listen, that's all you're looking for.

2002, I was the general manager of the Oakland A's.

Then the next thing you know, the Red Sox are calling

for permission to speak to you.

It seemed like a great situation.

I knew John Henry.

And they had Theo as an assistant GM.

So I sort of had a... I had a built-in, you know, right-hand guy.

I was 28 years old,

and I'd only had one year as an assistant GM.

This was a pretty ancient organization, and it hadn't really been modernized.

We need to build this thing from the bottom up. You know?

This is a new era of the Red Sox. What better guy than... than Billy?

He was sort of the poster child

for this, like, next wave of baseball thinking.

Eventually, we made a deal. We opened champagne.

For 24 hours, me and Theo are just going to town.

I mean, we're... we're gonna reinvent the wheel.

I mean, we're going everything. 'Cause Theo's got this energy.

All of a sudden, it got into the night, I must've been working 72 hours, no sleep,

and then it just kinda dawned on me. The reality is, like, you know,

"Holy cow, I'm gonna be three time zones away from my daughter."

You know? She was 12.

And it was really gonna impact my personal life.

I called John Henry. I said, "Hey, listen, I... I can't take this job."

He kinda didn't say anything for a minute.

There's that little awkward silence on the other end of the phone.

I said, "Theo's the smartest guy in the room. You should hire Theo."

"He's got the edge, he's got the leadership quality."

"He's also got... He's from there."

I grew up about a mile from Fenway Park.

I got my picture taken with cardboard cutouts of Jim Rice

and Wade Boggs in the concourse.

Total dork move.

So I was Red Sox obsessed, huge baseball fan.

Behind the bag! It gets through Buckner!

And I'd spent my whole life being a Red Sox fan,

and I thought I understood some of the big factors at play

that kept the Sox from realizing their potential.

Every organization that I know has a general manager.

And this organization will... will have a general manager.

Larry Lucchino called me into the office

and the message was basically like,

"Yeah, we've talked, and we just want you to do it. We think you're ready."

I didn't feel mature enough or emotionally ready for the job.

But I'm not stupid. Like, "You're not turning this down."

We are here today to make a... a very happy announcement.

And that is that Theo Epstein has been named as the new, and youngest,

and number eleven general manager of the, uh... of the Boston Red Sox.

Without further ado, Theo Epstein.

- Good luck, man. - Thank you.

Relative youth and relative inexperience is only dangerous,

uh, when the person in question thinks that he has all the answers.

I'm not s-standing here today

thinking or saying that I have all the answers. I don't.

That said, I think our short-term goal, make no mistake,

is to win, and win a World Series.

Theo's like, you know, 12 years old.

I mean, 28, whatever he was, but this is nuts.

So you popped the champagne for Billy.

Did you pop the champagne for Theo?

No.

At 28, he's the youngest GM in baseball history.

The old owners would've never hired Theo Epstein.

Now he has the mother of all jobs.

As a matter of fact,

some may say he had to ask his mother if he could accept the job.

When it happened, it was, like, jaw on the floor. Like...

Theo Epstein went from being, you know, Theo Epstein, kid that I grew up with,

played high school baseball with, to like a one-word name. Like, "Theo."

- Whose autograph did you just get? - Um, she got Theo Epstein.

Oh, yeah? Let me see that.

You gotta remember, like, I hadn't led anything in my life.

I hadn't managed a lemonade stand. Like, nothing.

No business school, no... no nothing.

The public narrative's gonna be,

"Who the fuck is this kid to get this job?"

And I didn't want to fight that.

Like, "Whatever, let people say whatever they want."

"We have a shit ton of work to do."

And so our intense focus was on, "How do we turn this organization around?"

"How do we change who the Red Sox are?"

The Sox had a Hall of Fame nucleus.

You had Pedro Martínez on the mound,

one of the best pitchers in baseball history.

Swing and a miss! He struck him out!

Pedro Martínez with 17 strikeouts.

- Man. - You talk about domination.

I was the ace. I was the one that... that needed to take charge

and be that leader for the rest of the team.

But, uh, it... it bothered me to always finish second.

Good enough to be second.

And... And that... that... that... that wasn't playing well with me.

You had Jason.

Jason Varitek.

I wouldn't say I didn't believe in The Curse.

Ballgame over! The Yankees win!

We hadn't won. The only way to make it go away is to finally win.

You had Manny Ramirez.

And he drives one deep and far to center field.

Wells looking up. It is well gone!

A solo home run for Manny Ramirez!

You had Nomar Garciaparra.

When I see, like, kids wearing a number five jersey,

I get such a kick out of it.

I couldn't believe somebody's gonna buy a shirt with my name on it.

And in Boston he's so popular. He's got the name, Nomar.

- Nomar! - Nomar, he's one of my favorite players.

But baseball is not like basketball.

It's not one or two star players, and that's enough to win.

You need 25 guys.

Just using on-base percentage back then was like a huge competitive advantage.

"Does this guy get on base?" That's the stuff we were focused on.

We signed Bill Mueller to a two-year deal.

And we traded for Jeremy Giambi.

Todd Walker hit second that year.

And then Ortiz, obviously, was sort of the capstone of that.

Trailing 3-2, they've tied it at three.

Here it goes!

Way back! Number one for David Ortiz!

Everything began very well.

I was supposed to be the everyday first baseman over in Minnesota

until I broke my wrist.

I was out for a long time.

Then they don't play me.

I don't get it. It was terrible.

But I'm a warrior, man, and I... I know what I... what I can do.

I remember going into this one restaurant in the Dominican.

Pedro is sitting down with our agent, who was the agent for him and for me also.

Pedro asked me how things were doing.

And I told him, "Oh, the Twins just released me."

He went like, "What?"

"Are they crazy?"

I said, "I'm going to get you to Boston right now."

"You watch, I'm gonna make a phone call."

Yeah, the Boston Red Sox still owe me some money as a scout.

There are literally 12 people in the organization

who've taken credit for signing David.

But finally, we got it done

and signed him for one year for $1.25 million.

Give me some of the sticky-icky-icky-icky.

There was just available talent if you're willing to, you know,

overlook, um, aesthetics.

Hit on the ground sharply beyond third,

gonna roll down the left field line toward the corner.

Burrell picks it off the cutout, gonna have a play at second.

Millar is out at second base.

He slid short of the bag...

I didn't have a tool in the toolbox.

I couldn't run.

Couldn't throw.

Couldn't field. I didn't have power.

And I was just a dude that loved baseball.

Big smile...

I loved being at the field. I really did.

Tip of the cap to the fans.

I love the competition, I love the camaraderie,

and I love to rack.

Millar is one of those guys that they all love in the clubhouse.

In '02, the Marlins, they sell my contract to Japan,

the Chunichi Dragons.

I have no idea what's going on.

We sign this deal,

my wife and I go down to a local tattoo parlor

in Beaumont, Texas.

Why not go get a tattoo with my name in Japanese on her back?

So we did that.

Might have had a couple cocktails to celebrate.

We were stunned. Why are they releasing him?

Millar keeps on raking it.

He was a super popular teammate, an emerging leader.

Perfect fit for our clubhouse.

And a guy who could rake.

But there was this understanding

that if a team was selling a player to Japan,

you didn't get in the way of that.

My dad's advice to me when I got the job was, "Be bold."

And that... I know it sounds corny, but that was resonating in my head.

We're like, you know...

We haven't won the World Series in a long time.

We really need good hitters.

Um, especially guys with, you know, good personalities.

We just said, like, "Fuck it."

"We're gonna claim... We're gonna claim this guy."

It's hard to underscore just how against the establishment it was

for us to claim him back then.

That was unheard of.

And Theo got a lot of heat for that.

The Chunichi Dragons were pissed off.

The Florida Marlins were pissed off.

And Kevin Millar was kind of excited, but confused,

and didn't know what the hell was going on.

It got done,

and I agreed to a two-year, $5.6-million deal with the Red Sox.

And that night, after, I got in my truck

and drove straight from Beaumont, Texas, to Fort Myers, Florida.

It feels great.

When I got to the locker room this morning and put on the...

basically not jersey, put on a T-shirt, uh, it was wonderful.

You're doing the right thing. You're here early,

as are... seems like all the first basemen are here early.

Yeah, it's like a little tryout over here.

Lots to be said about who's gonna play first base.

But, I mean, um, you know, you got the DH, you got, uh...

We play outfield. So it's just gonna be a lot of fun.

You're bringing in five to six non-tendered players.

Theo's already getting heat. Like, "Who are these guys?"

Mueller, Millar, Ortiz, Giambi.

Who are these guys? Remember the movie?

"Who are those guys?"

I don't know who these guys are, Millar, Mueller.

This guy, Millar, they talked about for, like, two months. He...

"Please don't go to Japan."

I mean, who is this guy?

We ended up having like five guys for three spots,

depending how you look at it. That was part of our strategy.

It was hard on Grady.

I was familiar with Theo.

This guy was very impressive, but it was all a business.

It was all about dollars and cents.

I wasn't a... a lot into the analytics just yet.

It's like when my wife and I go to the beach...

and we see this lady walk in front of us with a bikini on.

She shows me a lot, but she don't show me everything.

And that's the way... about the way I felt about analytics.

I was always kind of operating from my gut and my own personal experiences,

and I don't think that's really what he wanted.

This was a really good team.

There was a game plan, paying attention to important data.

But could never understand much of Grady's managerial philosophy

when it came to strategy.

He was just like one of these characters

out of some sort of baseball movie.

My perception of Grady Little

was that, at some point, he was gonna make a huge mistake.

I guess I wasn't their cup of tea.

Opening day for Boston, albeit on the road.

Showtime, showtime.

We'll get it on.

Starting on opening day in Tampa Bay...

The Devil Rays carry this one into the bottom of the ninth inning,

trailing the Red Sox, 4-1.

We got smoked.

Grady Little heading to the mound.

Here's the pitch.

Swing and a fly ball to right field, deep.

Back goes Nixon, back to the warning track at the fence.

It's gone!

A three-run walk-off home run,

and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays have shocked the Red Sox

in the opening game of the season. The Devil Rays win it...

The Red Sox do not have it.

Do you honestly think the Red Sox can catch the Yankees?

It's two weeks into the season!

We lose, but... we understood what we needed to do.

Do you want to win a division? You want to get to the World Series?

You kinda put the Yankees on that pedestal,

'cause if you wanted to win, you're gonna have to go through New York.

Four games currently separate these two,

but could it be déjà vu all over again?

The Bo-Sox looking to avoid becoming the first Major League team in history

to finish second to the same opponent six straight years.

We came in to play the Yankees in Fenway.

And the Yankees win the game.

They crushed us.

So the next morning, I passed this gentleman on the street,

he says, "Hang in there, Grady. We'll get 'em next year."

And we got 145 games left in the season.

You like the way the lineup looks?

Sometimes I felt like they were a little bit too negative.

You don't exist in opposition to the Yankees.

It's like, you're trying to build a foundation,

and trying to build a relentless lineup to win a World Series.

We're live. Millar, you're live.

You're live!

That season, the Red Sox started with Jeremy Giambi as the DH.

They liked the fact that he walked a lot.

David Ortiz is the pinch hitter here for Giambi.

It was late April. We had a 14-inning game in Anaheim.

Drives one deep into left center.

Garret Anderson way back there. This ball is gone!

And Papi hit one to left center,

game-winning home run.

When you go oppo in Anaheim at night...

it's cool, thick air, and it's a long way to hit a baseball.

It's like, "That's not normal."

Like, that's... Not everybody can do that.

I'll never forget. On the plane, he wanted to be traded.

He wanted to be traded because he wasn't playing every day.

Definitely, I was focused on getting the opportunity to play.

'Cause I know what I was capable of doing.

I just don't want to go through the same thing

that I was going in Minnesota.

The power that this young man Ortiz had

was head and shoulders above Giambi.

Giambi had a great knowledge of the strike zone.

But there was a gap. David was looking different.

The one thing that I can tell you about my boy Theo

is that I called his ass out into his office

like a month and a half after the season began.

And I told him, "You either trade me,

release me, or play me."

Did he tell you about that?

Like, he didn't demand to be traded or anything like that.

But he just said, like, he needs to play.

We went to New York,

and they gave me the green light to play every day.

And I was feeling comfortable.

I was feeling good.

Ortiz, a big hulking lefty hitter.

More of a line drive hitter.

And the breaking ball is in for a strike.

He was still Ortiz in May, but I tell you what.

By July, mm, Papi was his name.

Here's the 1-2. There's a fly ball to right field.

Way back there! And there it goes, a home run.

Way back in the bleachers.

It was a fucking bomb, all right?

It was a fucking monster bomb.

Here comes the two-one. There's a high pop-up.

Into right field.

Back near the wall. That's more than a pop-up.

That's a home run for David Ortiz.

The ball just kept going and going and going.

I'm Papi, man. What... What is wrong with you?

Ortiz became a killer.

The Red Sox hit seven homers on the day,

the most ever surrendered by the Yankees in one game.

They beat up on us. Took no mercy, and, uh, the good part about it

is we start at zero-zero in the morning.

The Red Sox begin the day trailing the Yankees by three games

in the American League East.

Their hitting has been nothing short of impressive.

Roger Clemens now makes his way out to the hill.

The Red Sox didn't want to sign me back.

"Wished me well" in the twilight of my career.

It was a damn long twilight.

In New York,

it's get to the World Series and win the World Series,

or it's a failure.

The Red Sox, they had a great lineup, a powerful lineup.

Kevin Millar...

And these guys had a campfire going on the plate.

I mean, their arms were in the strike zone.

They... They weren't moving.

Regardless, yeah, I pitch inside.

And mentally, I'm gonna fucking crush you.

Millar, a very good hitter, playing first and DH and thriving.

The 0-1. Hit him!

He drills me, up and in.

I don't know where it hit him. I guess on the arm or the hand.

I get drilled by Clemens.

Pedro Martínez comes over to me and he's like, "Who do you want?"

I was like...

"Man, that's a weird question."

Who is Pedro Martínez gonna drill?

Jeter?

It was Soriano.

Great.

Retaliation.

Do not hit my players.

Let's go, Yankees!

And the pitch is...

I don't know if it hit him or hit his bat.

It popped in the air and fell behind the plate.

Soriano just leaned into a fastball.

The main object was Jeter.

It hit him.

So Pedro's gonna come inside today.

Pedro's gotten two Yankee hands at the beginning of this game.

Send them both in the same ambulance to the hospital.

I was pretty much the shield for, uh, every one of my players.

Unless you rein Pedro in,

we could have some trouble here this afternoon.

Remember.

Remember.

If you do one to me, remember it.

You know, he tried to intimidate.

And that was Pedro's way.

His one target, really, was Posada.

I think Pedro knew Jorge well enough to know that it can get under his skin.

Bases loaded, one out.

At third is the winning run.

Hit on the ground to second, fumbled, and the winning run is gonna score!

And the Yankees can claim the victory.

Ballgame over. Yankees win.

The Yankees win!

The Red Sox lost 2-1,

so the Yankee lead right now is four games.

The Curse of the Bambino since 1918.

Existing, uh, Boston fans, they don't know what it's like to be on a winning club.

We're different here. We know what it's like, you know what I'm saying?

Twenty-six world titles to prove it.

The Bo-Sox will either make up ground

or bury themselves even further.

That Curse was just lingering.

And every article, it had, "The Red Sox haven't won in 85 years."

They know that they finished in second place the last five years.

They're currently in second place again.

The Yankees know how to win. They expect to win.

Of course, the media, they frustrate you sometimes

with the silly questions and the same questions

and their beliefs about curses and stuff like that.

You still haven't accomplished what you want to?

Oh, you wanna pull that out, huh? Uh...

Somebody had to put a face on the quotes.

In Boston, you're constantly watching the star,

and the star in Boston, actually, in a lot of ways, was Nomar.

They could always find Nomar with a microphone.

But Nomar didn't really like it.

What was our record against the Yankees last year?

- Ten to nine. - Ten to nine?

So we were pretty much even, right?

We really don't have to worry about them.

We really gotta worry about the other, you know,

teams in the league, because we're pretty much even.

You think about it, we're pretty much even with the Yankees.

So why am I conc... You know what? I don't concern myself with them.

So... anything else?

When you have silence

or you have a bunch of introverted players,

inevitably what happens

is that vacuum gets filled with negative narratives,

and so thank God for Kevin Millar.

Whoa, yeah!

He never has an unspoken thought.

It's the Sox. We're going four in a row. Right off the bat.

They're getting ready to lose six, the Mariners.

Lost 2 out of 3 in Toronto, getting ready to lose 4 to the Sox.

I remember calling these media guys, I'm like, "Hey, bro."

"Y'all need to get over here. You guys are miserable in Boston."

"The media is miserable."

"We're not the team in 1918."

"We don't even know what's going on. We're ball players."

Like, "You guys need to cowboy up."

And I remember somebody coming over to me, and he goes, "What does 'cowboy up' mean?"

I'm like, "I don't know, man."

He borrowed it. You know, that's definitely a... a rodeo term.

If you get thrown to the dirt, you know, you... you... you get up.

You get up. You get back on the horse, and you go.

What does "cowboy up" mean? Do you know?

Uh, I don't have the foggiest, but it's catching on good,

so I think everybody's gonna use the term.

We embraced it.

Frigging cowboy up, son.

There's a method to Millar's madness.

After the "cowboy up" thing started,

the only thing that mattered was those 25 guys.

What didn't matter anymore was the Curse of the Bambino.

Like, we'd come into town, we'd hit like ten homers in a series.

be way out of here!

We'd hit 15 doubles. We'd score a... a shitload of runs.

We went on to set the all-time record for slugging percentage,

all-time record for total bases. Like, we fucking raked.

You combine that type of relentless lineup with a very shaky bullpen,

and it made for incredible drama.

We had a horrible bullpen in 2003.

We signed a... a bunch of guys,

thinking we could, like, mix and match them.

And, um, it went off the rails immediately.

We had some pieces in that bullpen,

but none of them were, like, the closer.

That's not a good thing.

Our bullpen would, like, blow saves.

Into center field, and it's a base hit.

He will score the go-ahead run.

We'd come back and win the game.

Deep to left, way back!

Meanwhile, we'd make three errors the first night, four errors the second.

We couldn't throw the ball around the infield some nights.

Like, we were very defensively challenged at times.

There were all these comebacks, all these late inning swings.

And meanwhile, you've got this group of guys

that, like, love each other, having a ton of fun,

going out all the time together.

That's what you call Johnny Nitro right there.

- Is the "Nitro" back? - You should have seen those cards.

Nitro has been my nickname for a long time now.

Help me out here.

We're going to Baltimore,

and we show up to this... bar.

Uh, and they're checking IDs and the guy's like,

"What team do you play for now?" And I was like, "Boston."

He goes, "We never see Boston guys out, ever."

I was like, "Well, times are changing."

Come on, man!

Back in the older days, you'd get maybe ten guys to go.

Then all of a sudden, we started averaging 17 to dinner, then 19.

Then by the end of it, we were getting everybody to go.

And so, I mean, those are the times that you bond.

It's the airplane rides, it's the dinners.

Waiting for your bluffs to come through. You got one, you got two.

You've got... You've gotta use them sometime, huh?

Instead of, like, defining ourselves vis-à-vis the Yankees artificially

and, like, trying to copy them and trying to compete with them,

it started to happen organically

that we regained our identity in opposition to them.

They threw it back.

They were so buttoned up.

Boom!

We were not buttoned up at all.

Kentucky Fried Chicken, how can I help you?

Papi and I, still to this day, we see each other,

it's "Boom, boom, boom-boom, boom-boom, boom, boom, hey!"

I mean, the Manny was, "Hey!"

I mean, there was all these massive personalities.

Man, we gonna get the edge...

We used to hug and laugh and... and act like we didn't give a shit.

But we really did

because we were serious about the business.

Yankees win!

The Yankees win!

The Yankees have all their ducks in a row.

They're getting healthy, they're hitting better,

the starting pitching has been terrific.

So right now, everything is pointing in the Yankees' direction.

The Yankees won the division that year.

But we were the competition.

We had to show them that we got thunder too.

Yet another chapter in the story of the 2003 Red Sox

as they clinch the American League wild card.

To all these fans, it is time to cowboy up.

It just shows the true character of this team.

We've... We've fought the whole year to get to this point.

This is the whole team effort, all 25 of us.

Our doggone team,

when it turned the month of September, we started playing... we started...

- You're getting drunk! - Live TV, ladies and gentlemen.

You can't be dry!

You have to check this. I didn't witness this in person.

After they were qualified for the playoffs,

some of the craziness started to come out.

The legend of... of guys going down to the baseball tavern

and standing on the bar, and partying with the fans.

I don't recall.

I don't remember right offhand.

Yeah, I don't even remember that.

Coolest thing I think that's ever been done, to this day.

I don't think there's a team that's done anything cooler than we did.

We clinched,

and we went full spikes, full uni.

Click, click, click, click, click, click.

Running down the street with about 16, 17 of us,

across the street,

and jump into a bar that they had to close the doors

because all of the fans were coming in.

Went behind the bar,

started passing out free beers to everybody.

We are just literally just firing beers everywhere.

And then somebody had a phone,

and they're like, "Dude, the bus is leaving in like 35 minutes."

"You derelicts gotta get back."

And that's us. I mean, just the... just a bunch of goofballs.

Don't know if that's what... how the Yankees celebrate,

but that's how we did.

Bases loaded, one-two pitch. Strike three called!

And I gotta believe they're celebrating in New York.

This is a series Yankee fans want, the series Boston fans want.

What's up, man? Kevin. Good to meet you.

Have to tell you, to be honest,

anything with Boston, I can't deal with, man.

Hey, honestly, is it Sox Nation this year?

- I hope not. - Between us, though? A little bit?

I was hoping it would never happen in my lifetime.

When you're at the top of the mountain, people are looking to knock you off.

Anytime a team comes in to play us,

they're always gonna put on their Sunday best.

In Oakland, I grabbed the clippers.

Shaved everybody's head.

Let's go, Nixon!

And now we're rolling into Yankee Stadium

looking like a bunch of sperms at that time, I'll be honest with you.

A bunch... About 25 sperms just bobbing our heads.

Now, Grady, goddamn!

He said it, and we all did it.

But you're a rock star, bro.

Man, I remember when I had hair like that.

You gotta have guys out there that loosen you up

and, uh, make you laugh, you know, even when you don't wanna laugh.

Show you the fat guy stretch right here.

Mirabelli, Trot Nixon.

I was the loud, funny guy.

Oh, my God!

Salad! Mix in a salad, please!

You kinda gotta get dudes to buy into your bullshit.

And it starts with trust.

We're a... Hey! We're a close-knit team now, guys.

Come on over here, Sox!

I remember Torre looking over, and we're stretching right by the cages.

We have cut-off shirts, heads are shaved, no hats are on.

We're spitting tobacco.

We got handlebars.

And the Yankees are clean-shaven, good-looking, rich,

with a lot of rings.

Cowboy up!

Sox!

This is the Sox! This is the Sox!

The house that Ruth built, Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.

Tim Wakefield will be floating that knuckleball here tonight

in the Bronx.

Now with his catcher, Mirabelli, behind the plate.

His knuckleball is nasty all game.

Every time I caught a ball, it was a small victory.

I would imagine, guys, it's a surprise somewhat for Wakefield

where the ball ends up after he lets it go.

He threw a pitch that if he doesn't have it,

then he doesn't have a whole lot of other things to fall back on.

Look at these guys diving out of the way of strikes.

They had a long, grinding type of lineup.

But Wake dominated that lineup.

And the Red Sox have taken Game 1.

Tim Wakefield going six-plus innings, allowing two runs on two hits.

Got off to a great start, won Game 1. Wake was awesome.

Game 2, Pettitte turned it around and dominated.

Pettitte out of the stretch, here's the pitch.

Swung on and missed, strike three.

A strong start from Pettitte.

It ends a 6-2 final here at Yankee Stadium.

This series is tied up at a game apiece.

Games 3, 4, and 5 now shift to Boston.

It's Pedro Martínez against the former Red Sox Roger Clemens.

Derek, how fun is it to be out there with 56,000 people chanting,

"We want Pedro"?

Yeah, it's... 56,000 people aren't facing him.

So...

But it's fun. I mean, the fans make the atmosphere.

ALCS Game 3, folks. Pedro versus Clemens.

Red Sox, Yankees, folks.

We come home to Game 3, and it was absolute circus.

Pedro versus Clemens was billed

as, like, the game of the century by The Globe.

The feel around the ballpark that day was different than almost any other.

Yankees suck. Let's go.

It was on fire.

Yankees suck! Yankees suck! Yankees suck!

- Boo! - Yeah, Red Sox, baby!

Anybody selling one ticket? I'm looking for one ticket.

With this lineup and this balance that we present to the Rocket,

one through nine,

and you got Pedro Martínez, who loves the center stage,

you tell me where the money's going at... at... the Mirage and the Bellagio.

You got to be going with the Sox!

You got to be going with the Sox!

This is the Sox Nation, 2003, and screw that curse!

I had pitched in plenty of big games

leading up there over my career.

And I'd stayed away from the noise.

But here at Fenway, they're on top of you. You can hear 'em.

Roger!

Roger!

Roger Clemens back on the mound at Fenway Park,

where it all started for him many, many, many years ago.

Now here he is having won 310...

But still, when you get to the main mound and it's game on,

you know, it was, you know, all business.

Here's the stretch. The pitch, splitter.

Strike three called on the inside corner.

And a high slider swung on and missed. He struck him out.

Roger's throwing the ball very, very well.

The Yankees into the fourth inning.

Pedro Martínez trots out to the mound.

I'm here to pick up my teammates, my fan base,

show the world what Boston is all about.

That's what made baseball interesting to me.

It was just the... Ah, that edge!

Have that competitive edge.

We're seeing a lot of off-speed pitches

thrown early in this game by Pedro Martínez for some reason.

And a curve inside.

So Posada draws a lead-off walk seeing nothing but curveballs.

Pedro Martínez is not looking like himself out there right now.

I was all beat up,

and it's the first time, probably I...

I'll admit to it.

Uh, I didn't have my stuff.

They were making it tough on me.

Nobody on, left-handed hitter.

And he rips one down the right field line, deep.

That one's gonna go over the head of Trot Nixon.

And it bounces up into the seats.

And Matsui has put the Yankees ahead 3-2.

I'm already in trouble. I'm already bleeding in the fourth inning.

So I wanna get out of it.

You know, a lot of times, you go out there without your best stuff,

you're in trouble.

But he is so competitive that he finds a way to get the job done.

Right-fielder, number 28.

It's 3-2 here in the top of the fourth.

And Garcia, who knocked in their first run with a base hit, will be the batter.

That one's over his head. Garcia didn't like it.

And Garcia is not happy, and Varitek's talking to him.

I'm not 100%.

And I'm trying to make a statement with that fastball.

And I just yanked it.

Mmm, pure and simple, I yanked it.

It shouldn't be a warning.

Pedro Martínez should be out of the ballgame.

You see Don Zimmer yelling at Martínez.

Nobody wants to hit you.

I can get you out.

I don't need to hit you.

Karim Garcia, that's not the guy I'm gonna go after

to load the bases with nobody out.

Garcia was hit by the pitch.

Double play ball.

They got 'em both. A run scores, it's 4-2.

And Garcia is furious.

After he's... he... he went over

to... to try to take out the second baseman,

I got... I got upset.

Martínez now pointing. That's the wrong thing to do.

And that's when Posada popped up.

- Posada's pointing at Martínez. - He's yelling at Pedro.

Yankees suck!

Posada just... mentioned my mom in a bad way.

And when I looked at him, I told him, "You better remember that."

With two outs, usually I'll come sit on the dugout,

getting ready to go back out.

Normally, guys, our everyday players, won't sit next to me.

But I'll have a guy that got hit, and I can tell he's wanting to talk to me.

He's sitting next to me. I go, "What's up?"

And they're kinda mumbling.

I said, "You got a problem with this guy out there?"

He goes, "Yeah, that's the third time he got me."

I said, "Well, I'll handle it."

The entire level of intensity has been raised another notch

as Clemens goes back to work.

Manny knew he was gonna... he was gonna eat one before it was over.

- Now Ramirez. - That ball's not even close.

You talk about looking for a reason.

Absolutely.

When the dugouts emptied,

and I just happened to look left, and I see Zimmer.

You know, he wasn't gonna have a fight go on over there,

and he was gonna be over here.

As simple as that.

I see him kinda coming over.

But I'm thinking he's probably gonna approach me

and talk to me about something.

Just go, "What?"

"What?"

That's when I heard pretty much exactly what Posada said.

But from Zimmer's mouth.

He bull rushed me and... and... and he threw a jab.

Oh my goodness.

Don Zimmer and Pedro Martínez.

It was just natural instincts.

We're trying to be as fair as we can up here,

but it's very difficult to be fair in this situation.

Martínez has incited so much.

That was absolutely awful.

It was, uh, unfortunate.

But that's it. That's part of the game too.

That's part of the game.

I can't put all the blame on Pedro Martínez on that.

I feel for Don Zimmer, but he came out and had the left hand up.

It was a horrible visual, and it certainly ratcheted things up,

uh, in a big way.

And the New York Yankees have taken Game 3.

And this will definitely go down as an intense and memorable day

in the long, serious rivalry between the Red Sox and the Yankees.

Yankees suck! Yankees suck!

We're down one game to two,

and, uh, I think we've, uh...

we've upgraded it from a battle to a war.

Red Sox even the series tonight.

Tim Wakefield with both wins, Game 1 and Game 4.

The Yankees have taken a 3-2 lead in the series.

The Red Sox come from behind to tie the series up

at three games apiece. Game 7 is tomorrow night.

Pedro Martínez, dead or alive!

Preferably dead.

Ever since 1918.

They ain't won a World Series since, and they ain't gonna.

You know, the place on 161st Street and River Avenue, it intimidated.

Asshole! Asshole!

You'll hear, like, "F you, you piece of..."

You turn around, it's like an eight, nine-year-old kid.

And his dad's like, "Yeah, fuck you!"

Asshole! Asshole!

It was a tough place to win.

It's a battle between hope and expectation.

The people throughout New England,

we have hope that the Red Sox will finally defeat the Yankees.

Pinstripers, they expect to win.

Well, what a perfect way to finish off this ALCS.

Pedro Martínez, with all that he brings with him from Saturday's start,

coming here to the Bronx to try to get the Red Sox past the Yankees

and into the World Series.

On the other side, you've got Roger Clemens,

who made his name with the Boston Red Sox,

trying to stop them in their tracks and get the Yankees to the Fall Classic.

Roger Clemens was one of the first people I got to meet

when I signed with the Red Sox.

I need to hunt what I need to hunt up there.

Hunt for that fastball, and don't miss it.

Nixon into right center field. Did he get enough?

Yes, he did. The Red Sox strike first.

Trot Nixon, I threw him everything, he hit it out.

It's Game 7.

Roger Clemens has started the game, he had nothing.

Guys are hitting homers.

Millar hits one to left field.

We are in the greatest game ever.

Turned this thing into the greatest rivalry going in sports.

Salaries, monies,

carsies, rims and tiresies,

suit and ties, hundred-dollar bills

mean nothing at that moment

because it was about trying to break this so-called curse.

The question was, "Did we have the balls to beat the Yankees one time?"

They got Pedro Martínez pitching.

He was lights-out.

New York had it with me, and I'd had it with New York.

Pedro! Pedro! Pedro!

Another 3-2 pitch.

Another strikeout for Martínez, four on the night.

Into right center field.

Damon back, the track, the wall.

It is gone for another Giambi home run.

It's 4-2 in the seventh.

The seventh was very taxing for him.

He had to work real hard to get out of that inning.

Another hit.

The tying runs are on in the seventh for New York.

And now it's Soriano with runners at first and second,

4-2 Boston, bottom of the seventh.

For the fourth time tonight, Soriano has struck out.

It's the playoffs, and Pedro's going,

and there's that 95-pitch indicator.

Like most pitchers,

he wasn't quite as good third time through the order,

he wasn't quite as good after 95 pitches.

In the course of my discussions with Grady,

I just say, like, "Pedro gives us 95 great pitches."

You know, "Who are we gonna turn to?"

Did Theo talk to you before the game

about, you know, "After 95 pitches, we should take Pedro out"?

No, they never talked to me about anything.

We all knew, like, Pedro, once he went to the sky...

that's it, he's done.

I was finished after seven.

I was told I was finished.

And then Grady asked me for Nick Johnson.

And then, the rest of the bullpen will be behind me.

What was the conversation with Pedro?

What do you say to him?

Being 20-something years ago, I cannot remember exactly.

Bottom of the eighth, 5-2 Boston.

We're shocked when Pedro went back out there.

Johnson pops up.

Garciaparra waits for it.

I got Nick Johnson out. And I looked over,

kind of glimpsed over to the dugout.

Nobody's coming out.

I'm thinking I'm coming out,

and the rest of the bullpen is gonna... But no.

There is action for the Red Sox in their bullpen

in case Martínez stumbles.

It's hard to speak about being in the zone.

We were there. Alan and I were there.

I turn to Alan, I go, "Dude, you okay?"

He goes, "I'm all right. You?" I said, "Yeah, I think I'm okay."

You know, and then we turn and watch, you know, it all unfold.

The Red Sox, five defensive outs away

from heading to the World Series.

And with one out here in the bottom of the eighth inning,

he works to Derek Jeter.

Jeter 0 for 3 in this game. He's fouled out, grounded out, struck out.

Jeter flies into right. Nixon back.

On the run, it's over his head.

Jeter will dig for second.

If you're a Yankee,

there is this idea

that it all dates back to Ruth.

The Yankees aren't finished yet.

Jeter trying to get something going in the bottom of the eighth, with one out.

Here's Bernie Williams.

This is this wave of inevitability that, "Here it starts, here it starts."

Into center field. Damon will play it on a hop.

Jeter will come to the plate.

It's a two-run game.

This place is now gone.

It is rocking.

And Pedro's still on the mound.

Grady Little out of the dugout.

Are you asking anything or telling him something

when you go to the mound?

Mostly you're asking.

You're not really telling anything. I... I don't know.

He plain and simple just asked me,

"Do you think you have enough bullets to get Matsui?"

You don't... You don't ask a wounded warrior.

Of course I'm gonna say yes.

Are you looking at the pitch count?

No, I'm looking at what he's got.

No pitch count?

I knew about where it was,

but I knew what he was... he was showing on the mound too.

A lot of my... my own gut feel, and...

He just saw what probably nobody else was seeing.

That I had enough left in the tank.

Uh, I didn't feel, obviously, that way.

With 115 pitches on the night,

Grady Little is gonna stick with his starter.

What were you thinking?

"What the fuck are we doing?"

So Grady Little is gonna dance with the one that brung him.

Ripped into the right field corner, fair.

Bernie Williams will dig. It's a ground rule double.

But the tying runs are at second and third,

with one out here in the eighth.

This is the most blatant situation

for a second guess in this series.

Whether to bring Embree in to pitch to Matsui or not.

This one decision to leave Pedro in there,

I got some bad results on.

But there's a lot of people knew what to do after the fact.

I think I turned to Larry just prior to that

and said, "Can we fire him now,

or do we have to wait till the end of the game?"

One hundred nineteen pitches.

And he stays out for Posada.

That one at-bat with Posada, I wanted.

That one, I wasn't willing to give up.

This is mine. This is personal.

A flare into center field.

Out is Walker, won't get it.

The base running of Matsui,

he comes home.

Nobody covers second.

Tie game.

I mean, I was out there to leave it all for the team,

and I did that.

Failure is part of the game.

I hated it, but I had to live with it.

That's what happens at Yankee games.

And it's always been there with that team.

And now in a tie game,

the Yankees bring in Mariano Rivera.

There's two for-sure things in life, death and taxes.

You can add Mariano Rivera to that. That's how good Mo was.

Good pitch.

In under the hands of Garciaparra, one and two.

Mo is a bad man.

The best.

Impeccable command.

Garciaparra takes strike three, and there's one out in the tenth.

It's at this point we're thinking Mariano can go about eight innings.

His stuff that night was different.

Strike one on Millar.

Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield getting loose.

It's up to Millar and Rivera.

A popup.

Jeter...

Still tied 5-5.

We're in the bottom of the 10th inning. It is midnight in the Bronx.

Tim Wakefield comes in. They couldn't hit him.

To first.

Millar takes it, steps for the out.

Wakey, every single game, put on his spikes.

Every game.

If somebody called his name,

he wanted to make sure he was ready to go out there and... and pitch.

Shallow left. Manny Ramirez in.

Mueller out, and it's Ramirez.

He was gonna be the MVP of that series.

Good chance he's MVP of that series.

It was a huge honor for me to... to be able

to... to throw my spikes on

and... and... and be down in the bullpen,

put on that Red Sox uniform.

I'm proud of every one of those guys in there.

The depth, the character, the heart, the guts of our ball club.

I said, "Let's go, we gotta bear down, and you gotta win tonight."

Well, we're tied at five as we go to the bottom of the 11th.

Here's Aaron Boone to lead off.

Boone hits it to deep left!

That might send the Yankees to the World Series.

Boone, a hero in Game 7.

Oh, Wakey.

I think the thought was like he let the whole Red Sox Nation down.

That last pitch, you know?

Are you going to be remembered for that the rest of your career?

Man, yeah, it was tough on him.

Oh, my God. I got down to the clubhouse,

and it was one of the worst scenes, you know, I'd seen in baseball.

Wake, it's not your fault, brother.

Really?

Seriously.

- All right? - All right.

You're just thinking, you can't believe it's over

and these fuckers did it again.

Really?

We were just gonna be another in the long line of teams that falls short

and lose... and lose to the Yankees?

You know, we're... we're brothers in here.

We're... We're, uh, family for... It's going on nine months now.

And, you know, it hurts. It really does. It hurts.

When it ended and it ended in that way,

and Yankee Stadium is erupting...

And just getting destroyed by Yankee fans.

Asshole! Asshole!

I'll fucking kill you!

We got on the bus. We got some middle fingers.

You love that rivalry,

but you wanna jump out there and eat everybody's face off.

I was sitting over there tonight, and like Derek told me,

the ghosts will show up eventually, and... and they did, man.

Whoo!

It pissed you off.

Why am I not surprised? Number one, baby!

1918!

This is Yankees-Sox.

And this is when the rivalry started. It was gonna get real.