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Netflix’s The Comeback really changed the way I watch the Red Sox and the 2004 World Series

Online Niel November 3, 2024

In high school, one of my friends went through a pretty rough breakup and went out of his way to avoid ex-girlfriend street, which meant that a normally short trip would often turn into an extended one. I bring this up because for 20 years I have avoided anything and everything related to the 2004 World Series in which the Boston Red Sox swept the St. Louis Cardinals. Well, that all changed with its release Comeback: 2004 Boston Red Sox, which recently debuted on TV schedule 2024.

When I first heard about the three-part documentary, I thought it would be another celebration of that 2004 Boston team and the “Idiots” that brought the first World Series trophy to Beantown in 86 years. And while this is of course great baseball documentaries shows the team that left me and my fellow Cards fans on the wrong side of history celebrating an unlikely victory, the 2024 Netflix original also changed the way I look at the Red Sox and the 2004 World Series in general.

Boston Red Sox in The Comeback: 2004 Boston Red Sox — (Image credit: Netflix)

As a Cardinals fan, the 2004 World Series has always been a touchy subject

For the past 20 years, the 2004 World Series has sent shivers down my spine and wet my hands whenever it comes up, and for good reason. While the Red Sox barely made the postseason that year, the St. Louis Cardinals had one of the best seasons in franchise history with a 105-57 record, per Baseball reference. Hall of Famers Scott Rollen and Larry Walker were on the team, as was future HOFer Albert Pujols, along with other insanely talented players up and down the lineup. On paper, they were unbeatable.

But as would happen later in 2013, when the Cardinals were swept by the Red Sox in a six-game World Series just months after New England was swept by the Boston Marathon Bombings, the Redbirds were just the obstacle final between “Sawx”. and destiny and you can’t compete with that. For everyone else, the win was like one of these great baseball movie momentsbut for me… Well, I just got around to reading A. Bartlet Giamatti’s “Green Fields of the Mind” and looked towards the next spring.

Boston Red Sox in The Comeback: 2004 Boston Red Sox

(Image credit: Netflix)

As I watched the comeback, I began to see the Red Sox as more than a team that embarrassed the Cardinals

As I made my way Comeback: 2004 Boston Red Soxwe saw those self-proclaimed “idiots” like Jason Varitek, David Ortiz, Johnny Damon, Pedro Martinez and the incredibly charismatic Kevin Millar as more than the team that embarrassed the Cardinals in a four-game sweep and started first baseball dynasty of the 21st century. Instead, we saw a team of castaways and underappreciated players who found companionship and a place to call home, like Fenway was the “Island of Misfit Toys” or something.

return it actually has very little to do with the 2004 World Series (it doesn’t start until 13 minutes are left in the final episode). While it’s the goal the players (and the city of Boston) were working towards, the majority of the documentary is spent breaking down the heated rivalry between the Red Sox and the New York Yankees, with the latter being the more dominant and successful combatant. The heartbreaking 2003 ALCS, the struggles, the A-Rod situation, it’s all there leading up to the epic 2004 ALCS where Boston came back from an 0-3 deficit to punch its ticket to the Fall Classic.

A fan reacting to the Boston Red Sox in The Comeback: 2004 Boston Red Sox

(Image credit: Netflix)

I also started looking at the 2004 Fall Classic from the perspective of a team and fan base in an 86-year championship drought

Sports fandom is a strange thing. When you’re in the thick of it, you not only get mad at the fans of your favorite team’s opponent, but you start to despise them, if only for a few hours. Looking from the outside in, it is foolish, petty, juvenile, and meaningless; but reason and rationality go out the window when you’re a few outs away from being swept in the World Series.

As I watched Comeback: 2004 Boston Red Soxwhich sometimes feels like a love letter to the city of bostonI began to gain a new perspective on that Red Sox team that captured the hearts of every square inch of America except St. Louis and New York City, 20 years ago. And the experience also changed the way I saw the fan base.

In the final moments of the documentary, former Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein, who helped usher in the new era for the team, talks about seeing Boston flags and hats on top of gravestones in cemeteries on the way back from Logan International to Fenway at a few hours later. The Sox won the World Series. How not to be romantic about baseball after hearing such stories?

Boston Red Sox in The Comeback: 2004 Boston Red Sox

(Image credit: Netflix)

But it was wild to see the Red Sox before they became one of the greatest sports dynasties of the 21st century

But at the same time, it was pretty wild to see the Red Sox before they became a massive sports dynasty that would win three more World Series titles over the course of a decade and a half. While it’s true that the Sox haven’t been to the postseason since winning their fourth Fall Classic (and ninth in franchise history) in 2018, they essentially became the New York Yankees of the 2000s and 2010s after they stole the Bronx Bombers’ mojo. as if they were in Space Yesm in the 2004 ALCS.

It was quite something to see the hungry, rabid fans begging the baseball gods to lift the “Curse of the Bambino” before they became the largest fan bases on the planet, and honestly, it helped me empathize with them more.

Boston Red Sox in The Comeback: 2004 Boston Red Sox

(Image credit: Netflix)

However, that doesn’t take away all the pain of the 2004 World Series (or the 2013 Fall Classic).

Don’t let this new perspective make you think we’re over the 2004 World Series because we haven’t. Sure, the Cardinals have won two series themselves since then and will likely win a few more if St. Louis gets his act together. But remember what I said earlier about sports fans lacking rationality and reasonable thought? I’m totally in that camp and can’t let things go, even after 20 years.

The truth is, I’ll probably never get over or understand that the Sox swept the Cardinals four games to none. It just doesn’t make sense. But baseball is like that sometimes. And while it’s comforting to know that the Redbirds won two games before losing in the 2013 World Series (again to Boston), that’s another sting that won’t be going away anytime soon.

It may be true that baseball is not as popular as it used to be. However, if we keep getting more documentation like this Comeback: 2004 Boston Red Soxwhich is streamed for anyone who has a Netflix subscriptionmaybe that will change and people will come back.

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Association-anemone

Netflix’s The Comeback really changed the way I watch the Red Sox and the 2004 World Series

As a Cardinals fan, the 2004 World Series has always been a touchy subject

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Netflix’s The Comeback really changed the way I watch the Red Sox and the 2004 World Series

As a Cardinals fan, the 2004 World Series has always been a touchy subject

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