Even though it has been over 20 years since the Red Sox defeated the Yankees 3-0 in the 2004 American League Championship Series, one former New York outfielder can’t let it go.
nine-time major league Three-season pinstripe veteran Gary Sheffield, an All-Star, took part in the greatest Yankee collapse ever. But rather than giving the Red Sox credit for their incredible comeback from a terrible position, Sheffield blamed New York, implying that Boston wasn’t quite as composed as it appeared from a distance.
“The bottom line is that we lost the game because our relievers couldn’t close the game out. That’s how we lost the game. End of story,” Sheffield said on the “Foul Territory” podcast. “And then when you hear Kevin Millar talking about they being loose and drinking and that,. No, they were scared. The bottom line was that they were scared. The bottom line was they were lucky.”
Sheffield added: “Y’all had the stronger pitching. Ya’ll was more into pitching and it worked for y’all in the long run.”
Sheffield’s deluded spin is certainly one way to view New York choking on four consecutive occasions to close a series, becoming the first team in Major League Baseball history to do so.
While the Yankees bullpen isn’t exonerated for its role in failing to put the series to end, that’s no reason to discredit the Red Sox for taking advantage of the circumstances. Boston, nervous or not, didn’t allow whatever jitters may have existed to prevent New York from an inexcusable fall that the Yankees will never be able to live down.
Boston went on to win three more titles after — in 2007, ’13, and ’18 — while New York has won just once — in 2009.
Sheffield, meanwhile, will just have to settle for his single 1997 World Series ring and end the discussion where it was left in Game 7.
