YANKEES 6, RED SOX 5 (11): Aaron Boone's homer continues Boston's jinxed existence and propels New York to its 39th World Series.
By TOM JONES
Published October 17, 2003
[AP photo]
As Aaron Boone circles bases with winning HR, Yankees' relief pitcher Mariano Rivera humbly embraces the pitching mound in celebration.
[AP photo]
In Boston, a fan, like all Cubs fans the night before, lives the curse.
[AP photo]
At Fenway Park in Boston, groundskeepers were preparing for a World Series that won't be coming.
NEW YORK - They aren't haunted by curses. They aren't chased by black cats or smelly goats or fat men who have been dead for more than 50 years.
Their history isn't defined by missed groundballs, infamous chokes or lonely winter nights wondering what went wrong and why the baseball gods hate them.
Their history is defined by one word: winning. And they did again Thursday and, along the way, convinced - absolutely convinced - all of New England that their team truly is cursed.
In one of the most improbable comebacks in history in one of the most thrilling games played in one of the greatest series ever seen, the Yankees continued their hex over the eternally cursed Red Sox and won the ALCS with a dramatic 11-inning, 6-5 victory in Game 7 before 56,279 fans at Yankee Stadium.
The Red Sox were five outs from putting an end to the dreaded Curse of the Bambino. Instead they have another game, perhaps as cruel as any the Sox have ever lost, to add to their list.
"The Red Sox fans should be proud of their team," Yankees manager Joe Torre said.
Ha. Easy to say if you haven't lived through what the Red Sox have lived through, and the latest chapter to their jinx. The Red Sox, to the horror of fans watching from Maine to Connecticut, blew a 5-2 lead in the eighth, and lost when Aaron Boone hit Tim Wakefield's first pitch of the 11th into the leftfield stands at 12:17 this morning.
"Wow. I can't even talk," Boone said. "It's unbelievable. Unbelievable. This is awesome."
And so is the Yankees machine, which rolls along like a train. While this postseason has been about the Cubs and Red Sox trying to avoid history, and the Marlins trying to create history, the Yankees calmly continued to make history. The most successful franchise in sports is headed to its 39th World Series against the upstart Marlins. The Yankees did it in a game for the ages.
As it should be with an all-the-marbles Game 7, two of the best pitchers of this generation squared off against one another.
For the Yankees, it was Roger Clemens, starting what could have been the final game of his sure-fire Hall of Fame career. He might be the best pitcher to ever wear a Red Sox uniform and he was facing the man who replaced him as Fenway Park's favorite son, Pedro Martinez.
But it was Martinez, universally criticized for his loss and role in a Game 3 that turned this series into nastiness, who outpitched Clemens. Martinez ran out of gas and was kept in the game one batter too many, a decision that will have Red Sox fans questioning Grady Little until, and if, the Red Sox ever win a World Series.
After bouncing around Clemens in three innings and taking a 4-0 lead on homers by Trot Nixon and Kevin Millar, the Red Sox turned the game over to Martinez. But only because they couldn't get any runs off starter-turned-reliever Mike Mussina, who pitched three scoreless innings in his first career relief appearance after 400 regular-season and playoff starts.
"The guy stopped the bleeding," Torre said. "That was the turning point for me. He kept it there. You feel like you're getting your brains beat out and you look up it's 4-0, and then (Jason) Giambi hits a home run and it's 4-1."
Actually, Giambi homered twice to make it 4-2. But the Red Sox took a 5-2 lead in the eighth on David Ortiz's home run and it finally looked as if the Red Sox had broken the curse.
That's when the Yankees mounted their comeback with one out. As Little stuck with Martinez, the Yankees got a double from Derek Jeter and a single from Bernie Williams to make it 5-3. Hideki Matsui hit a ground-rule double to put runners on second and third.
Then Jorge Posada lifted a perfectly placed blooper into center to tie it and send the crowd into hysteria. Martinez was in the game for all of it before being lifted.
"Pedro Martinez has been our man all year long," Little said. "He was the man we wanted on the mound more than anyone in our bullpen." Series MVP Mariano Rivera pitched three scoreless innings. By then, with the way Rivera was throwing, the game was sealed. Red Sox fans knew at that moment their season was over and their curse would continue.
