Read the opposing arguments from Babe Ruthless and Bleacher Fan.
It always becomes a good discussion when talking about the different times various teams have choked throughout the years. For me, the conversation starts and ends with the 2004 American League Championship Series between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. The Yankees won the first three games of the series with relative ease, including a 19-8 whipping in game three. But that is when the initial choking began!
The Bronx Bombers led 4-3 going into the bottom of the ninth in game four, a mere three outs from going back to the World Series, when arguably the greatest closer of all time, Mariano Rivera, took the mound. After a now-famous Dave Roberts stolen base, Bill Mueller singled to knock Roberts in for the game-tying run. Three innings later David Ortiz hit a walk off home run to right field to give the Sox the win. A nice win, but surely nothing historic would happen.
Game five was back in Boston where again the Yankees held a late lead. Rivera came on in the eighth inning, inheriting two runners. He allowed one of them to score, however, and that tied the game. It was Rivera’s second consecutive blown save. Big Papi once again became the hero in the 14th inning as he singled up the middle to knock in Johnny Damon. Surely, this couldn’t happen… could it?
Game six was the now infamous “Bloody Sock” game in which Curt Schilling pitched seven strong innings with a tendon torn in his right ankle. Don’t all you Yankee fans love recalling this? Game six also was the game where Alex Rodriguez attempted to slap the ball out of Bronson Arroyo’s glove while running down the first base line. I vividly remember being highly ticked when nothing was originally done about this. Ultimately, order was restored and A-Rod was called out – much to the chagrin of crazed Yankee fans who managed to decorate the field with debris. The Red Sox eventually won the game 4-2, thus bringing up a winner-take-all Game seven. Surely this couldn’t happen, could it? No team had EVER come from a 3-0 deficit to win a seven game series. I repeat… EVER!
As much as many wanted Game even to be dramatic, it wasn’t meant to be… making it even more of a choke. Boston jumped out to an early 6-0 lead, thanks to a grand slam by Damon. The Red Sox never looked back, and cruised to a drama free 10-3 victory. The Red Sox won game seven on the Yankees turf, making it even sweeter for Red Sox nation. All the pressure was on the Yankees in that game, and it showed.
The Red Sox would go on to win the World Series for their first title in 86 years. But they never would have gotten there if it were not for some help from the Yankees. To this day, it still blows my mind how a team can blow two late leads with the game’s best closer, and then come home and lose two games. That, my friends, is a major choke!
