The Comeback

This Netflix three-part documentary tells the story of the Boston Red Sox’s unprecedented comeback, in the 2004 ALCS against the Yankees, from an 0-3 deficit in the best of seven series. What was just as remarkable to me was its depiction of the very personal rivalry that existed between the two teams. Has there been such a rivalry since, and if not, why? Not living on the East Coast anymore, maybe I just don’t sense it, but let’s explore what’s different, twenty years later.

1. In 2003 the Yankees beat the Red Sox in the seventh game of the ALCS, a crushing loss on Aaron Boone’s homer. 2004 was a rematch between the two top teams in the American League. The Sox and the Yankees aren’t the two top teams anymore, and haven’t been for a long time. In fact, Boston hasn’t been terribly good for awhile.
2. Rosters today are far more fluid. Free agency existed in 2004, but it didn’t dominate the scene as it does now. The characters in the Netflix series are pretty constant from 2003 to 2004. The Yankees add Alex Rodriguez, the Sox bring in Davey Roberts (for pinch-running), but that’s about it. This year alone the Yankees have added Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt and Ryan McMahon to their starting lineup. And see 3.
3. All teams rely on younger players than before. It’s an economic necessity, as arbitration jacks up veteran salaries and teams can compensate for their big-ticket signings with numerous rookies and players who haven’t reached arbitration. And for whatever reason, modern rookies seem to taking bigger roles than their counterparts did in the past. If you’re new to the club and adapting to the Big Leagues, you’re not likely to have acquired an antipathy to a rival team.
4. With interleague play, division rivals face off twelve times a year, instead of eighteen. Playing a greater variety of opponents makes you less likely to focus on any one.
5. Improved fan behavior, although it’s hard to explain this, or even believe it. The Netflix show has frequent instances of rabid fans yelling, “Boston sucks” and “Yankees suck.” This ugly cheer, which was common in sports back then (I remember cringing when I heard it at a Columbia basketball game), seems to have faded away, thank goodness. Maybe because there’s so much division in society, and we have the Internet to express hostility, people see a ballpark as a place to be a little more polite.
6. A-Rod. There’s no one in uniform today with the smarmy arrogance of Alex Rodriguez. I can see how much someone would hate to lose with him on the other side. (Personally, I felt that way about Derek Jeter too.)
7. Of course, much the same could be said about the Yankees in general in those days. They won too much, their owner George Steinbrenner was obnoxious, and they represented the biggest, most arrogant city in America. Now that they haven’t won the World Series in ages, you don’t exactly feel sorry for them, but there isn’t cause for the intense dislike you get when someone always beats you. This holds, as well, for every other franchise, although the Dodgers are threatening to take this position.

Whatever caused it and is missing now, the rivalry made for exciting baseball and an excellent documentary. By piecing together current interviews with archival footage, the moviemakers added a dimension to the games they showed, which were exciting by themselves. The story seemed all the more historic given the recall by the principals twenty years later. And these people hadn’t been resting on their laurels: Theo Epstein had gone on to bring the Cubs a world championship, Terry Francona continued his Hall-of-Fame career managing Cleveland and now Cincinnati, yet they remembered 2004 like it was yesterday. Without such rivalries, playoff series these days are more ho-hum: who’s going to get excited by the Texas Rangers? Indeed, the 2004 World Series was treated as an anticlimax in the documentary, despite its being Boston’s first championship in 85 years–sort of like the U.S. Olympic hockey team’s gold medal win after beating the Russians in the semifinals. The latter game is the one everyone remembers. And thanks to Netflix, we won’t forget the year the Red Sox stunned the Yankees.