Sox kill the curse 🧦

B-Side Sports

Plus: 🍀 The Celtics are ringing in 2024 in style

Good morning, Boston.

🎉 Happy 53rd birthday to Pedro Martinez! How fitting it is for us to celebrate the three-time Cy Young Award winner as we remember the 2004 Red Sox, whom he helped to a title. By the way, he Despite it hates the Yankees and accuses them of spying on the Sox in that 2004 ALCS. Some cattle never die.

What's on the program today:

• Beautiful banner 18th
• Jerod Mayo calls Pats
• Drake Maye is making history

Let's get into it…

CARRY OUT

An ode to the curse breakers

Image: Jim Davis/Boston Globe

The back cover of The Curse turns 20 this weekend. This Sunday marks two decades since Red Sox closer Keith Foulke fielded a comebacker off St. Louis Cardinal Edgar Renteria, threw it to first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz and completed a four-game sweep to win Boston's first World Series in 86 years to win. The cathartic victory erased the “Curse of the Bambino” forever and gave Boston one of the best sports memories of all time.

The 2004 Red Sox overcame the ghosts of the deep past… Only the Chicago Cubs (108 years) and the White Sox (87) experienced longer championship droughts than the Red Sox. The 1919 Black Sox scandal, in which eight White Sox were suspended for allegedly hosting the World Series, dogged one Chicago team, while the 1945 Billy Goat Tavern curse hung over another. Meanwhile, the Red Sox traded Babe Ruth to New York in 1920, only to watch him become an all-time great and turn the Yankees into an iconic franchise as they languished for more than 80 years.

…And the heartache of defeat. The 2004 team wasn't just fighting against Ruth and the Yankees' dominance of the baseball world. They also had to overcome the burden of previous failures, including:

• Four heartbreaking World Series losses, including the late-game collapse in Game 6 of the 1986 championship (also known as the Bill Buckner Game).
• A crushing ALCS loss the year before to the despised Yankees. Thank you, Grady Little.

Let's not forget the 3-0 deficit they had to overcome against the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS, something no MLB team had ever done before. Until they did.

…And they did it their way. These Sox were a group of popular scrappers who had everything to prove:

• General manager Theo Epstein, 28, had never managed a team when he was hired in 2002.
• Manager Terry Francona was fired by the Phillies before joining the Sox in 2004.
• David Ortiz and Kevin Millar were traded away from their previous teams before the Sox picked them up.
• A cast of characters – including a messiah-like Johnny Damon, pine tar magnet Trot Nixon and Manny “Being Manny” Ramirez – it was easy to get excited about.

Boston fans were thrilled as they gave the rival Yankees everything they could handle two years in a row. After her breakthrough in 2004, nothing could stop her.

That's why they're Boston's greatest championship team. The Celtics have the most banners in Boston and the Patriots can lay claim to a more dominant dynasty. But no single title in Titletown has a history like the '04 Sox. The victory also broke the dam for the franchise, which won three more titles over the next 14 years – 2007, 2013 and 2018. Without the 2004 squad, Boston's legacy as a sports city wouldn't be the same.

BOSTON SPORTS

Quick hits and headlines

Image: Danielle Parhizkaran/Boston Globe

💍 The Celtics raise their banner with a loss. Raising the 18 banner and winning their championship rings didn't distract the Celtics on Tuesday night as they defeated the surging New York Knicks 132-109 from TD Garden. The only boos in the building came when the Celtics narrowly missed the NBA record for three-pointers in a game (30) and settled for a share of the current record (29) with the 2020 Bucks. Jayson Tatum led the way with 37 points. Joe Mazzulla wanted to taste blood on the floor. Once again…who stops this team?

😳 Jerod Mayo's “gentle” comments are making waves. The Patriots head coach faced criticism from the media, including former head coach Bill Belichick, for publicly criticizing his team following Sunday's loss to the Jaguars. But current players, like Patriots captain David Andrews, echoed their coach's assessment and urged each other to take on the challenge. If they can't respond with a better performance against the Jets than they did in Week 3, this season could really spiral out of control.

📉 Ja'Lynn Polk's season has continued to deteriorate. The rookie wide receiver has shot just 10 of 26 this season and has indicated in interviews and on social media that he is unhappy with his lack of production. Now the second-rounder from Washington is in the concussion protocol ahead of Sunday's game against the Jets. Hopefully the injury isn't a long-term issue, but it's clear Polk needs a minute to recover. His head hadn't been in play for weeks.

BEYOND BOSTON

Report from out of town

Image: Morry Gash/AP

The Greek Freak calls Jaylen Brown the best player in the NBA. Giannis Antetokounmpo gave Brown the nod because he is the “best player” on the championship-winning Celtics. Doesn't he know that Jason Kidd has already tried the divide-and-conquer tactic between Brown and Tatum? It won't save the Bucks from getting crushed.

Julian Edelman beats up the Jets. The Patriots fan favorite said the Jets will receive compensation for trying to “buy” a Super Bowl with Aaron Rodgers and claimed not everyone can repeat what Tom Brady did when he won outright with the Bucs in 2020 . You know what would really humiliate the Jets? The 1-6 Pats beat them this weekend.

Grant Williams hits the game-winner for the Hornets. The ex-Celtic scored a three-pointer with 40 seconds left on Wednesday evening, securing the opening win for Charlotte. Luckily there were no free throws for the outspoken striker.

BY THE NUMBERS

Did you know …

Image: Danielle Parhizkaran/Boston Globe

Drake Maye just joined a Hall of Fame company? Maye became just the second rookie QB to record at least 500 pass yards and five touchdowns in his first two NFL starts since 1970. The other one? Dan Marino, one of the greatest QBs of all time. Of course, that doesn't guarantee that Maye will be an elite passer throughout his career. But you can't deny that the boy was good. If he prevails against the Jets, he could enter the Rookie of the Year conversation.

THE BEST THING I HAVE SEEN IN SPORT

Raise it up to the rafters

Image: @NBCCeltics/X

🔥 The Celtics raise banner 18. Even though TNT didn't want us to see it live, we finally saw another banner attached to the garden's rafters. And it was beautiful. It would be even sweeter to place Banner 19 next to it in 2025.

🗞 This is a wrap. I'll be looking for a copy of this banner to hang in my living room.

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