BOSTON, MA - MAY 28: Former Boston Red Sox player Keith Foulke walks onto the field with the 2004 World Series trophy while being honored prior to the game between the Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves at Fenway Park on May 28, 2014 in Boston, Massachusetts. The pregame ceremony commemorated the 2004 World Series Championship Boston Red Sox team. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)
Keith Foulke speaks on what it took to for the Boston Red Sox to “Reverse the Curse”.
When you win a championship in any city the routine is pretty standard. Champagne pops, loved ones are hugged and it ends with a parade throughout the city celebrating with thousands of screaming fans lining the streets.
When you win a championship as a member of the Boston Red Sox, however, you aren’t soon forgotten and your tenure in the city is remembered best by the sport’s most passionate fans.
When you win the championship in Boston, you’re never forgotten and your role on the team no matter it’s magnitude is etched in the history of one of the sports’ most historic franchises.
It brought head scratches throughout the league and devastated fans for generations to come. When Boston owner Harry Frazee sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees in 1919 it began an 86-year championship drought for Boston baseball. It also was a prelude to the biggest comeback in sports history. Many know the story, many watched the story, but 25 guys lived the story.
Former closer Keith Foulke was one of those 25 guys. He made the last out in 2004 to seal a championship season for the team that was as good as the best team of all time.
2003 was the best year of Keith Foulke’s career. He was an All-Star with 43 saves and a 2.08 ERA that season. Coming off of a season of that caliber there was little doubt that the right-handed hurler would be a coveted commodity on the free agent market.
(Photo by Rick Stewart/Getty Images) /
With multiple teams interested, what made Keith Foulke choose the Boston Red Sox?
“There were several different factors but the biggest one is I wanted a championship. I really wanted to play for a big market team and have a legit shot at winning a World Series” said the 11-year veteran.
Fresh off a season where his former team lost in the ALDS to Boston, Foulke arrived at Spring Training with an open mind and an eagerness to win.
“Theo and ownership put together a package that I couldn’t turn down. But they built that team to win and we ran out there with the expectation to be World Champions.” – Keith Foulke on the 2004 Boston Red Sox roster
Theo Epstein is a no-doubt Hall of Fame executive today and Keith Foulke is enjoying retirement knowing his name is etched in the history books forever. But at the time, Epstein was a young executive finding his barrings and Foulke, an elite closer. As different men from different worlds, the pair had a conversation prior to signing the closer to a contract.
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“The gist of that whole conversation was if you win a championship in Boston…,” recalled he former reliever before he paused for a moment. He looked up, smiled, and said “You’re going to be remembered forever.”
At the trade deadline in 2004, Boston traded star shortstop Nomar Garciaparra and Matt Murton to the Chicago Cubs as part of a 4-team deal. The Boston Red Sox received Orlando Cabrera from the Cubs and first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz from the Minnesota Twins as well as infielder Dave Roberts from the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Boston went on to win 22 of its next 25 games and finished the season just three games back of the New York Yankees for the division. Their play was good enough to earn them the American League Wild Card.
Keith Foulke recalls a postseason run for the ages for the Boston Red Sox in 2004.
“We had everything we needed and we made quick work of that series,” Foulke recalled of Boston’s sweep of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the 2004 ALDS. Foulke pitched in two games during that series and didn’t allow a run.
Boston was set to face the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series in the following days. Games 1, 2, and 3 all resulted in Boston losses. Losing 7-10, 1-3, and 8-19 over those three games, it appeared as if Boston fans were on the doorstep of yet another year of heartbreak.
“I’m very proud an honored to say that I was a part of that team”- Keith Foulke
Although this tight-knit group of “Idiots” struggled both at the plate and on the mound during the first three games of the ALCS they couldn’t let previous games affect their current play.
“One of two things is going to happen. One, we’re going to pack our stuff, go home and start our offseason. Two, we’re going to win and come back and play another day,” Foulke explained about the mentality of the Boston Red Sox clubhouse.
Down zero games to three to one of the best teams in baseball, Foulke and the Red Sox portrayed the same demeanor they had all season. “It was just win today, win today, win today, win today and keep that mentality throughout the playoffs,” he said.
With the pressure to win off Foulke and company went on to win the next four games of the series will Foulke putting up a postseason performance that could have earned him ALCS MVP honors if not for teammate David Ortiz. Boston had done it. They eliminated the Yankees and were four wins away from ending more than eight decades of pain and suffering.
“It’s probably the best sports city on the planet.”- 2004 World Series Champion Keith Foulke on the city of Boston
The rest of the story, as they say, is history. Boston went on to reverse “The Curse of the Bambino” with a sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series. Foulke was the player to make the last out of the series after getting Cardinals shortstop Edgar Renteria to ground out.
“I didn’t think he was going to swing at it because the ball was kind of up and away from him. A lazy fastball. So when he hit it, it kind of caught me by surprise,” Foulke recollected.
Again, smiling ear to ear the retired closer went on.
“I catch the ball and it’s a snow cone on the end of the glove and at that point, s*** is starting to speed up pretty quick. So I finally gather it up and I take off for first and I remember I was going to underhand it and told myself ‘one more step’.”
Foulke underhanded the ball to teammate Doug Mientkiewicz and watched as it sailed through the air seemingly in slow-motion. The hopes of Red Sox fans all over the country were held in one throw. One throw that would rewrite history.
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“As soon as I let it go it’s like one of those things as soon as I see him catch it, everything just went at light speed and the weight of the world was lifted off of my shoulders,” he said while visualizing the ball disappearing into Mientkiewicz’ glove.
The famous picture that captured that moment will grace the hearts of Boston Red Sox fans young and old for decades to come. That picture will hang in every bar in Boston for years to come. It’s a piece of history that few forget and many will learn about.
Many remember, but few were there. Many supported but few performed. Foulke performed and then some. Posting a 1.80 ERA throughout the postseason over 14 innings pitched, there is no doubt Foulke played a vital role in one of the most captivating and odds-defying teams in sports history.
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With the sun shining light in his face while lounging on the patio of his Arizona home Foulke squints for a moment and says “It may not have been the best team of all time, but it was as good as the best team of all time. I’ll let you think about that for a little bit.”
