The Astros are on the brink of overcoming a 3-0 deficit in the ALCS after Friday's 7-4 win in Game 6 over the Rays. If Houston wins Game 7, then it will be just the second time in MLB history a team has come back from down 3-0 in a best-of-seven series.
The only team to accomplish the feat was the 2004 Red Sox, who came back to defeat their arch-rivals, the Yankees, in the ALCS and then went on to sweep the Cardinals in the World Series.
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After calling his shot and hitting a walk-off home run in Game 5 on Thursday, Astros shortstop Carlos Correa said that he and third baseman Alex Bregman watched a video of the Red Sox's 2004 postseason run and were inspired.
If Houston is able to complete the comeback, then it will be remembered as one of the biggest moments in postseason history, and rightly so. That being said, these Astros are nothing like those Red Sox, and here's why.
The Curse of the Bambino
Let's start with the obvious reason: The Red Sox had long been one of baseball's most successful franchises but hadn't won a World Series since 1918. Many called the drought "The Curse of the Bambino," as it coincided with the sale of Babe Ruth to the Yankees after the 1919 season for $125,000. Of course, Ruth went on to become one of, if the not the most celebrated, players in MLB history, winning four World Series titles in 15 years with the Yanks on his way to setting the all-time home record with 714. The Red Sox, meanwhile, went a painful 86 years without a championship while their rivals won 26 in that span.
That was, until Boston finally broke the curse in 2004. And who else would they beat in the ALCS but those damned Yankees? That's about as storybook as it gets in sports.
The Astros, on the other hand, are only three years removed from their World Series championship in 2017, which, it turns out, they may not have won fairly. And they're coming off a World Series appearance in 2019, where they were again accused of cheating, though this time there was no proof. Still, opposing fans and players weren't accidentally rooting for Houston to win it all this season.
Those damned Yankees
The quality and prestige of the opponent just isn't the same when it comes to the 2004 Yankees and the 2020 Rays. That's no slight against Tampa Bay, which finished with the best record in the American League (40-20) during the abbreviated 2020 regular season. The Rays are an excellent team, but a postseason collapse isn't terribly shocking when you consider their inexperience. That wasn't the case with New York in 2004.
The Yankees were the defending AL champions and out for revenge after a disappointing loss to the Marlins in the 2003 World Series. Oh, yeah, and to get to that World Series, they beat the Red Sox in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS on a walk-off home run by Aaron Boone.
Not only were the Yankees a great team the season before, they also acquired the reigning AL MVP, Alex Rodriguez, just before spring training in '04. They still had three of their "Core Four" homegrown players — Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada — who had already played a part in four World Series titles (1996, 1998, 1999, 2000). They had veterans like Bernie Williams and Kenny Lofton, and they had big bats in Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui. It's safe to say that team was pretty stacked, and you would've felt pretty safe betting they'd be able to close out a 3-0 lead.
The Astros shouldn't have made the playoffs
Let's not forget the chaos that 2020 brought to baseball. MLB delayed Opening Day to late July because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it shortened the regular season to 60 games and it expanded the playoffs to eight teams in each league.
That latter decision opened the door for the Astros, who finished a mediocre 29-31 but were second in the AL West. Of course, 60 games is a small sample size compared to 162 games, but making the postseason with a losing record isn't exactly comparable to how the 2004 Red Sox earned the AL wild card. Boston went 98-64 (.605 winning percentage) as it finished second in the East, three games behind the Yankees (that was back when there was only one wild-card team).
The Red Sox overcame true adversity
The 2004 Sox were a feel-good story, even if you hated them, because of what they encountered in the postseason. They were true underdogs against the Yankees. They had magical moments, such as David Ortiz hitting a walk-off homer to end Game 4, Curt Schilling pitching a gem as he bled through his sock in Game 6, and Johnny Damon hitting an early grand slam to give Boston a 6-0 lead in Game 7.
The 2020 Astros, on the other hand, are much more villainous. They've been on the receiving end of a lot of hate, but they've brought it all on themselves. To celebrate this franchise, which was scarcely punished for the 2017 cheating scandal, is to root for the bad guy.