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2004 SUPER BOWL CHAMPION
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS |
THE "IDIOTS" REVERSE THE CURSE
The Jays spoil the opener at Fenway
April 9, 2004 ... The Sox dropped their third straight home opener - 10-5 to the Blue Jays before 34,337 - and
added Johnny Damon and Ramiro Mendoza to an injury roll call that already includes Nomar Garciaparra, Trot Nixon, and Byung Hyun Kim. And the dwindling number of healthy players among them wanted nothing else but pillows under their heads after their record slipped to 2-3.
So it was after the luckiest Sox players slept three or four hours, though most snoozed about as much as manager Terry Francona, who crashed for an hour on the couch in his clubhouse office after the team's numbing trip home from Baltimore. Due to mechanical problems
with their Delta charter at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, a flight that was scheduled to depart about 1:30 a.m. lifted off at 5:46 and touched down at Logan at 6:37. The Sox' bus arrived at Fenway for the season's first homestand at 7:24 a.m.
No such luck for the next generation of sleepwalkers. Playing a Toronto team that arrived in town Thursday at 7 p.m., just as the Sox began their debilitating 13-inning loss to the Orioles, Francona's club carried a 5-4 lead into the eighth inning before Mike Timlin
squandered a save opportunity by surrendering three runs to the previously winless Jays.
Timlin was making his fourth appearance in five games, including the previous night's marathon. And the Sox' pen was so depleted that he had little choice but to endure Toronto's pounding as he threw 36 pitches in the inning, giving up three doubles and a single and
hitting a batter.
Mark Malaska, 26, made his Sox debut by relieving Bronson Arroyo to start the seventh inning and retiring the Jays in order. He went 2- 1 with a 2.81 ERA last year in 22 appearances for the Devil Rays.
Celebrating the team's rich history, the Sox invited an array of former stars to participate in the opening ceremonies. They included Carl Yastrzemski, Johnny Pesky, Charlie Wagner, Jim Rice, Dwight Evans, Dennis Eckersley, Luis Tiant, and Bruce Hurst. The luminaries
flanked a red carpet while the current Sox were introduced. Curt Schilling received the loudest ovation, with Garciaparra and Tim Wakefield close behind. With an American flag draped over the Green Monster, the Patriots streamed from left field toward the pitcher's mound to thunderous
applause. Richard Seymour held high the 2002 Super Bowl trophy while Patriots owner Robert Kraft carried the '04 trophy to the mound. Kraft then fired a ceremonial first pitch to Francona before the Sox and Patriots mingled together in a show of solidarity. The show was staged by Sox
impresario Charles Steinberg, the executive vice president of public affairs.
The crowd of 34,337 was the largest for a Fenway home opener since 1992, when 34,472 turned out. Brian Daubach, who received a rousing ovation, reclaimed his locker next to Trot Nixon. Schilling's locker is located next to Varitek's. |
