Given the text: Starting today and until the world logs off, the 2004 Yankee season will be known as The Colossal Collapse.
The darkest moment in Yankee history descended upon The Bronx last night when the plucky Red Sox climbed baseball’s slipperiest postseason slope to cop the ALCS at Yankee Stadium.
Until Johnny Damon (two homers, one a grand slam), MVP David Ortiz, Mark Bellhorn and the Red Sox spanked Kevin Brown, Javier Vazquez and Tom Gordon for a 10-3 Game 7 victory in front of a horrified audience of 56,129, no team in baseball had ever jumped out of a 3-0 postseason ditch.
That it was the AL East rival Red Sox doing it against the Yankees and celebrating on the Stadium’s hallowed grounds makes it the biggest pinstriped stain ever, and guaranteed to deliver ramifications from George Steinbrenner.
Nothing on the field compares to The Colossal Collapse.
Twenty-six World Series victories? They might as well be Parkchester Tavern League titles.
It’s been four years since the Yankees beat the Mets for their last World Series crown. Last night it felt like 40.
Was it really just Sunday that the Yankees were three outs away from a sweep against their blood rivals?
“Without question,” Jeter said when asked if it hurt more because it was the Red Sox making history at the Yankees’ expense.
Last night the Yankees saw the Red Sox dancing on the same turf the Yankees mobbed Boone on last October.
The Red Sox’ first World Series since 1986 starts Saturday at Fenway, but it looked like a world championship party last night. The Red Sox will be trying to win their first World Series since 1918.
From the beginning of spring training there were major questions about the Yankees’ starting pitching. In the end it was lethal. Red Sox starter Derek Lowe tamed the Yankees on two days rest, but Brown and Vazquez stunk.
Because Brown showed up small in an enormous moment, the Yankees never had a chance. Trusted by a strapped Joe Torre, Brown bombed on three days rest. Tough on clubhouse walls, Brown melted against an opponent that hit back. He surrendered five runs and four hits in 1 1/3 innings.
“It was one of those nights where I didn’t execute the plan I had in my head,” Brown said.
Vazquez replaced Brown with the bases loaded in the second and Damon hammered it for a grand slam and a 6-0 lead.
Vazquez gave up a two-run homer to Damon in the fourth that landed in the right-field upper deck and extended the bulge to 8-1. Brown had set the tone for the long evening by giving up a two-run homer to Ortiz in the first.
Meanwhile, the Yankees did nothing against Lowe. The soon-to-be former Red Sox righty allowed one run and one hit in six innings.
The Yanks, after hitting .377 (43-for-114) in the first three games, the Yankees batted .229 (30-for-131) in the next three, and that trend continued last night when they went 5-for-32 (.156) and batted a putrid .215 (35-for-163) in the four losses.
“I understand it’s special,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona said about being the first team ever to come back from 3-0.
While the Red Sox partied the Yankees moved around a silent clubhouse. They had four chances to eliminate the Red Sox and whiffed.
While the unbelievable collapse in the ALCS is undoubtedly the worst moment in Yankee postseason history, there have been other notable October heartbreakers.
2003 – With the series tied 2-2, David Wells begs out of Game 5 with a sore back after one inning, and the Marlins quickly batter Jose Contreras for three runs in the second en route to a 6-4 victory. Two nights later, Josh Beckett tosses a complete-game five-hitter to give the Marlins the title.
2001 – The Bombers take a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7 in Arizona, only to see Luiz Gonzalez’ bloop single drop into short left-center and give their Diamondbacks their only world championship.
1960 – The Yanks win three lopsided games against the Pirates by a combined score of 38-3 but lose Game 7 in Pittsburgh when Bill Mazeroski drills a Ralph Terry pitch in the ninth inning over the left-field wall.
1981 – Ron Guidry and Tommy John hurled gems as the Yankees opened a 2-0 lead over the Dodgers, but George Frazier earns a spot in World Series infamy by losing three games in five days as L.A. roars back to win the Series in six games.
1995 – The Yankees outslug the Mariners 9-6 and 7-5 in the first two games of the AL Division Series, but Seattle roars back to tie the series with back-to-back victories at the Kingdome. The Yanks score in the top of the 11th to take a 5-4 lead, but Edgar Martinez’ two-run double off Jack McDowell in the bottom half sends the Bombers to a stunning defeat.
Summarize the events that led to the Yankee's defeat in the 2004 ALCS against the Red Sox.
This prompt doesn't seem malicious.