July 1, 2004: Derek Jeter’s dangerous diving catch saves Yankees’ sweep of Red Sox

In the middle of an instant classic between the Red Sox and Yankees, Derek Jeter made the most dangerous catch of his career, hurtling headfirst into the stands to catch a popup off the bat of Trot Nixon. The play kept the score tied in a game New York went on to win on a walk-off single by backup catcher John Flaherty, completing a three-game sweep of their rivals. 

The rivalry between the Red Sox and Yankees had never felt more intense than it did in the middle of 2004. After Aaron Boone crushed a fluttering knuckleball from Boston’s Tim Wakefield into the upper deck of Yankee Stadium to win the 2003 pennant for the Yankees, Boston sought to improve its team. In the 2003-04 offseason, the Red Sox were close to acquiring 2003 American League MVP Alex Rodriguez, only for the Players Association to block the trade at the last minute. When Boone tore his ACL in the offseason, the Yankees pulled off a shocking move and acquired Rodriguez.

As the season neared the halfway point, the Red Sox and Yankees came together for a midweek three-game series in the Bronx. New York came into the series with a 5½-game lead in the AL East. In the first game, on June 29, Gary Sheffield’s three-run home run in the bottom of the fourth gave New York a 7-2 lead en route to an 11-3 Yankees victory.1 In the second game, on June 30, the Red Sox led 2-0 in the bottom of the seventh behind a strong pitching performance from Wakefield. But in the seventh, with the bases loaded and Wakefield out of the game, Tony Clark hit a groundball that squeezed through an opening in first baseman David Ortiz’s glove, allowing two runs to score and tying the game. Ortiz found company in the error column in the bottom of the eighth when Yankees center fielder Kenny Lofton reached on an infield single and took second on a throwing error by Boston shortstop Nomar Garciaparra. Sheffield drove home the winning run on a double, and New York won, 4-2.

The pitching matchup for the final game appeared to be a mismatch on paper. It pitted three-time Cy Young Award winner Pedro Martinez against Yankees rookie Brad Halsey, who was making only his third major-league start. Martinez had started 2004 at 8-3 with a 3.73 ERA. Halsey, meanwhile, had pitched well in his first start, against the Dodgers, but struggled in his second start, against the Mets.

After Halsey retired Boston on one hit in the first, Martinez took the mound for his second start of the season against the Yankees. He quickly reintroduced himself to the Yankee Stadium crowd. Facing Sheffield with two outs, Martinez intentionally drilled Sheffield in the back after Martinez took umbrage at Sheffield’s tardy time-out call. Sheffield yelled at Martinez as he walked to first but went no further. “Play the game right,” Sheffield said he told Martinez.”2

In the bottom of the second, the Yankees scored the first runs of the game on a two-run home run by Clark to right-center field. Both Halsey and Martinez settled into the game for the rest of the early innings, allowing no runs until Jorge Posada took Martinez deep in the fifth inning. At the end of five, New York led, 3-0.

Boston quickly mounted a rally in the sixth. After Halsey struck out Mark Bellhorn, Ortiz blooped a ball near the left-field line that Hideki Matsui was unable to catch. The ball bounced into the left-field stands for a ground-rule double. The next man up, Manny Ramirez, hit his 21st home run of the season to bring Boston within one run. Yankees manager Joe Torre lifted Halsey from the game and replaced him with Paul Quantrill, who retired the next two men. 

The Red Sox tied the game in the top of the seventh. First baseman Dave McCarty doubled to deep center on a ball just out of Lofton’s reach. A single by Kevin Youkilis put men at the corners with no outs. Pokey Reese, getting the start at shortstop in place of Garciaparra, grounded into a double play, scoring McCarty and tying the game, 3-3. Martinez worked around a walk to Posada and a single by Enrique Wilson to hold the Yankees scoreless in the seventh in his last inning of work. Martinez went seven innings, giving up three runs.

After nobody scored in the eighth, the Yankees loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the ninth. The crowd of 55,265 was electric, anticipating a Yankees walk-off win. But Keith Foulke, the All-Star closer signed by Boston from Oakland before the season, struck out pinch-hitter Ruben Sierra and induced a groundball from Lofton to send the game into extra innings.

Yankees closer Mariano Rivera entered in the 10th and retired the Red Sox in order. Mike Timlin replaced Foulke in the bottom of the inning and hit Jeter leading off. Sheffield, the next man up, hit into a double play. Rodriguez doubled and stole third, putting the winning run on third with two outs. Alan Embree replaced Timlin and walked Bubba Crosby, who had entered the game as a pinch-runner for Matsui in the ninth. Bernie Williams lined out to Youkilis, sending the game to the 11th.

Still facing Rivera, the Red Sox loaded the bases with nobody out. The next man up, Kevin Millar, hit one sharply to Rodriguez at third. Rodriguez dove to his right to grab Millar’s groundball, tagged third, and threw home side-arm to Posada to get the runner trying to score. McCarty then flied out to left, and Rivera escaped a perilous jam to keep the score tied. Embree retired the Yankees in order to send the game to the 12th.

Tanyon Sturtze replaced Rivera and found himself in trouble with runners at second and third and two men out. Nixon, pinch-hitting for Gabe Kapler, lofted a shallow fly near the left-field line. Sprinting full speed, Jeter made a spectacular catch to grab the ball. Jeter’s momentum carried him headfirst into the third row of seats, and he sustained a laceration of his chin and bruises. “Those are the things I keep saying that don’t show up in the stats,” said Torre. “To make a play like that, with the game on the line, is pretty damn special.”3 “That’s why he’s Derek Jeter,” said Yankees first baseman Jason Giambi. “He’s a winner and that’s why you want him on your team.”4 “Greatest catch I’ve ever seen,” said Rodriguez. “It was unbelievable. He’s just so unselfish. He put his body in a compromising spot. It was hard to watch.”5

The play also juxtaposed Jeter with Garciaparra, Boston’s star shortstop, who sat on the bench with the day off because of an injured right Achilles’ heel.6 With blood on his uniform, Jeter walked off with the trainers to a loud ovation. He left the game to get checked out at a local hospital.7

Curt Leskanic entered for Boston and gave up a leadoff triple to Miguel Cairo and loaded the bases with one out. On a 3-and-2 pitch to Bubba Crosby, Leskanic got him to hit a groundball to shortstop and Pokey Reese threw home for the force out.8 With the bases loaded and two outs, Leskanic struck out Williams, and the game remained tied after 12.

In the top of the 13th, Ramirez hit his second home run of the evening to give Boston a 4-3 lead. With the Yankees down to their final out in the bottom half against Leskanic, Sierra singled up the middle. Cairo, down to his last strike, doubled to the right-center-field alley to score Sierra and tie the game. Flaherty singled to deep left field to score Cairo and win the game for the Yankees. New York had an 8½-game lead over Boston in early July.

“This game was just as exciting, if not more exciting, than Game 7 [of the 2003 ALCS],” said Embree.9 Despite the outcome, Boston remained optimistic about its chances. “They got the better of us in this series,” said Johnny Damon. “But this is going to be our worst dip in our year. We still believe we’re going to go off and win the World Series.”10

Damon proved prophetic. Though it certainly felt as though the Yankees would always find a way to beat the Red Sox, the tables eventually turned. In the AL Championship Series, the Red Sox rallied from a three-games-to-none deficit to beat the Yankees, then swept the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series to win Boston’s first championship since 1918.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA200407010.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2004/B07010NYA2004.htm

The author also watched the game on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeejzvQzLWM&t=11s

Notes

1 Boston also made three errors through the first four innings.

2 Tyler Kepner, “Dust Settles in 13th, and Yankees Sweep,” New York Times, July 2, 2004: D3.

3 Ben Walker (Associated Press), “Catch Proves Why Yankees, New Yorkers Love Jeter,” Marysville (Ohio) Journal-Tribune July 2, 2004: 11.

4 Walker.

5 Kepner.

6 Garciaparra came into the game hitting .235 with 5 errors in 17 games. Later in the month the Red Sox traded him to the Chicago Cubs at the trade deadline.

7 When Jeter left the game, Rodriguez moved over to play shortstop, and Sheffield moved to third base for the first time since 1993.

8 The Red Sox got the out in part by using five infielders (including a left-handed second baseman in McCarty) and leaving Ramirez and Damon to cover the outfield.

9 Bob Hohler, “Sox Falter Again as Yankees Rally to Complete Sweep,” Boston Globe, July 2, 2004: 77.

10 Hohler.