2004 Red Sox: Reserves in the Playoffs

Lenny DiNardo being transported by Bill Janovitz and Pete Caldes during the 2004 World Series celebration. (Photo courtesy of Lenny DiNardo)

 

Before Game One of the 2004 World Series, the Red Sox team and staff were introduced individually, coming out from the dugout and standing along the Fenway Park first-base line.  This included the batboys – Andrew Crosby and Chris Cundiff – the trainers, the clubhouse staff, and – as a bonus, “Mr. Red Sox” Johnny Pesky.1

Five of the players on the 25-man World Series roster had not been on the team on Opening Day: Orlando Cabrera, Curtis Leskanic, Doug Mientkiewicz, Mike Myers, and Dave Roberts.

There were a number of players introduced who were not on the 25-man roster, but who had made contributions to the team during the course of the season.  

There were also players introduced who were on the roster but, as events transpired, did not see action in the World Series, which lasted only four games since the Red Sox swept the Cardinals. These included Terry Adams, Ellis Burks, Curtis Leskanic, Sandy Martinez, Dave McCarty, Ramiro Mendoza, Mike Myers, Dave Roberts, and Kevin Youkilis.

Others introduced before the game who were not on the roster were Lenny DiNardo, Ricky Gutierrez, and Adam Hyzdu.

It was quite gracious of the Red Sox to recognize the players in this fashion, players who had been readied as possible reserves should they have been needed. Adam Hyzdu said, “Theo was nice to do that.  It would have been a fluke [had either Lenny or I been needed], but once the Series started you can’t really do anything with your roster.  A couple of days there working, doing some hitting, to be kind of fresh – just in case.”2 His understanding was at first pitch, the rosters were locked.

Lenny DiNardo said, “I was fortunate enough to be on the team – 22 games that season – and they allowed to line up with the team at home, in uniform.” Though he did not travel with the team to St. Louis, he was at the first two games, at Fenway Park. “I was either in the clubhouse or the dugout, traveling back and forth. I do remember meeting Steven Tyler in the clubhouse. He came in and got a cup of coffee and I talked to him for a minute. James Taylor, maybe, at some point? Most of the time, I was in the clubhouse taking it in on the couch. Ortiz would come in every now and then – he was DH-ing. He would come in and hang out.

“I think they did their best to let me be a part of the festivities and whatnot. Obviously I was on the duckboat parade.

“A 24-year-old kid who wasn’t going to be on the postseason roster.  There were a lot of veterans on that club – a lot of dirt on their spikes.  I don’t look back on it with any regret.”3

Adam Hyzdu did travel with the team to St. Louis as well. “In uniform, in the dugout. It was really cool gesture to fly us back. Obviously appreciated, because it was an experience that very few get. You got a room. You got your meal money.  Everything was normal. You’re just not an active player. It was a really good seat, for sure.  A good seat.” And at the end, doused with champagne.

 

Notes

1 Full coverage of the introductions can be seen on this YouTube video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYCweQS5nVo&t=1494s

2 Interview with Adam Hyzdu on June 13, 2023.

3 When the Red Sox won the final game of the World Series, DiNardo said, “I was at a bar with a lot of my friends who were musicians – Flat Top Johnny’s [Kendall Square.] Bill Janovitz, who was in a band called Buffalo Tom, and Pete Caldes, Ed Valauskas, and Juliana Hatfield, and a bunch of other musicians that I became friends with and am ‘til today – ended up picking me up and crowd-surfing me from one side of the bar to the other. I think I landed on a pool table.” Interview with Lenny DiNardo on August 27, 2023.