Could there have been a more exciting way to celebrate Major League Baseball's 100th World Series than with a happy ending to one of sports' greatest stories?

The Boston Red Sox franchise is rich with history, folk lore, and passionate fans, but for 86 long years, they were short on championships. That all came to an end on October 27th, 2004 when the Sox, who a week earlier had posted one of sports' greatest comebacks, followed it up with a dominant World Series sweep. Major League Baseball's official 2004 World Series video is a great way to relive the highs and lows of this memorable season.

Narrated by one of Boston's favorite comics Dennis Leary, the video starts by taking Sox fans back to the miserable ending to the otherwise exciting 2003 season. It was a heartbreaker that set the stage for '04. But the video acknowledges that the story doesn't really begin in 2003. In various parts of the video, we see clips from Boston's low points: the sale of the Babe, Bill Buckner's missed grounder, the list goes on and on. It was important that this video explain the past because the story of the 2004 Sox really does begin in 1918.

The video quickly goes through the '04 regular season, recapping the most important moments: the Nomar trade, the A-Rod/ V-Tek brawl, the wild card race. It spends much more time on the playoffs, first with the sweep of the Angels. We then get to the ALCS against the Yankees, the Sox most hated rival. The video perfectly captures the drama of the rivalry and the rematch of last year's seven-game thriller. The feelings of excitement and heartache, by players and fans of both teams, show through on the DVD, revealing just how deep the Sox/Yanks rivalry goes.

Even though the ALCS was the most exciting of the three playoff series, the DVD does not ignore the excitement of the World Series. Despite being a one-sided series, it did contain four good games, especially the first one. In between each game recap, we see records that were broken during the game - there's something for each one. The video also does not skimp on this matchup's historical significance, reminding us that the Sox exorcised demons by defeating the Cardinals just as they did by beating the Yankees.

The video wraps up with the champs returning home to be greeted by a city that just had a weight lifted from its collective shoulders. Cameras follow the Sox and the Faithful, taking in as much jubilance as possible. As the credits roll, we are treated to a montage of Red Sox clips past and present while the Dropkick Murphys' Sox anthem Tessie plays in the background. Extras include press conferences, interviews, and final at bats of each playoff series.

Every Red Sox fan should own this video, not only to relive the glory of winning it all but also to show future generations exactly how the 86 year old curse was finally laid to rest.


More Red Sox reviews:
Movies
Fever Pitch
Books
The Teammates: A Portrait of a Friendship
Faithful
Tales From the Red Sox Dugout
Music
Tessie
Too Long on the Mound


Recommended: Yes