[expectant music plays]
[McDonough] It's the Red Sox and the Orioles, game three,
and the Sox really are in can't-lose territory these days.
They have been searching for a way to put pitching, hitting, and defense together.
It's been an elusive combination, and time is running out.
Need all the Advil. All of it.
"Ibuprofen" means "I be playing."
-How you feeling, big dawg? -All right, you?
[Duran] Good. Grinding. You know how it is.
-Yeah, September. That's the way it is. -[Duran laughs]
[McDonough] Jarren Duran's ready to go on this very pleasant night,
and so is the Hall of Fame voice of the Red Sox, Joe Castiglione.
Thank you very much, Sean McDonough. Great to have you with us here.
Jarren Duran will bat first, and the pitch.
He swung, a line into center field, a base hit.
Duran leads off the eighth with a first pitch single,
bringing up Devers, who's walked.
-Oh man. I'm grinding right now. -Same.
My fingers hurt. My knees hurt.
Yeah. It's that time of year.
[Joe] Baseball's an endurance test.
A hundred sixty-two games. It's a daily grind.
They always say, "It's a marathon, not a sprint."
-[crowd chants] Let's go, Red Sox! -[clapping in unison]
[Joe] I joined the Red Sox in 1983.
2024 is my 42nd year overall.
[poignant music plays]
Baseball's like building a pyramid.
What happened today is built on what happened yesterday,
the week before, the month before, the year before,
the generation before.
Welcome to the 2005 home opener here in Boston.
It's been an 86-year wait,
but the Red Sox are finally getting their rings.
[Will] This is a town
that not only did they not win a World Series for 86 years,
but they lost in epically Greek-tragedy fashion.
And when they finally crossed that threshold in 2004,
Joe narrated that moment and the three titles that followed.
[Joe] Swing, and a ground ball stabbed by Foulke. He has it.
He underhands to first,
and the Boston Red Sox are the world champions
for the first time in 86 years.
Can you believe it?
"Can you believe it?"
At the belt, the pitch.
Swing and a miss. It's over.
The Red Sox have swept the Colorado Rockies.
[Will] He is the soundtrack to so many of people's best memories.
[Joe] Swing and a miss. Strike three. It's over.
The Red Sox have won the world championship.
[Will] But he also helped navigate the harder times.
He's there for the Buckner moment in '86.
[Joe] This game has more twists and turns
than a Colorado highway through the Rockies.
[Will] He was there in '03 when Aaron Boone hits the home run.
[Joe] Swing and a long drive to left.
Gone. A home run. The New York Yankees have won the pennant.
And he holds Boston's hand through loss and tragedy
and says, "We're gonna be okay. There are brighter days ahead."
"There will be a new season."
We've been dancing around it, Joe. Take it away.
Okay, well, I never thought this day would come
and, uh… [smacks lips] …certainly mixed emotions,
but after 42 years and some 6,500 games… [chuckles]
…I think it's time, uh, to hang up the microphone,
at least on a regular basis, and, uh… [smacks lips]
…announce the retirement here.
It's something I never really thought I'd do,
because, you know, I've had so many great thrills here.
[director] Why this year have you decided to step away?
Well, I owe time at home, and I just think it's time.
I wanted to go out on my own terms and before I lost my fastball. [chuckles]
I was 23 years old when this picture was taken.
The Washington Senators, they were managed by "the Thumper," the great Ted Williams.
He was cussing in a most unusual way I'd never heard before. Very creative.
When you think back, of all the things that have happened between 1970 to today,
it just is overwhelming, really.
Forty-two great years with the Red Sox.
[poignant music continues]
One thing I like to do coming back from a trip…
I get into Fenway at three o'clock in the morning.
I like to sit out there and look at the dark Fenway Park
with just the security lights on.
[crowd murmurs faintly]
[Joe] It's breathtaking.
-[baseball bat clacks] -[crowd cheering faintly]
[Joe] To think about all the things that have happened here.
-[cheering lifts] -[rousing music plays]
This is for you, Boston.
[crowd cheers]
[Joe] I think the fan base realized
that this team, this franchise could win multiple championships and did.
There's nothing more exhilarating than a pennant race.
3-2, Baltimore.
[Will] The Red Sox would have to get some runs
to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Here's his pitch, and he swings and drives one to left!
High and deep.
-And this ball is long gone. -[cheering erupts]
A walk-off home run, Tyler O'Neill, and the Red Sox have won it.
Their first walk-off home run of the year. The final, 5-3, Red Sox.
A high, towering drive deep into the night,
and the Red Sox walk it off.
[raucous cheering]
[Joe] You look at the young players and the hope for the future,
and I think it's optimistic.
[Red Sox team cheering]
[commentator 1] The Red Sox are heading to the Bronx next.
[commentator 2] Sometimes it's just that one series
where it can get you back on track for this Wild Card race.
-[commentator 1] Yeah. -[commentator 2] But they gotta get hot.
Live for another day, baby.
[Joe] This is a team that shows a lot of hope and promise.
[music fades]
[crowd chatter fades in]
[stadium organ plays]
Come on!
Come on, WooSox!
[man 1] Come on! You got it!
[clapping continues]
[man 1] Come on, Triston! Get a strike in there.
-[man 2] Bobby! -[man 1] Get 'em out!
[Cooper] And here comes Triston Casas, continuing his rehab assignment,
the big left-hand hitter.
[fans whoop, applaud]
[Casas exhales sharply]
I get nervous just because I care, you know?
I wanna have results, and I want production.
You know, yeah, I'm coming back from an injury and stuff,
but I want results from the first time that I step back in the box. That's all.
[director] Good luck today.
Uh, save it for someone who needs it, huh? I don't need that.
-Come on, Triston! -[expectant rock music plays]
Come on, Triston!
[Cooper] 2-2, Casas rolls one over to the second baseman,
and it's fumbled out there by Geraldo,
but he picks it up, and he throws late.
-Hey! -[fans whoop, clap]
[Casas shouts]
[Cooper] And so ends, in all likelihood, the day for Triston Casas.
I think he'll be ready by Monday.
-Congratulations, man. -[Casas] Thanks, man.
[Cooper] We're not guaranteeing he'll be in the lineup every day.
Who knows? Maybe he's ready tomorrow, but that's just one man's prediction.
-[boy 1] Triston, please! -[boy 2] Triston!
[kids clamor]
-[boy 3] Please will you sign my ball? -[boy 4] Thank you.
[boy 3] Will you sign my ball?
-Yeah! -[boy 5] Thank you.
-Thank you. I see you hit bombs. -Thank you.
[boy 6] Triston, I can't wait to see you with the Red Sox.
-Yo, you have your phone? -[boy 4] A picture with my phone?
-Yeah, you have a phone? -[boy 4] Yeah.
-Here, gimme it. -[boy 4] Okay.
[funky, expectant music plays]
[Casas] Last night, after my first at bat,
something just popped in my head and told me I was ready to go.
-Thank you, sir. -[Casas] Here.
-Bro, thank you so much. -Oh, yo!
-[Casas] For you. -Whoa.
[woman] Such a fan. Thank you so much.
[Casas] It's good enough to come out and play 100%, right?
My bat speed numbers are back to… to what they were before.
That was what I was worried about the most,
was, you know, whipping the bat around at Major League speeds,
and I'm right back to it.
The pain is what it is.
You know, it's not gonna bother me from playing the game that I need to,
and that's what I wanted most.
[Sean] Triston Casas, just returning,
and now here it is, the middle of September,
you're trying to catch up in the playoff race.
The Red Sox may be having some life left to them in their wild card chase.
They announce that Trevor Story, who's been on the IL, will be returning.
[commentator] Been talking to Trevor Story earlier today.
Of course, trying to rehab his way back.
Getting closer and closer. Watched him taking some batting practice today.
I think, as bad as it was early, that's how good it's been lately.
We're riding that momentum of how it's feeling good, so…
Um, obviously, this whole thing is around the playoff run
and being able to play in October, so…
[Cora] He's been relentless, you know, in the rehab, in the workouts,
in everything that he needed to do to be back at this level,
and for us to get back in this race, you know, we need everybody.
[funky, expectant music continues]
[music fades out]
[car horns honking]
[telephone line rings, clicks]
-[man] Hey, Raquel. -Hey, Ry. How are you?
-[Ryan] Good. -Good.
I'm working on getting you that backup for, um, the budget stuff.
I can give you the stuff for, like, baseball uniforms and equipment.
Right? 'Cause…
-Stuff that goes up every year. Baseballs… -[Ryan] Yeah.
[Raquel] We have to provide two cases of baseball for every visiting team.
That's mandated by MLB, so that's like another 35,000.
-[Ryan] I got you. -I'm still working on it. Okay.
-Okay. -I'll get that to you today.
-Thank you. -[Ryan] Thanks.
[Raquel] I'm so behind in these budgets. It sucks.
To actually do them during the season is… We've never done that before.
We usually do it when the season ends,
which we usually hope is late October.
Um, so having to do 'em now during the season is… is tough to do,
especially since we don't know, like, what's gonna happen.
Like, you know how much money we spend on baseballs? It's ridiculous.
Just during the regular season… 490,000.
Um, but that doesn't include Spring Training.
[director] 400… You spend half a million…
Almost half a million dollars.
-[director] Just on baseballs. -On baseballs.
And that doesn't even include the minor leagues. It's crazy.
Like, we spend 19,000 on helmets.
Bats, we spend 150,000 probably.
[director] How much do you spend on mud?
Not a lot. Five hundred bucks.
When we're in the playoffs, it's just electric around here.
That's when I don't mind doing another budget,
'cause we have to do a postseason budget, which nobody minds doing, so…
But it is always electric around here during the postseason. It's great.
[commentator chatters on TV]
[Raquel] We are four games behind in the wild card.
We still have a long way to go.
So I'm not counting us out yet.
[reporter] All of a sudden, Boston's playoff chase has some life again
for that third wild card spot before they travel
to the Bronx to play the Yankees.
Somehow, this team is still in it.
[expectant music plays]
[brakes squeal]
[clattering]
Like, how important is this weekend? Like, is this a big weekend?
[Crawford] It's really, really important. It's really crucial.
I mean, every single game from here on out is very crucial.
This series means more to us than it does to them, I guess, to put it that way.
-The Red Sox-Yankees makes it fun. -[Alex] Yeah.
[Crawford] A little more fuel on the fire, but…
[Alex] That bulldog energy?
[Crawford] Yeah.
Try to channel my inner dog.
-Yeah? Inner dog? -[Crawford] Dawg.
That's what everyone's probably doing right now.
[electronic music plays]
[Andrew] We talked in Baltimore about continuing to stay in the fight,
about the opportunity that continues to be ahead of us, right?
We don't get these opportunities to be in a race every single year.
It is special.
Um, so continue to just make every pitch every time, right?
Dev, you got anything?
Every meeting, you say nothing.
-Fuck these guys. Let's go. -[Andrew chuckles]
-All right, there it is. Let's go. -Hey, that's something.
Big game, big series at Yankee Stadium with the Red Sox.
They're at a crucial point in their season. There's two weeks left.
Triston Casas and Trevor Story are back.
It's fun to be right back with the boys, fighting for a playoff spot.
That's what it's all about, why I came.
You feel the hostility when you're in Yankee Stadium,
and I'm sure they feel the same way when they're at Fenway, so…
It's special, man. One of the biggest rivalries in sports.
Fenway gets loud. Yankee Stadium gets louder.
They've been actually better than us, you know, the last two years.
This year, they're tremendous, but it's always cool to play them.
Go out, believe in yourselves, lead with confidence.
Win the series. Have a happy flight.
[commentator] The Red Sox clinging on to life in the wild card hunt.
Fifteen games to go in the regular season for the Red Sox.
[Joe] Here's Jarren Duran. Two of his last 22.
Here's the pitch, and he swings and grounds it weakly to the right side.
[rousing electronic music plays]
-Torres flips. He's safe. -[Yankees fans groan]
[Sam] This is a more difficult place to play.
2003, I'm an employee of the team. I'm sitting at Yankee Stadium.
Aaron Boone hits that home run to walk us off, and it's like,
"Oh my God, like, we are cursed. We actually are cursed."
[Joe] The pitch. He swung on it, missed it.
Here he goes on the first pitch.
-And the throw is in time. He's out. -[crowd cheers]
1949, you know, they gotta win one game in New York.
They lose them both, you know. 1948, one game playoff.
And then right up to '03, the Aaron Boone-Wakefield thing.
Just crushing… crushing losses.
So it wasn't just they didn't win.
They came close. They took you to the edge.
[electronic music continues]
[Will] Aaron Judge,
he's not homered 16 consecutive games.
[Joe] 3-1 pitch is up and away, ball four. This is the longest drought of his career.
[commentator] He's overdue.
-What up, AJ? How you feeling? -Good. You?
[Casas] Feeling all right, all things considered. I've been worse.
[Joe] Low and inside, ball four.
Up and in, ball four. Walked the bases loaded.
Chisholm wears the number 13 here on Friday the 13th.
[Will chuckles] It's sort of feeling like a Friday the 13th, isn't it?
[Joe] It is.
[Sean] It used to be,
"How are they gonna blow this one?"
But those 2004 Red Sox changed the mindset in New England.
[Will] With the bases loaded…
Fly ball to center.
[Will] …their season is on the line.
[Joe] Swing and a high fly, right-center field.
To the warning track goes Duran.
He's there, and he makes the catch in front of the Yankee bullpen.
That had about five feet to go. It would've been a grand slam.
[Cora] Come on, JD! Attaboy!
[Sean] All of a sudden, there was a positive example to cite,
and they had transformed themselves
into this franchise that offered hope and belief.
[Andrew] Right there. Let's go. Come on. Attaboy, Fitts. Attaboy.
Now we go! Now we go! Let's go! Vamos! Vamos! Vamos!
[music abates]
-[Hendricks] All right. What do we got? -[Martin] We got a tie game.
[Hendricks] Is it? Who are we playing? [chuckles]
[Martin] You're such an idiot, dude. His pitch count's getting up there.
Close game. Um…
-[Hendricks] Big series. -Yeah, big series. It's like…
We're gonna go…
Any signs of struggle,
you know, we're gonna deploy.
You only notice us when shit goes bad.
That's a true statement.
[Hendricks] Nobody comes to us when we do well,
but they sure as shit will be out there when we suck.
Last year, when we were in Chicago, we got janitor's outfits
because we're the guys who come in and clean up everybody else's shit.
I've been on a team where we came from behind, and we got hot at the end
and ended up winning the World Series.
So you're never out of it until you're out of it.
[Will] Top of the sixth, Jarren Duran to lead it off.
Chops it on the right side, through!
-[Hendricks] Oh. -Hey, there we go.
[funky, upbeat music plays]
[Joe] Two down, here comes Yoshida.
[Cora] I'm telling you, think homer.
Home run, boys. Home run.
Home run, baby!
[Will] Yoshida strikes one to right.
[player 1] Masataka?
[Cora] Home run, baby! Home run, baby! Home run, baby!
[Will] That ball is gone!
[Cora] Told you so!
-[player 1] Oh my Japanese king! -[crowd cheering]
[player 2] Come on. Give it to us, Masa. Give it to us.
[exclaims]
[Cora] Think homer, boys! Think homer! Attaboy!
-[clapping] -[funky music continues]
[Faust] The scoreless tie is broken, 2-0, Red Sox.
[Cora] Attaboy!
[Faust] Ground ball single for Casas.
[funky music continues]
[Faust] Hard-hit ball, deep right field from Trevor Story.
-It's gone! -[Yankees fans groan, boo]
[Red Sox bullpen clapping]
[Faust] Opposite field shot for Trevor Story.
His first homer of the season. His first extra base hit of the season,
and he doubles the Red Sox lead.
Now the Red Sox trying to climb their way back into the wild card.
-[Cora] Uh… Boos. -Do you want him ready for Soto, though?
Uh…
["Can't Take My Eyes Off You" plays]
-Let's see what happens with Volpe, right? -Yeah.
♪ I love you, baby… ♪
[Will] As tired as I get of hearing Frank Sinatra on loop in this ballpark,
I do not feel the same way about Frankie Valli, as Volpe digs in.
Frankie Valli, "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You."
[tense music plays]
[Will] Big 3-2 pitch coming.
Outside, he walked him. This can't happen.
[Casas] God fucking damn it, man.
[Will] I still haven't seen Jersey Boys. I need to change that.
-I've seen it five times. -[Will] That right?
[Joe] Yeah. New York, Fort Myers, Boston, Toronto.
Twice in Fort Myers, actually.
-[Will] And he walked him. -[crowd cheers]
[Will] Low fastball, almost a mortal sin by Kelly.
Two walks, and the Yankees have two on with nobody out.
[tense music continues]
[line ringing]
[player] Watch!
[Andrew] Booser for Soto.
-[intriguing music plays] -[crowd cheering]
[Will] Kelly, on the ropes.
Torres to left, a base hit!
Here comes Volpe around third, and the Yankees are on the board.
Zack Kelly has given up the first Yankee run of the game,
and I don't know that they can stay with him.
[Faust] Red Sox make a pitching change.
[commentator 1] That's a big spot for Cam Booser.
[Cora] Come on, Boos. Here we go. Let's go.
Attack, attack, attack. Let's go. Vamos.
[tense, suspenseful music plays]
[Faust] Cam Booser comes in to face Juan Soto
with two on and nobody out in the seventh.
[Will] Tying run at the plate in Soto.
What a menacing figure he is. Still nobody out in the seventh.
Soto takes a ball.
1-0.
Booser delivers. Soto takes low.
Judge waiting on deck.
-[Andrew] Come on, Boos. -[Will] Ahead 2-0.
Here it is. Soto takes a ball.
[crowd cheers]
[Will] 3-0.
[cheering continues]
[tense music continues]
[Cora] All right, ground ball double play. Here we go. Vamos.
Get this fucking guy. Come on.
[Will] Postseason hopes clinging, dangling by a thread.
The Red Sox on the ropes here. 3-0 to Soto.
Booser is ready. The pitch.
He walked him on four pitches.
-Not even close. -[Faust] Four-pitch walk to Soto.
And they're loaded for Aaron Judge.
[tense music continues]
-[soundscape fades] -[muffled cheering]
[cheering intensifies]
[Will] And what do you know? Here's Aaron Judge with the bases loaded.
Listen to Yankee Stadium.
[cheering, whistling]
[Will] He throws.
And a breaking ball in the dirt. Not even close.
Easy take for Judge, 1-0.
This is the worst possible scenario
because Booser does not know where it's going,
and he may just have to groove one to find a strike.
If that's the case, we're in huge trouble.
-[suspenseful music builds] -[cheering continues]
[Andrew] Come on, Cam.
[soundscape fades out]
[Faust] Judge strikes one, deep left field!
[cheering resumes]
[Faust] A grand slam, and the Yankees have the lead!
-[soundscape fades out] -[glum, foreboding music plays]
[raucous cheering fading in]
[music abates]
[Ian] That was the loudest I heard any stadium all season.
It felt like, "Okay, the Red Sox season's over."
[Sean] It's as if the clock struck 12:00
on a lot of those guys in the bullpen.
[Giolito] These guys get put in impossible situations all the time, man.
Sometimes you get put in a situation where it's like
the failure rate is probably greatly outweighing the success rate.
[Cora] We gotta keep going. There's nothing we can do. Keep going.
That's all. That's all we gotta do. We gotta keep going. Fuck it.
[Booser] Reality is, this game's tough, and you're gonna fail.
You gotta help your team win. You gotta be consistent.
And you gotta be a guy that your manager can trust.
I think it might be that simple.
[Faust] The Sox with a heartbreaking loss
fall to four and a half games out of the wild card spot.
We're just a little over two weeks remaining on this improbable ride
on life support.
[Gordon] The Red Sox just finished off a four-game series
against the New York Yankees.
They lost three out of four.
The playoff odds says they are almost dead certain to not make the playoffs.
[Jones] I mean, it's just completely pathetic.
Pathetic isn't even a strong enough word to describe the state of the Red Sox.
[geese honking]
[people chattering indistinctly]
[man 1] The White Sox couldn't get the job done last night. They won.
[men laugh]
-[man 2] That's great. -[chatter]
How are ya, tiger?
[man 3] All right, everybody. Where is everybody? All right.
Two hundred Wednesdays in a row…
-[man 4] Amazing. -…outside.
All right? Groton Yalta.
-[men] Groton Yalta. -There you go. There you go, boys.
Hello, everybody. This is Dan Shaughnessy.
Welcome to my porch
for the 200th meeting of the, uh, Yalta Groton.
You'll see on here.
It's a long, boring story how that name came to be,
but we are here every Wednesday at two o'clock for 200 consecutive weeks.
Will fans ever get over Mookie Betts being traded?
-Never! No, never! -They shouldn't.
-I'm gonna be like-- -No. No, terrible.
It's usually six, seven, eight guys.
If we have two, it's a quorum.
So in order to have the streak continue, it's gotta be at least two.
I go to the concert. They give me four hits of psilocybin.
-Oh my God. -Okay? I had like five beers.
And then they pass a joint around…
[Dan] Since we have good attendance today,
I'm gonna take this moment to count the books written on the porch.
How many books have you written, Bob Ryan?
[Bob] Fourteen.
-[Dan] Dick Johnson? -[Dick] 25!
[Dan chuckles] Okay.
So the game against the Yankees at Shea Stadium, right?
-[Bill] Mm-hmm. -That great game.
How many pitches did you throw in that game? Do you remember?
-In that game? -[Bill] All of 'em.
[all laugh]
[man 3] Good answer. Because that was a great game.
[man 5] No. You're in the presence of a man who--
Freddie Lynn made the great running catch.
-Bob Heise caught the ball and spiked it. -[man 3] You caught the popup.
Roger Moret went out and shut them out in the second game.
If we use Roger Moret in the '75 World Series in Game 2,
I'm President of the United States.
[all laughing]
We don't go into Afghanistan. Pat Tillman is still fucking alive.
[man 6] Yeah, right? You're right. Right.
[director] What is it that made you guys care so much about baseball?
We're so old… we're so old, we grew up,
you know, when… when… when baseball was all there was.
You know? They hadn't invented soccer yet, or--
-[man 6] There was no NFL season. -[man 7] There was no nothing, yeah.
[director] You coined the phrase, "Curse of the Bambino."
It's the book. Yeah.
My book was the first time that those words were put in that sequence.
[director] It's weird, but do you think that book had anything to do
with John Henry buying the team?
[chuckles] They made it part of their mission statement.
If you look at the press guides, when they took the team,
it was one of the five goals, to break "the curse of the Bambino," so…
And they succeeded in that one, so it was pretty good.
And again, these guys bought the team in '01, '02,
and they won four World Series in this century.
So, uh, yeah, that never goes away.
You know, things aren't swell right now, but, hey, they had their run.
And, uh… But around here, it's, "What have you done for me lately?"
Bob still holds up that Red Sox fans are spoiled
and should not be bitching about this season.
Why can't we bitch?
Well, number one, because if anyone told you,
Spring Training, that they would ever, A, once actually be 11 games over 500,
which they were,
and, B, would have some exciting, interesting young players,
some reason to keep watching, uh, and they weren't expected to win.
They're better than we thought.
My argument back to him is they're a big market team
behaving like a middle market team.
But I'm not hung up on that. Duran was worth the show all by himself.
Abreu, I had no idea how good Abreu really was.
I lo… You've gotta love the potential for Rafaela.
-[Dan] Yeah. -But it's hard to win… period.
But some would say that they're not trying.
If you read The Boston Globe this coming Sunday, you might, uh…
-[Dan] You got something for us? -Yeah.
-[Dan] Oh good. Very good. -Yeah.
[laughter fading out]
[stadium organ plays]
You know, there was still kind of, like, a glimmer of hope
going into the final week of the season that there might be able to, um…
that they might be able to make a push and make it exciting
going into the last weekend and maybe sneak into a wild card.
Um… Last night ended up being a tough loss.
But it's like now really an extreme long shot.
[Jared] When nobody believed in the Red Sox,
genuinely nobody believed,
that's when they played their best baseball.
[man] Everybody had very low expectations for this season,
and halfway through the summer,
it's a full house in here, and everybody's buying jerseys.
When everyone started to talk postseason,
had expectations of getting to October, that's when they went in the shitter.
[gloomy music plays]
[Will] The Red Sox find themselves once again one game below .500,
76-77,
and the Red Sox looking to cling to very faint playoff hopes.
[Duran] Where is everybody?
Is it wrong of me to go in the clubhouse right now
and try and get everybody to come out here for the team?
-[man 1] No. -[Duran] Come on, man.
We're fighting for a playoff spot.
Let's just hang out with the boys for a little bit. Come on.
You wanna hang out with the guys?
Nothing against you, papi. I just…
We need everybody right now.
There's Kenley, sitting in his fucking underwear.
That's not a winning culture.
Like, those are the guys we fucking need out here.
You know what I mean?
Come on, Wily!
I think when it's all said and done, people are gonna look at this year
as a year of growth for individual players.
They know more about what they have now than they did back in March and April.
[gloomy music continues]
Come on, Duran.
[Joe] Well, the Red Sox have the lead, 1-0, and here's Jarren Duran.
-[clack] -There's a looping line drive to left.
Larnach on the go, can't get it. It's down for a hit.
-And Duran puts on the brakes. -Oh.
[Cora] Come on, JD!
[fans cheering]
[man 2] Don't do it! Don't do it!
[cheering, whistling]
[Joe] Brings up Triston Casas,
who's hitting a .240 with nine homers, 22 RBIs.
[Will] The 1-2, swing and a miss.
And he was so late, Casas, on the fastball there.
[Faust] Triston Casas in a long slump, three for 32 now after his strikeout.
[commentator] Casas injured his rib in late April,
came back in mid-August, had a hot start upon returning,
but he's been ice-cold lately.
First base has been kind of a revolving door for the Red Sox,
trying to find that guy.
That was the one I wanted. [chuckles] That was the one I wanted.
[gloomy music continues]
Being in a slump is the worst thing
'cause I come to the field every single day,
and I feel like I'm doing nothing.
There's 45 minutes in between each at bat,
and… and you want it so bad that… that it feels like an eternity,
and, yeah, it's… it's tough.
It's typically something that's going on mentally,
uh, that… you just need to be able to try to flush.
[Joe] The pitch, swing, and a line drive, base hit into right field.
Everything's been the other way.
-Triston, what's up, baby? -What up? How you doing?
-Good. You? -Doing all right.
You swinging that thing?
[clicks tongue] I mean, I'm swinging it. I don't know if I'm hitting it, but…
[Dan] Casas, I would entertain trading him.
In my view, he's another guy you could sell high on
'cause the… the potential's so great.
But, you know, you trade him, he hits 46 home runs, it's not so great.
[man chuckles]
As much as I wanna throw my stuff and I wanna yell
and say bad words and break bats,
I need to be able to keep my cool… [chuckles] …and keep good body language.
And I always remember my dad and him telling me,
"That's not the best way to go about it. It's not the bat's fault."
That's his… that's his favorite line, "It's not the bat's fault."
He's like, "Hit your head against the wall, not the bat."
You know? So… funny.
[Joe] All right, here we go with Casas.
And he swings it, drives one high,
back to the wall, and gone into the bullpen.
-A three-run homer for Triston Casas. -[fans cheering]
And how about that? The Red Sox lead 3-0.
His tenth home run. He's got 25 RBIs.
Ah-ha-ha!
Let's go, five! Let's go!
[Joe] Well, Triston Casas getting high-fived
after the three-run homer.
-Whoo! -[player 1] Nice job, Triston.
[Cora] Attaboy! Attaboy!
[player 2] Swing that shit!
[mellow music plays]
[in Spanish] Outta here.
[Will in English] Swing and a high drive, deep to left field, toward the pole.
-It's back, and it is gone! -[fans cheering]
[Will] Second three-run homer of the day for Casas.
[clack]
[Joe] He hits this one high and deep, back toward the triangle.
-Long run for Buxton, and… -[Story yells]
-[crowd cheers] -…it's gone! Into the bullpen!
Three home runs in three at bats for Casas.
Can you believe it?
-[Story] Holy shit! -[Joe] Wow!
If you look back, there's a lot of good stories,
a lot of good things, as far as, like, growth and development.
You see the… the light at the end of the tunnel now,
and I truly believe this is the last struggle of the organization.
Uh, I think next year,
we're gonna be playing for something bigger than a wild card.
[player] Oh, let's go. Where is everybody?
[commentator] Red Sox need a win tonight to stay alive
on the playoff side of things.
Keep playing well, man. Keep playing hard. Okay? Let's fucking go. Let's fucking go.
Tek was down 0-3 in the playoffs, and they won the World Series.
[players murmur]
[Cora] And he was 0-12 too.
-[players chuckle] -[Cora] The Red Sox were down 0-3.
[low, suspenseful music plays]
[Will] They need to win this game to avoid being eliminated
from the playoffs.
High fly into right field. Look out. O'Neill is back at the track at the wall.
-It's gone. -[crowd cheers]
[Will] A two-run homer
and the Red Sox officially eliminated in 2024.
Fuck. Goddamn it.
[Will] Sox brought it to the end of September,
but they come up short,
and they will miss the playoffs for the fourth time in five years.
[melancholy music plays]
We're watching the…
One of our friends on the Tigers, they just clinched going to the playoffs.
We're watching his live.
-Yeah, yeah. -Yeah.
Definitely super happy for him. Am I a little bit like, "Damn"?
Yes. Yeah, it's gotta be us.
-[Casas] Yeah. -It sucks.
It sucks to watch other teams celebrate, I think.
I was fortunate enough, with the Braves, to be a part of it,
so now that I know what it's like, what it feels like,
and, dude, it's like… I got FOMO right now for sure.
I mean, you can't just come this far to come this far.
I mean, we've been so far away from our families, like, for so long.
-Right? From home, like, from everything… -[Grissom] Yeah.
Three more weeks of ball, like, at the most meaningful time of the year,
like, playing with your homies, like, going for the chip, right?
[Grissom] The weather out there too, playoff weather.
For the title of "Best Team in the League."
-Oh yeah. -Like…
-Not everyone can be. -Everyone's watching.
Like I said, we're gonna be at home, watching those guys play.
-Right. Right. -[Grissom] Kind of sucks.
It doesn't matter to me whether the game means anything or not. It's baseball.
Oh, it's definitely a bad year, unfortunately.
At the beginning of the year,
if they could've picked up a couple more starters,
they would have a chance to end up second anyway.
But when they didn't do that, I said, "That's it. They're going nowhere."
Not a great season, but we'd love to get some momentum, obviously,
coming back for next year.
And just hope we're playing October baseball again.
They'll be fine. They'll get better.
And hopefully, next year, we'll be in the playoffs.
They played strong till the All-Star break and, uh, you know, kept going as a team.
But, you know, we'll get 'em next year.
[somber music playing]
[music fades out]
[Jeremiah] I'm just looking for the Green Monster.
Okay, yeah. You can go up this way, or you can go up that way.
-Okay. -Also, are you Jeremiah Poope?
-I am. -I, like, used to…
Well, I went on a tour with you, and, like, we're friends on Facebook.
-Are we really? -I like your stuff.
[Jeremiah] My gosh. Thank you so much.
-You're amazing. -[Jeremiah] Thank you.
[muttering under breath]
Right here.
-Wow. -[man] Hey, Poope!
[woman] Jeremiah Poope!
-Oh, hey there. -We were on your tour yesterday.
[Jeremiah] I remember you. Thank you again for coming.
I hope you had fun.
I keep getting recognized, but couldn't get anybody to go to the game.
Wah, wah. Story of my life. Oh well.
[Will] You always like to head into the offseason on an up note.
This is basically the battle for third place.
The winner of this game today will finish at exactly .500,
and the loser will finish in fourth place and two games under .500.
[mellow guitar music plays]
[Will] 2-1 to Lowe, little dribbler.
Priester, oh, fought with it, went long, and nobody got it.
And now Lowe's gonna be on with a base hit.
-[Lowe] Attaboy. Swing it. -[Casas] Fuck yeah.
[Lowe] I needed a knock to go above .240 for the year.
No way I'm hitting .239.
[Casas laughing]
Oh shit.
I think I'm… I think I'm right there. I think I'm like .230 some…
I don't know. I haven't looked yet. I don't want to either.
[chuckles]
I know the… I know the OPS started today at 800.
I know I got two more turns.
It was a long season. I thought we did some great things.
We had our bumps in the road,
but all in all, I thought we had a really good season.
You know, we had some young guys that had to, um…
kinda learn their bumps in the big leagues, which was good.
But they came out stronger,
and I'm just excited what they're gonna be able to do in the years to come.
[Joe] There's a drive by Grissom toward the wall at left-center field.
And this one's gonna hit off the green.
And the throw coming to the plate is way off line.
Diving in with a run is Duran, flying around the bases.
[Duran] I've only been a part of October baseball one time,
but as much as I hate to say it, it feels normal to be home at this time.
[reporter] What is it just to finish 81-81?
In the room, you know, a lot of disappointment.
You know, like, I still believe we had a chance to make it to the playoffs,
and we didn't play well towards the end, and that's the reason we're going home.
[Will] Ground ball and a diving play, throw to the plate and not in time.
-[crowd cheers] -[Will] Grissom gets in there.
[Craig] I'm exhausted. Uh…
You know, it's been kind of an up-and-down season in a lot of ways.
Uh, to finish at .500 kind of feels appropriate.
-[Joe] Oh. -[Will] Oh, thrown away.
And the Red Sox butcher that.
Lowe coming around.
But also disappointing, given there were certainly moments during this season
when our expectations were fully set on making the postseason,
on being, uh… you know, ready for a deep postseason run.
[Joe] Final inning of the 2024 season.
Two balls, two strikes, two out.
Here it is.
Swing and another foul out of play.
[Will] Could you share what you're feeling, Joe?
[poignant music plays]
Nostalgic. Sort of numb. You know, it's…
I guess I've never been in this position. I've never retired before.
But Roger Clemens said he unretired three times. [chuckles]
-[Will chuckles] -So watch out.
[both chuckle]
[Joe] Slaten is ready.
The payoff pitch. Swing, and a line drive center field.
Rafaela going over to his right.
-He stabs it, and the ball game is over. -[crowd cheers]
[Joe] The season is over.
All good things… [chuckles] …must come to an end.
-[somber music plays] -[fans cheering, whistling]
[Grissom] I got the chills right now, and it didn't even mean nothing.
I wish I had baseball tomorrow.
-Ugh. -[cheering continues]
[Joe] I would like to close, as we've done every season,
reading from the great words of the former commissioner of baseball,
A. Bartlett Giamatti.
-[soundscape fades] -[soft, stirring music plays]
"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart."
"The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again…
and it blossoms in the summer,
filling the afternoons and evenings,
and then as soon as the chill rains come…
it stops,
and it leaves you to face the fall alone."
"You count on it, rely on it,
to buffer the passage of time,
to keep the memory of sunshine and high skies alive,
and just when you need it most,
it stops,
and summer is gone."
[stirring music continues]
[voice breaking] Wow. Beautiful words by a beautiful man.
[Jen] It becomes part of your life.
When the season's done and it's over,
it's this very, uh, weird… uh, finality.
[music abates]
[Sam] We play every day. This is not a… a normal sport.
Win, lose, there's a game the next day.
And then when it stops,
it's… it's depressing. [chuckles]
It's like your body goes through this rhythm, and it's like,
"Oh shit. The season's over. Like, what now?"
And you think about, "Oh God. It's gonna be a long, dark winter here."
You have to take a couple of days, pick yourself up,
and then… and then look forward to the next year.
[clang echoes]
[Andrew] There's a saying, "It's the biggest offseason of my life."
Well, every offseason is the biggest offseason in your life
because you're entering a different chapter of your career.
[pensive music plays]
You are a minor leaguer trying to work your way to the big leagues.
You have a guy who's trying to fight for a roster spot.
You have a guy who's seeking free agency, so he's going into his free-agent year.
Then when you sign the contract, now you have to produce consistently.
Every off-season is huge.
[Duran] This year, we were so close,
and we were not supposed to be close at all.
[director] Are you hopeful for next year?
I have no doubt that we're gonna be something special.
[rousing, expectant music plays]
[Casas] I'm a work in progress still as a human being.
Being comfortable in your own skin, not caring what people say about you,
it's very important.
You never know when it's gonna be your last hit, last home run.
Coming back from an injury and stuff,
I'm taking every single at bat like my life's on the line. Do or die.
In this game, you know, baseball, we play 160 games in a row.
We have to decompress and disengage from the game.
It's all about balance, right?
But we do miss Dada when he's gone, don't we?
[Audrie squeals]
-[Stephanie] Yes. -[O'Neill] Daddy misses his girls too.
[Bello in Spanish] For me, baseball is the best sport in the world.
Even though there are many bad moments, that's normal.
The biggest adjustment I made this year was mental.
To hang in there without dwelling on the bad things that happened,
but think about what I did well that day.
[Booser in English] I've really fallen in love with the journey
and the grind of the game.
Minor Leagues, Major Leagues, I still have a uniform
and an opportunity to play the game that I love more than anything.
I'm just thankful for the opportunity to have been here.
[music continues]
[Cora] You can talk about our defense,
you can talk about our offense, you can talk about the bullpen,
but you cannot question the effort.
These kids, this group,
they never stopped playing.
Everybody has put this organization
in a spot that is gonna be very successful…
[music halts]
…starting next year.
["Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond plays]
-[music continues over speakers] -♪ Hands ♪
[fans singing along] ♪ Touching hands ♪
♪ Reaching out ♪
♪ Touching me ♪
♪ Touching you ♪
♪ Sweet Caroline ♪
[crowd] ♪ Bah! Bah! Bah! ♪
-[music halts] -Stop it. It's an embarrassment.
People wanna come to sing "Sweet Caroline."
-[Dan] Should be erased… -Not me. I sit down.
-[Dan] …from the soundtrack of life. -I stay seated.
I deplore it. I think it's a civic embarrassment.
It is. Embarrassment that we… that the people of America
have to look at these idiots at Fenway,
you know, singing a song that has nothing to do with baseball or anything else.
They're down 8-1.
-[Bob] I love that. Thank you. -"So good, so good."
[Bob] That's usually my number one complaint.
At least be a little bit… You know, don't be so tone-deaf.
[Bob] Only play it if you're ahead.
Yeah, that'd be better, way better, but nothing would be the best.
[fans] So good! So good! So good!
[music continues over stadium speakers] ♪ I've been inclined ♪
[fans] ♪ Bah! Bah! Bah! ♪
[song and fans] ♪ To believe they never would, oh… ♪
-[soundscape fades out] -[upbeat instrumental music plays]
[music fades out]
[earth skitters]
-[baby giggles] -[gulls calling]
[waves crashing]
[clicking]
-[commentator] Number 23. -[crowd cheers]
[strings stab]
[cheering fades]