Flashback: Red Sox end Curse of the Bambino in 2004 World Series
It was a night 86 years in the making for the Boston Red Sox and generations of their fans.
On Oct. 27, 2004, the Red Sox officially ended the Curse of the Bambino, finishing a four-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals to win their first World Series since 1918.
In the Game 4 clincher, Boston jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Johnny Damon led off the game with a blast over the right-field wall at Busch Stadium. Trot Nixon made it 3-0 with a two-run double in the third inning, and that was more than the Red Sox would need.
Red Sox right-hander Derek Lowe pitched seven shutout innings, Bronson Arroyo and Alan Embree combined to keep St. Louis off the board in the eighth, and Keith Foulke closed the door in the ninth. Cardinals shortstop Edgar Renteria grounded a ball back to Foulke, who tossed it to first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz for the championship-clinching out.
And 86 years of close calls, heartbreaking finishes and suffering were over.
The Red Sox would win another World Series in 2007 and another in 2013, but it was the self-proclaimed "Idiots" in 2004 that will forever be revered as the team that finally ended nearly a century of disappointment.
