Getty Former Yankee outfielder Gary Sheffield criticized bullpen moves made by manager Joe Torre in the 2004 ALCS.
The Boston Red Sox remain the only team in MLB history to come back from a 3-0 postseason series deficit when they won four straight against the New York Yankees in the 2004 American League Championship Series. Gary Sheffield, a star hitter for the Yankees from 2004-2006, held manager Joe Torre to blame for how he managed the team’s bullpen during the ALCS meltdown.
“Joe Torre made a decision that always haunts us in that series,” Sheffield told former MLB catcher A.J. Pierzynski on the January 4 episode of the “Foul Territory” show. “The 8th and 9th inning is what cost us that series. I blamed Joe Torre for a longtime and then I finally let it go. […] Joe Torre made some moves that blew it,” he said.
Sheffield said he disagreed with Torre’s usage of closer Mariano Rivera in the series. Rivera entered the 8th inning of Game 4 for a two-inning save attempt with the Yankees up 4-3 but blew the save by allowing the tying run to score in the 9th inning, sending the game into extra innings, where Boston won it in the 12th. In the 8th inning of Game 5, Rivera relieved Tom “Flash” Gordon after Gordon served a homer to David Ortiz to make it a 4-3 ballgame. Rivera then allowed an inherited runner to score on Jason Varitek’s sacrifice fly to tie the game at 4-4 before Boston won 5-4 in the bottom of the 14th inning.
“[Torre] said he wasn’t going to pitch Mariano Rivera in Game 4, so I think Mariano knew he wasn’t pitching,” Sheffield said. “Mariano knew he wasn’t pitching [but] then Flash or somebody got in trouble and they brought Mariano in. Instead of using him when we got the lead, bring him in for two innings and finish this game off, [Torre] waited too late and when he brought him in, Mariano wasn’t right. And then the next day the same thing happened. We had the lead five games in a row going into the 8th inning.”
For his part, Sheffield started the 2004 ALCS with a .629 series average before going ice cold at the plate (1 for 17) over the final four games. The nine-time All-Star added that the Red Sox “got lucky.”
“The bottom line is we lost the game because our relievers couldn’t close the game out,” Sheffield said on “Foul Territory.” “The bottom line is they got lucky. That’s what happened. You took advantage of [the fact that] you all had the stronger pitching, you [had] deeper pitching and it worked for you in the long run. Joe Torre made some moves that blew it. That’s what happened.”
The 2004 ALCS Also Still Haunts Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada
Sheffield isn’t the only Yankee to still be reeling over the epic collapse that led to Boston breaking its 86-year World Series curse. In Derek Jeter’s 2022 ESPN docuseries “The Captain,” several Yankees admitted to still being hurt by the 2004 ALCS failure.
“It’s misery. Sick to my stomach,” Jeter said. “Got out of New York, went back home, Boston won the World Series. Manny Ramirez had a sign saying ‘Jeter is playing golf right now,’ during the parade. Someone had sent it to me. So, yeah, that made me sick.”
Longtime Yankee catcher Jorge Posada also “didn’t sleep well for a while” after the series.
“For all the success that we have had against the Red Sox, I think 2004 made up for all of it for them,” former Yankee outfielder Bernie Williams added. “I mean, there’s no more embarrassing way of losing a series. I don’t think there’s anything in the world that can top that.”
Gary Sheffield Remains on 2024 Hall of Fame Ballot
Sheffield is now in his 10th and final year of eligibility to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. The 2024 inductees will be announced January 23.
His accolades and career numbers — .292/.393/.514 slash line with 509 home runs — are certainly HOF worthy. But writers have been hesitant to vote for him due to his link with MLB’s steroid era. In a 2003 federal grand jury, Sheffield testified that he rubbed a cream on his wounds during the 2002 season for healing purposes and that he was not told it was an illegal steroid, Sports Illustrated reported in 2004.
“That’s the farthest thing from the truth — the farthest thing that I’ll be away from is drugs,” Sheffield said on “Foul Territory.” “I don’t take no part in that. I’ve never done anything in my life as far as that’s concerned.”
Sheffield received 55% of votes among last year’s Hall of Fame ballots. He will need to be included on 75% of ballots this year to be enshrined in Cooperstown.