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In a clip from the upcoming Netflix documentary featuring the Boston Red Sox's 2004 World Series-winning campaign, executives Jed Hoyer and Theo Epstein talked about how they were in the crowd when the iconic brawl between Alex Rodriguez (New York Yankees) and Jason Varitek (Boston Red Sox) went down. The documentary is set to premiere on October 23 globally.
One of the fiercest rivalries in professional sports came to a head on July 24, 2004, as the Yankees visited Fenway Park. Starting pitcher Bronson Arroyo hit Rodriguez with a pitch, which led to an altercation involving the two and catcher Jason Veritek. It became a brawl that involved both benches which resulted in a four-game suspension each for Varitek and Rodriguez.
In a clip from "The Comeback: 2004 Boston Red Sox" shared by the MLB's official account on X, Hoyer and Epstein talked about how they watched the brawl unfold live.
"I have a vivid memory of sitting on the plate with Theo in that game. When the fight started, he jumped out of his seat. He was like pumped, like ‘Finally, we show some energy this year,'" Hoyer said.
"[0:15] I couldn't believe Tek put his hands in his face like that. I had a perfect angle. He goes down to scoop him up, and I thought for sure he was gonna like Andre the Giant, Hulk Hogan body slam him," Epstein recalled.
Yankees take game one against rivals Red Sox
The New York Yankees won their series opener against the Boston Red Sox 2-1 at Yankee Stadium on Thursday. After a pair of homers from Gleyber Torres and Danny Jansen, the game was locked at 1-1 after the end of nine innings. Eventually, a walk-off single from Juan Soto sealed the game in the Yankees' favor in the bottom of the tenth inning.
Both starting pitchers had good games, holding some of the best offensive players in the leagues at arm's length. Nestor Cortes (Yankees) gave up one earned run and struck out nine in five innings of work while Cooper Criswell (Red Sox) also gave up a single run and struck out four in 5.1 innings pitched.
The two sides will face off again in on Friday, as Clarke Schmidt and Tanner Houck take to the mound.
