October 19 - Bloody Sock Game

This Day in Baseball - The Daily Rewind

October 19, 2004 --The Yankees hold a 3-2 lead over the Red Sox in the ALCS with Game 6 to be played at Yankee Stadium. The starting pitchers were Curt Schilling of the Red Sox and Jon Lieber of the Yankees. Schilling pitched with a torn tendon sheath in his right ankle, which was sutured in place in an unprecedented procedure by Red Sox team doctors. The game was scoreless till the fourth inning when Sox second baseman Mark Bellhorn hit a shot into the leftfield stands. The ball struck a fan in the chest and dropped back onto the field, where Left field umpire Jim Joyce signaled that the ball was still in play. After a discussion with Sox Manager Terry Francona, the umpires huddled and overruled the call giving Bellhorn a three run homer and the Sox a 4-0 lead. Despite his injury, Shilling provided seven strong innings giving up only 1 run on a Bernie Williams homer before leaving the game completely exhausted and his sock soaked in blood.

Bronson Arroyo would take over for Schilling in the eighth and give up a quick run on a Miguel Cairo double and a Derek Jeter single. With Alex Rodriguez up what followed was truly bizarre. ARod grounded a pitch back to Arroyo who scooped up the ball and ran down the first baseline to tag Rodriguez out, who slapped at Arroyo's arm and glove, knocking the ball loose. As the ball rolled down the baseline, ARod advanced to second and Jeter scored. The umpires huddled again and called Rodriguez out on interference and ordered Jeter back to first. Yankee Stadium erupted as fans rained debris onto the field prompting Francona to remove his players from the field for safety. The NYPD, in full riot gear, restored order and remained on the field for a full inning. Sox closer Keith Foulke would keep the Yanks off the board in the 9th and secure the game for Boston. The Red Sox, the 26th team in Major League Baseball playoff history to face a 3--0 series deficit, became the first to force a Game Seven.