A stolen moment of fame

Some of the most important steps in the Red Sox' march to the world championship were those taken by Dave Roberts in the 90 feet between first and second base in Game 4 of the ALCS - his dash into baseball history

August 07, 2005|Bob Ryan, Globe Staff

WASHINGTON -- As long as baseball is played in Boston, Dave Roberts will be remembered.

"It has truly impacted my life," he says. "People are often remembered for one thing in their career, whether it's good or bad. Fortunately for me, that stolen base is embedded in people's minds."

On the basis of a three-second dash to second base, Roberts made himself into a Red Sox folk hero. For "that stolen base" is the most celebrated pilfered sack in Red Sox history, perhaps even in the annals of baseball.

What baseball fan doesn't recall the entire scene in the ninth inning of Game 4 of the 2004 American League Championship Series? The inning- opening base on balls to Kevin Millar. Pinch runner Roberts trotting to the bag. The throws over from Mariano Rivera. The takeoff on the first pitch to Bill Mueller. The head-first slide. The Jorge Posada throw just inches to the shortstop side of the bag. The artful swipe tag by Derek Jeter. And, most important, the "safe" sign executed by umpire Joe West.

Three people were involved in the manufacture of the run that saved the Red Sox' season and set the forces in motion for the greatest postseason comeback march in American sports history. Millar had to draw that walk from Rivera, Roberts had to steal that base. And Mueller had to bring him home with a single to center. But it is Roberts, the journeyman outfielder, whose star shines a bit brighter in the storytelling than the other two. For, in theory, any position player on the roster could have done what Millar and Mueller did. But no one else on the roster could have done what Roberts did, and everyone knows it.

''When I was with the Dodgers," Roberts reflects, ''Maury Wills once told me that there will come a point in my career when everyone in the ballpark will know that I have to steal a base, and I will steal that base. When I got out there, I knew that was what Maury Wills was talking about."

Consider, once again, the situation. Entering the ninth inning of Game 4, the Red Sox were down, three games to none, to the Evil Empire. They were three outs away from a humiliating sweep. It would surely be the longest of winters for the team, the organization, and its followers.

''I was sitting behind the plate with our people," recalls Theo Epstein. ''I was thinking how unfortunate it all was. It just wasn't right. This team had accomplished a lot. I thought we had the best team in baseball. And I was thinking, 'Why us?' "

And then Rivera inexplicably walked Millar on five pitches. The Hall of Fame-bound reliever had not walked a man in postseason play since 2001. A possible breakthrough?