On Monday, Fox Sports announced a new documentary in partnership with Religion of Sports about the 2004 ALCS between the Red Sox and Yankees, featuring the Red Sox rallying from an 0-3 series deficit to win the series and, eventually, the World Series.
The film will premiere on FS1 next Wednesday, October 18 after ALCS Game 3 on the network.
Here’s a trailer.
Three Fox analysts, Derek Jeter, David Ortiz, and Alex Rodriguez were interviewed for the film (though only Rodriguez features in the trailer). Additional interviews include Orlando Cabrera, Johnny Damon, Kevin Millar, Mariano Rivera, Dave Roberts, and Dan Shaughnessy.
Here’s a synopsis from the Fox release.
The film shines a spotlight on Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS, the major turning point in the series, when the Yankees were on the brink of celebration as the Red Sox trailed the series at an 0-3 deficit. When all hope seemed lost at Fenway Park for the Red Sox in the ninth inning, a perfect storm was brewing against the Yankees. While the Yankees employed a winning strategy and a Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera to clench the series, they watched in pure disbelief as Game 4 slowly slipped away and along with it a 150-year history of dominating the Red Sox.
In a dramatic storybook ending, the Red Sox made an epic comeback to win Game 4, shattering the Yankees’ dream to directly move on to the World Series. The Red Sox eventually went on to sweep the St. Louis Cardinals for their first World Series title in 86 years. Finally putting an end to the “Curse of the Bambino.”
This is the second doc to premiere as part of Fox’s partnership with Religion of Sports, announced this summer. The first was an MLB All-Star Game special hosted by The Kid Mero, still available on Tubi.
Fox’s slate of original documentaries hasn’t gotten much traction or received as much attention as those from other networks (most notably, ESPN), but the company is clearly trying to make an impact in the space. The lack of consistent releases or air times for Fox’s releases probably plays a not-insignificant part in those woes, and maybe further consistency will help viewers fall into a pattern of regularly consuming that content.
