The Comeback: 2004 Boston Red Sox

The story of the Boston Red Sox's 2004 World Series win, starting with the heartbreak of the 2003 ALCS vs the New York Yankees. The Red Sox has not won a World Series since 1918, a winning drought put down to the "Curse of the Bambino" - the sale of Babe Ruth to the Yankees in 1919.

An interesting, engaging series. I am far from being a Red Sox fan and am a Yankees fan so this should not have piqued my interest but it did. Very well told, showing how a team rebuilt after a major setback and ultimately triumphed.

The Red Sox had more than the average battle to wage as the Curse of the Bambino seems to have a mental hold on Red Sox players and fans. Plus there was the long-standing rivalry with the Yankees, made more intense in that period due to the Yankees being so strong and seeming to always have the wood on the Red Sox, even when it seemed like the Red Sox couldn't lose (like the 2003 ALCS).

All these factors are examined plus we see the camaraderie, team spirit, astute management and plain baseball skills that saw the Red Sox home. Great footage of the games and off-field plus interviews with most of the main players and management.

How disappointing that this documentary avoided the complete truth about the Red Sox comeback. Both Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz were among a number of MLB players who tested positive for performance-enhancing substances. No wonder Ortiz was able to hit the ball so hard and to the opposite field to the amazement of his teammates. Netflix is infamous for putting out these slanted documentaries (see Hope Solo doc.) that fail to tell the complete story.

It was also interesting how they vilified the Yanks for being so clean cut vs. The Sox who prided themselves on their macho, bad-boy behavior. Doing shots before a game? What nice role-modeling to young athletes. Though the series does an interesting job of showing how the team was built using the "Moneyball" system of buying the right players for desired outcome, it tended to downplay the hard work that players go through during training. It's like they just show up and play on game day.

Truth be told, the timeline of this three-part doc may not be the best approach in covering the 20th anniversary of the greatest postseason run of all time from the Boston Red Sox. Fortunately, the insightful and entertaining interviews from the participants carry much of the freight here and render The Comeback an easy-to-enjoy watch.

For a very basic overview, The Comeback chronicles the '04 Sox and their utterly improbable breaking of the "Curse of the Bambino" in that year's playoffs--coming back from a 3-0 deficit against the New York Yankees and then winning the World Series for the first time since 1918.

I do have one criticism of The Comeback, and I'll lead with it here: it takes until the final episode to get to the '04 playoffs. The first installment is all about '03, while the second takes viewers up through about the '04 trade deadline. Perhaps this approach plays better with novice viewers--but how many of those folks are tuning in? The '04 Sox are such a well-covered, well-remembered topic that unless this doc was called "The Curse of the Bambino", I don't think as much context was need as was given here. I would have preferred either a single longer doc or maybe following the '04 postseason arc and flashing back when applicable.

That being said, the interviews in The Comeback are what make it extremely watchable even when the material may be rote for some. The contributions of Theo Epstein, Terry Francona, Kevin Millar, Pedro Martinez, Curt Schilling, & David Ortiz are especially notable, as they all have insightful commentary and/or fun stories about that magical run. I really enjoyed hearing them reflect back on the proceedings from a current perspective.

Overall, I think director Colin Barnicle created a solid doc in The Comeback. My exact rating would be 8.5/10 stars for the long "preamble" to get to the meatier material. But I can fairly easily round up because the interviews are wonderful and the final episode is a clear 10/10.

This series backs up a bit more for background of the team that did it, and does more player interviews, but for the soul of the Boston fans (my first Fenway game was in 1960), you have find Four Days in October, and see what the Red Sox mean to us, and why it was an actual dream come true, in 2004.

My father was a Boston Braves fan growing up, and it killed him that they didn't win a World Series until they moved to Milwaukee. I went from a kid to an adult before my Red Sox won one, but having to crush the Yankees to do it made it worth it to me. The fact that in the two decades since they've won it all three more times? Gravy baby, gravy!

I want to preface this review by encouraging every one who watched this, or who wants to watch this to instead go watch "4 Days in October" on ESPN+ and it still might be on YouTube for free. That was a 30 for 30, it was incredible, I have watched it 5 maybe 6 times, showed it to friends, family, Red Sox fans I meet on the street.

This documentary...was not that.

I was incredibly disappointed in this documentary, and I just watched all 3 episodes, but why does the greatest comeback in sports history feel so hollow, especially as a die hard Red Sox Fan, because this documentary is hollow, horribly paced, important parts underdeveloped, and the definition of lackluster.

There is no romanticism in this documentary, when it is the exact definition of romanticism in baseball. I will not recommend this to anyone I know, and it saddens me that because Netflix is so big, this is the documentary people will watch about the 2004 Red Sox when it should be the 30 for 30 "4 Days in October." Also, 2 episodes spent on the backstory leading up to the 2004 ALCS? The 30 for 30, had half the time, and still did a 100x better job of presenting the history, intensity, and build up of that ALCS.

Incredibly disappointed as a Red Sox Fan, do not watch this, rewatch "4 Days in October," rewatch it twice in the amount of time it takes to watch this lackluster documentary series 3 times. This honestly might've been made by a Yankees fan. You know, I would describe the difference between the two as 1 documentary where you couldn't take your eyes of the screen, and the other (this one) where you are trying to hit the word count on a paper. Better yet, it's like The old Star Wars Movies (4 Days in October) vs. The new Star Wars movies (this documentary series)

GO WATCH 4 DAYS IN OCTOBER INSTEAD.