Derek Lowe talks Red Sox’ 2004 ALCS comeback vs Yankees and World Series sweep of Cardinals, the Dodgers’ dominance, Banana Ball, and more

Derek Lowe talks Red Sox’ 2004 ALCS comeback vs Yankees and World Series sweep of Cardinals, the Dodgers’ dominance, Banana Ball, and more originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . Derek Lowe’s Boston Red Sox career saw the former AL saves leader transition to becoming one of the main rotational starters on the franchise’s iconic Curse of the Bambino-ending 2004 roster.

As Lowe told me, the Sawx were his favorite franchise to play for after winning it all in one of baseball’s most romantic World Series runs ever . That October, the Red Sox upset the blood rival New York Yankees to clinch the pennant after going down 0-3 in the series, then swept the St. Louis Cardinals to win the first World Series for the city of Boston in 86 years.

Though the Sawx have won it all since, no Boston team has captured the city’s hearts like that “Fever Pitch” run. Ahead of the 2026 American Century Championship from July 8-12, I asked Lowe about his pivotal role on the 2004 Red Sox, in which he was the winning pitcher in the ALDS, ALCS, and World Series-clinching games, including Game 7 of the ALCS at Yankee Stadium and Game 4 of the WS at Busch Stadium. I also asked about the Los Angeles Dodgers ' dominance, the biggest change the MLB has seen since his pitching days, the modern state of the Sawx, and a topic I almost instantly regretted but had to ask about anyway: the rapid rise of Banana Ball.

On what it was like to get the start in Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS at Yankee Stadium… “You'd much rather play than watch … I mean, Game 5 and Game 6, not be able to have any say as an athlete, it's more nerve-racking. But when you actually get to playing it, you're excited. It was an opportunity that, obviously, I never got before, and you kind of figured you never had the opportunity again.