Alumni from championship team remember lessons in chemistry

Dave Roberts's body language became more animated and his face brightened considerably one August day while he was sitting at his locker at Dodgers Stadium in the visiting San Francisco Giants clubhouse.

Roberts, who became one of the media's go-to guys during Barry Bonds's march to the home run record, answered question after question thoughtfully. But at one point he got to speak about his favorite subject: the 2004 Red Sox.

His steal of second in the ninth inning of Game 4 of the American League Championship Series with the Sox down, 4-3, and on the brink of being swept by the Yankees, was, after all, his most special major league moment. He didn't even appear in the World Series, which the Sox swept against the Cardinals, but he didn't have to. His contribution is forever part of Red Sox lore.

It seems that all things about '04 begin with the Roberts Steal.

"It was one of those moments in life that stays in your mind for eternity," said Roberts. "That whole team, from the moment I got there, had this undeniable belief that something special was going to happen. When we were down, 0-3, to the Yankees, that team was so loose and so of the belief that just 'go out and play and see what happens,' that that's what we did.

"We just went out game to game and inning to inning and we tried to be the best we could every moment of every game. When I came in to pinch run, I knew I had to make something happen because that's the reason they traded for me. I also knew I had to be safe."

Roberts's mad dash may well be one of the greatest plays in Red Sox history. He pinch ran after Kevin Millar drew a leadoff walk off Mariano Rivera and set in motion one of the greatest comebacks in baseball history. But it was the entire second half of the season in which everything fell unbelievably in place for the Sox that year.

General manager Theo Epstein pulled off two brilliant trades July 31. There was the one with Los Angeles that yielded Roberts for minor leaguer Henri Stanley. And there was the four-team deal that landed Montreal shortstop Orlando Cabrera, who brought tremendous defense, clutch hitting, and base-stealing ability, and Minnesota first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz, who added Gold Glove defense at first that Terry Francona could plug in for Millar in the late innings. The Sox gave up shortstop Nomar Garciaparra and outfielder Matt Murton to the Cubs.

"I think everyone knew what they needed to contribute to the success of that team," recalled Mientkiewicz. "A lot of us came from different places, different situations, and we all kind of came together for the common goal.

"For those of us who joined the team, you could tell immediately that this was a team that already had core cohesiveness with Johnny [Damon] and Millar and Tek [Jason Varitek], and the rest of us didn't want to mess it up but just blend in and add to it. I think we were able to do that."

Cabrera, who hit .294 in 58 games for the '04 Sox, was replacing the popular Garciaparra, a move that engendered mixed reaction in Boston. He was replacing a former batting champion, but Cabrera decided he was just going to be himself and not try to be something he was not.

"I think you're always nervous when you first come to a new team," said Cabrera, who signed a multiyear free agent deal with the Angels in the winter of '04. "The moment you joined that team, you could tell based on what happened in '03 that those guys really wanted to win.

"Once I got settled in, I think I was able to relax and let my talents come out. It was fun. I really loved playing for that team."

It was a group Trot Nixon was proud to refer to as "Idiots." Nixon, the longest-tenured player on the team other than Tim Wakefield, was one of the leaders in the clubhouse. His "dirt dog" style seemed to buoy those around him. Damon called him "one of the greatest teammates I've ever had."

Nixon, who played for the Indians in the recently completed ALCS, remembered, "The team just had one of those once-in-a-lifetime personalities. You couldn't make up some of the stuff. We had so much fun, but we played hard on the field. There was a time and a place for everything, but we knew when to separate, when to play and when to have fun.

"We thought we had that in '03, too. So when we brought most of the guys back in '04 and we added the people we did in the deal, it really gave us the confidence that if we got to the playoffs, we were going to be a pretty tough opponent for everyone."

Derek Lowe, who now toils with the Dodgers, laments only what could have been had those Sox stayed together.

"Imagine two or three more years with that team?" said Lowe in August. "That's the one thing we'll never know. Could we have won back-to-back or even had a dynasty if we had kept that together? The one thing I never understood was why that team was broken up."

Lowe started the famous Game 4, lasting 5 1/3 innings and allowing three runs. He was the winning pitcher in the clinching games in the ALDS (in relief), ALCS, and World Series after a less-than-stellar regular season in which he went 14-12, 5.42.

The 2004 season seemed to bring out the best in some players, such as Keith Foulke. Obtained by Epstein as a free agent from the Oakland A's, he had 32 saves and was a huge part of the team's success from start to finish. Foulke assisted on the final out of the season when he induced a bouncer back to the mound by Edgar Renteria, which he underhanded to Mientkiewicz to clinch the World Series. But Foulke was never the same after '04. He signed with the Indians prior to the start of this season, then retired in spring training. He has said he will try a comeback in 2008.

The championship season was Pedro Martínez's final year in Boston, as he left for the Mets after a snippy contract dispute with the Sox.

Another integral part of the team was third baseman Bill Mueller, who hit .283 in 110 games after winning the AL batting title in 2003. It was his hit that scored Roberts with the tying run in Game 4 of the ALCS.

"This was just the greatest atmosphere I'd ever played in," said Mueller, who spent half a season as the Dodgers' hitting coach and will likely move back into a front office position with the team. "I became a better player because I played here. It's a special place and that was a special team. We were so close.

"We still all keep in touch, which shows you how close we were. It's hard to explain how 25 guys come together like that for one common goal. That, to me, is the model for every team trying to win a championship. It's hard to explain it, but you feel it. We felt something special. The fact we were the only team to break through and win in 86 years shows you how special it was."

So many players came and went that season. Dave McCarty, used mostly as a pinch hitter, is now a part-time NESN analyst. Gabe Kapler went on to manage Boston's minor league team in Greenville this season and is contemplating a return as a player. Ellis Burks, who was injured most of the season, is a special assistant to Cleveland general manager Mark Shapiro. Mark Bellhorn is a free agent. Bronson Arroyo plays for the Cincinnati Reds. Alan Embree is with the A's.

It was Mike Timlin and Millar who started the "cowboy up" attitude in 2003, and Millar and Johnny Damon who popularized the nickname of "Idiots." It was a team that played hard and partied hard.

"We had a team of different types of characters," said Damon, who signed with the Yankees as a free agent after the '05 season. "We had crazy guys and we had guys like Tek and Trot who were pretty levelheaded and reserved.

"But we all worked together like nothing I've ever seen. We loved being together and playing together and overcoming obstacles. We shocked the world by coming back against the Yankees and we proved all things were possible.

"I think that's the gift we left the Red Sox with, that nothing is ever too impossible to overcome."

Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com