After the Yankees lost a heartbreaker in game one of the World Series, closer Luke Weaver watched the Netflix special on the 2004 Red Sox in its entirety.
He had no idea or expectation that his Yankees would find themselves in an identical 3-0 hole just days later, but as fate would have it, Weaver’s viewing of the documentary foreshadowed the daunting task the Yanks would face in the Fall Classic.
Now, step one of the comeback trail has been conquered, and Weaver has found himself leaning on the takeaways from that documentary as the Yanks continue their quest for history.
“I watched it all. I watched it in LA, actually. There was a lot of great tidbits that came from that,” Weaver told Rob Bradford of the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast. “Honestly, it was a great reference to what’s happening now. It’s two different stories, but a very similar one indeed.
“It was cool to get the perspective, understand the clubhouse dynamic and understand what it took to get back into it, what they were thinking, and what they were saying...I think every guy should watch it now. Watch it when you need to, but I think it was cool for me.”
The 2004 Red Sox are obviously a sour topic for Yankee fans, and they became a topic of conversation after Aaron Boone and the coaching staff showed the 2022 team highlights of the 2004 Bombers’ collapse when Boone’s group faced a 3-0 series hole against the Astros. But Weaver says lessons can be learned from what he saw in the documentary, even if it wasn’t meant to be educational viewing.
“Just understanding, it’s more about perspective,” Weaver said. “It’s more about understanding, ‘What have guys in the past done to get through this?’”
The Yankees have three more hills to climb to become the first team ever to come back from a 3-0 hole in the World Series, but it’s been done before in a seven-game series, and these Yanks will try to make sure the 2004 team is no longer the only one to ever cough up a 3-0 playoff advantage.