Empyreal Environs

What a spectacular set. Despite its technical shortcomings, its contents are its redeeming quality. It’s difficult to quibble about artefacts if you are enamored of the subject matter and a Red Sox completist.

I wasn’t sold on it at first. There is no alternate audio track with Joe Castiglione and Jerry Trupiano. Videophiles like Dave McCarty warned that the video quality was not the best and that it is not 16x9 anamorphic widescreen, although it is Dolby Digital 5.1.

Each individual DVD case is carefully designed. The interior of each case has a game log and the back has the box score. The covers have game length, number of pitches, attendance, temperature, as well as relevant quotes and facts about the game contained therein. My favorites are listed below.

• Game 1 tells me that Varitek’s 7th inning home rome was his 8th career postseason homer, the most in Red Sox history and that Mussina retired the first 19 batters, the first pitcher to do so since Jim Lonborg in Game 2 of the 1967 World Series. (Why didn’t McCarver ever mention that? Odd.) There is a thumbnail of the ALCS program.
• Entering Game 2, the Red Sox and Yankees had met 46 times in the regular season and postseason over the last two years with each team winning 23 times. Mariano Rivera had his 32nd postseason save. Pedro Martinez’s cap is shown in the bottom right hand corner.
• In Game 3, the Yankees matched the record for LCS hits with 22 and set the record for runs (19) and doubles (8). The Red Sox had their first lead of the series in this game, and it lasted just 7 minutes. A picture of an actual ticket adorns the cover.
• Now we get to the good stuff. David Ortiz’s jersey floats eerily in the corner like a eidolon to ward away supposed ghosts. The Yankees didn’t score in the 1st inning for the first time this series. Ortiz became the first player in MLB history to hit 2 walk-off home runs in a single postseason. This game was the longest extra-inning game in ALCS history at 5 hours and 2 minutes.
• I’m watching Game 5 as I write this. The cover contradicts the previous game’s by telling me this is the longest game in duration (5 hours and 49 minutes) and innings (14) in ALCS history. Miguel Cairo became the most hit by pitch player in LCS history with a third plunking this game and another for good measure in Game 7. Of the five postseason wins through Game 5, Ortiz delivered 3 game-winning walk-off hits. An official media credential taunts me from the bottom right. Perhaps some day. We’ve all learned to believe in the impossible.
• “We’re a 25-man roster that will do whatever it takes to win,” said Terry Francona. I just noted that Yankee Stadium is a trademarked entity on this cover. The Red Sox were the first team to force a seventh game after being down 3-0. Keith Foulke’s spikes sit tattered and grubby on the front, a symbol of his 2 saves over the course of 48 hours.
• “How many times can you honestly say you have a chance to shock the world?” asked Kevin Millar. The Red Sox had 8 four-game winnings streaks during the regular season. Johnny Damon’s grand slam and 2-run home run set a new ALCS record of 6 RBIs in a game, and his black BWP-243 Pro Maple Lite graces the cover. Victory, with more to come.

The bonus disc has many tantalizing extras, including ALCS and World Series celebrations from angles you’ve likely not seen yet. The best sequence is the rambunctious Red Sox celebration in Yankee Stadium’s visitor’s clubhouse interspliced with Yankee players leaving in their street clothes. Someone managed to spirit a camera in the exit hallway from the Yankee clubhouse. The camera trained on Hideki Matsui, Bernie Williams, Gary Sheffield, and Jorge Posada as they strode alone. Each of these walks stood in sharp contrast to the Red Sox partying, where there were so many champagne showers the cameraman had to wipe off his lens continually. Only Williams acknowledged the security guard that kept watch. Sheffield whistled tunelessly, eyes focused above everyone’s head.

I was excited to see that the Curt Schilling segment was filmed at a talk that I actually attended. I was one of the brave, frozen souls that stood in winter temperatures for the Christmas at Fenway event. My question about steroids was not captured for posterity, however. I leave you to discover the other bonus footage gems on your own.

The White House and ring ceremony segments were hugely disappointing. The White House footage would have the field of view inexplicably train up to the blue sky then slowly move back down to capture the President with the world champions. The ring ceremony had no audio commentary voiceover and the sound from the field was muffled. The camera covering the ceremony was so far away you could not see the emotions play across the recipients’ faces, and not all of the presentations were shown.

There are lapses in quality, but if you’re like me and can’t get enough of every camera angle of grown men shampooing with alcoholic beverages, you will enjoy this set. Sweep, beat, sweep, and weep.