‘Faith Rewarded’ touches all the bases for Sox fans

I’ll admit it. I’m a softy when it comes to certain heartstring-plucking sights and moments.

My tear ducts even squeezed out a few droplets when Laura Ingalls’ dog Jack died on one “Little House on the Prairie” episode, and when it looked like E.T. had kicked the extraterrestrial bucket.

With that in mind, it shouldn’t be surprising that New England Sports Network’s “Faith Rewarded” video (available in DVD and VHS formats) chronicling the Boston Red Sox’ historic 2004 season also managed to elicit some tears as the Sox went from also-ran to wild card to the verge of elimination and to world champions for the first time in 86 years. And no, the phrase “World champion Boston Red Sox” is not even close to becoming tedious.

This 80-minute video reviews the 2004 season, from spring training to the final pitch in late October. The five-minute introduction opens with the final pitch of the 2004 World Series and suddenly switches to the heart-rending end of the 2003 American League Championship Series and Bret Boone’s home run. From there, Sox executives like Theo Epstein, John Henry and Larry Lucchino talk about what their focus was in the 2004 offseason, providing a suitable backdrop to the next 75 minutes.

Although both this video and Major League Baseball’s official World Series video share many of the same game clips (not surprising since both are produced by Major League Baseball Productions), moments and even interviews, this NESN product ($15 suggested price) has enough unique material to make it more than worthwhile to watch and/or own.

What makes this particularly worthy of viewing are various off-field or pregame moments in which players are caught joking with each other and talking baseball. Some examples include Curt Schilling teasing teammates at spring training – (Ohhh….. OK. It’s a Latin thing,” he says to Pedro Martinez and David Ortiz – and Doug Mientkiewicz reacting to his trade to Boston – “You’ve got to be kidding me. Please tell me I didn’t get traded for Nomar Garciaparra” – and Jason Varitek going from player to prophet by saying “We’re OK… We haven’t played our best games yet” after the Yankees took a 2-0 ALCS lead.

Just about everything is covered in here, from clubhouse camaraderie to the celebrated hairdos to late flights home to the rolling rally victory parade in Boston. Even All-Star Game highlights are included.

About the only significant thing missing was any reference or video clip of Mark Bellhorn’s big three-run homer, which was initially called a ground-rule double, in Game 6 of the ALCS. The game’s other controversial play – Alex Rodriguez’s slap of Bronson Arroyo’s glove when Arroyo tried to tag him out on a grounder to the first base side – was shown and mentioned, albeit briefly.

Bellhorn’s ignored home run aside – his game-winning blast off Pesky’s Pole in the right field corner against the Cardinal in the World Series was highlighted prominently, however – this is a must-have on any Red Sox fan’s Christmas wish list, especially the DVD. The DVD includes bonus material like extra victory parade highlights, one-minute features on six Sox players, a segment in which Orlando Cabrera describes and demonstrates the various flamboyant handshakes players use (Cabrera’s, Pokey Reese, Kevin Millar, David Ortiz, and Gabe Kapler), and even a cooking segment by Sam Horn featuring Ortiz.

Whether you’re looking for player or front office personnel interviews, highlights, sound bites, video or audio clips you may not see anywhere else, or even unique fans signs at the games and on the parade route, this video touches them all.

Andrew Neff can be reached at 990-8205, 1-800-310-8600 or at aneff@bangordailynews.com