Red Sox 2004 World Series champion Dave McCarty dies at 54

McCarty played 11 years in the Major Leagues from 1993 through 2005. He spent the last three seasons with the Red Sox, and he played quite a bit with that 2004 championship team.

McCarty played in 89 games that season for the Red Sox and had 168 plate appearances. He slashed .258/.327/.404 with 8 doubles, 1 triple and 4 home runs. He drove in 17 runs and scored 24 runs that season. McCarty did not get a chance to come to the plate in the 2004 postseason.

In addition to the Red Sox, he played for the Minnesota Twins, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, Kansas City Royals, Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Oakland A’s.

McCarty was part of the group that was welcomed back to Fenway Park on Opening Day because of his participation with the 2004 championship team. In addition to his career in the big leagues, he served as an analyst for the Red Sox on NESN from 2005 through 2008.

The Red Sox had been a beleaguered team going into the 2004 postseason because the franchise had not won the World Series since 1918 when Babe Ruth was a member of the team. They had suffered painful defeats in the World Series at the hands of the St. Louis Cardinals (twice), the Cincinnati Reds and the New York Mets, and they had been punished regularly in the American League by the archrival Yankees.

However, all that ended in 2004. After sweeping the Anaheim Angels in three games  in the opening round, they made history against the Yankees. Boston dropped the first three games of the series to the Yankees and appeared to be on the road to a humiliating defeat. However, they turned things around and won four straight games to take the American league pennant.

They became the only team in Major League history to rally from an 0-3 deficit and defeat their opponent in a postseason series. Following the 4-3 series win over the Yankees, the Red Sox brushed aside 86 years of history by sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.

Dave McCarty had his best season with the Kansas City Royals in 2000. He played in 103 games that season with 295 plate appearances and slashed .278/.329/.478 while bashing 23 home runs and driving in 53 runs. He also scored 34 runs for the Royals.