By the time 34,534 fans squeezed into Fenway Park to see the first pitch from Curt Schilling on Sunday, there was already good news on the Green Monster scoreboard: The Cleveland Indians were losing again.
That was a relief to the ever-anxious fans here, who knew that the Red Sox would win the American League wild card with a loss by the Indians. A victory over the Yankees would also suffice. On the last day of the regular season, the Red Sox got both.
They bludgeoned the Yankees 10-1, with homers from Bill Mueller, Manny Ramirez and Doug Mirabelli and six strong innings from Curt Schilling. But long before the last out, the Red Sox already knew they were headed to Chicago for the first round of the playoffs.
The White Sox had eliminated Cleveland with a 3-1 victory, wrapping it up during the fifth inning of the game at Fenway. John Henry, the Red Sox's principal owner, watched the end of the Indians game on a small TV from his box seats next to the home dugout. His reaction was the first indication to manager Terry Francona that the Red Sox were in.
"I heard him let out a yelp," Francona said.
That yelp soon spread to become a roar from the crowd. A few moments later, the video board above center field showed live footage of the hand-operated scoreboard in left. When "9" was removed from the square used for innings, the fans knew the Cleveland game had gone final.
Officially -- at last -- the Red Sox would have a chance to defend their World Series title.
"There wasn't a whole lot that was easy this year," Francona said. "We went through so much that sometimes it was so hard just to be good."
The Red Sox lost their closer, Keith Foulke, to a season-ending knee injury. They lost Schilling to ankle problems for months. They let the Yankees run by them in the AL East race down the stretch, losing the division title in a loss here on Saturday, and then watched as the Yankees celebrated at Fenway. A day later, the Champagne flowed for the Red Sox.
Boston finished with the same record as the Yankees (95-67), if not as the titular division champion. And both teams must start their postseason journeys on the road -- the Yankees in Anaheim, California, and the Red Sox in Chicago.
After staging epic seven-game championship series the last two seasons, the Yankees and the Red Sox might rev it up again.
"We're the division champion because we won, 10-9," Torre said, referring to the Yankees' head-to-head record with Boston. "You can't get much more balanced. We have a chance to meet each other again. If that happens, it will be another shootout.
"But we're excited about going to the postseason. We're excited for tomorrow's off-day. We're ready to go, and we hope everything works out for us," he said.
From the time they trailed Boston by four games until their clinching victory Saturday, Torre's team sprinted to a 16-4 record. It was enough to earn Torre his first phone call from George Steinbrenner, the Yankees' principal owner, in months. Steinbrenner, who has irritated Torre with veiled criticisms this season, called Torre on Saturday night, with the team president, Randy Levine, also on the line.
"Very short," Torre said, describing the conversation. "Just congratulations."
Steinbrenner, who did not mention Torre in his statement after Saturday's victory, might be more effusive if the Yankees get past the Angels, the only team with a winning record against the Yankees during Torre's 10 years as manager. The last time the Yankees played the Angels in the division series, in 2002, the Angels won, three games to one.
RSS