2004 World Series

The 2004 World Series represented the 100th time two modern Major League Baseball teams met to decide the championship. The best-of-seven series began on October 23. After winning four consecutive games, on October 27 at 10:40 pm CT, the American League champion Boston Red Sox defeated the National League champion St. Louis Cardinals to claim the 2004 World Series Trophy. It had been 86 years since Boston last claimed the prize by defeating the Chicago Cubs in the 1918 World Series.

Aftermath

After the end of Game 4, fans in Boston were understandably ecstatic. There was less rioting and damage downtown than there had been after the final pennant match the preceding week, but there were perhaps twice as many people in the streets. This caused some problems when an ambulance tried to drive through the crowd to get to an injured woman. Although the crowd did get out of the way as the ambulance moved, they then reformed and even followed the ambulance. Most of the crowd was mostly peaceful and calm, some forming mosh pits and others dancing. Some did try to scale lampposts and ledges and most succeeding in doing so with no police intervention.

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Many roads were closed off, including Yawkey Way, and a police perimeter was formed around Fenway Park to keep fans from trespassing into the field and stadium. Another two police lines were formed by police in full riot gear, along Commonwealth Ave, and Beacon Street, preventing anyone from leaving Kenmore Square. Most bars shut down during the hour after the end of the game. Small caches of fireworks were set off around the city, and many news programs showed several hours of footage of the streets in Boston and Cambridge interspersed with footage and interviews from inside Busch Stadium, beginning about 10 seconds after the final out was recorded.

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Around midnight, witnesses claim, the police line along the entrance to Kenmore Square began to move in on the celebrators, pushing them down Commonwealth Avenue towards Boston University. The Police reportedly used pepper spray on the crowd, and also fired flash bang grenades on the front lines of fans, causing panicked crowds to swarm down Commonwealth.

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People in the surburbs were also celebrating. In some places such as Lynn, screams of rape were heard, fireworks were set off and people were banging pots and pans. At last count, there were 35 arrests, mostly for minor offenses (e.g. drunk and disorderly conduct), 22 injuries resulting in hospitalization (one of which was a police officer hit in the face with a beer bottle), and some minor property damage (2 reported property vandalizations, several damaged trees).

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Compared to the riots following the ALCS Game 7 victory one week prior, which caused damage to a McDonald's and a Sovereign Bank in Kenmore Square as well as the death of Victoria Snelgrove, a 21 year old college student, the reported property damage was minor. The next morning, most of the Boston radio stations' morning shows were also celebrating and rush hour traffic was very light on the usually congested Route 128 and Interstate 93.

Related Topics:
McDonald's - Sovereign Bank - Kenmore Square - Victoria Snelgrove - Radio stations - Route 128 - Interstate 93

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