It’s the year 2026, a space travel company that doesn’t do anything is the largest in the world, and it’s been more than two decades since the 2004 Red Sox pulled off their singularly improbable comeback against the Yankees and swept to their first World Series win in 86 years. Anyone who actually remembers seeing the games, even if they’re merely in their late 20s, is at risk of sounding like an oldhead about it, but it defies belief to this day. Even among the other most improbable sequences of events in sports history, it stands nearly alone.
It’s arguably the captain of the iconic teams club. But it is a club, not a singularity. There are certain teams that resonate across time, and it’s rare I get to see one as up and close as I did with this year’s Knicks. As someone who’s lived here for more than half my life I’m largely far more New York sports-agnostic than most Red Sox fans (obviously), so while the 1998 Yankees can still screw it, I recognize the 2026 Knicks along the 1994 (NY) Rangers as sitting alongside the 2004 Red Sox in the green room of the reunion show. The 2007 Patriots are in there, sitting next to the 2016 Warriors — neither is wearing their conference championship ring — nor are the Fab Five or 1991 UNLV Larry Johnson team, but the 1996 Bulls, 1985 Bears, 1986 Mets (sorry but true), 2011 Mavs and whatever others I didn’t think of in the 5 minutes I noodled on it have them on.
It’s not a wide open door, tho. A big part of the criteria, if you couldn’t tell, is that it’s not just enough for the team to have been great. Nor did greatness alone put a team on the list. They had to be compelling, not dominant. The 2007 and 2018 Red Sox don’t make it. Nor do the 2013 Sox, tho that one’s certainly in our hall of fame. Conversely, they didn’t have to win it all. Losing in agony at the end lends itself to its own kind of drama, as proven by the large number of near-misses on the list.
I’ll just say this: I went to the local bar here in NY suburbia for the close-out game, and I’ve only felt that incredibly specific type of neuro-optimistic type of unity during the Red Sox’s 2004 run (and even then, I was in NYC Red Sox bars) and, more broadly, for US World Cup games. For lack of a better way to put it, we’re not stuck in there with them; they’re stuck in here with us. It’s a good thing. This is why we watch.