EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is an excerpt from The Big 50: Boston Red Sox, written by NBC Sports Boston’s Evan Drellich and published by Triumph Books earlier this year. Buy it here
Henri Stanley never made the majors, so you shouldn’t feel bad if you lack any recollection of his name, which is pronounced Ahn-ree. But if by some chance you do remember why he matters to Red Sox Nation, congratulations on that big, spacious brain you’re carrying. We hope you play trivia in Allston.
Stanley, who went undrafted out of Clemson, had the minor league numbers—including a career .857 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS)—as well as the skillset to get at least a cup of coffee in the bigs. He had a good batting eye, some pop. He could run too. Stanley got as far as Triple A for multiple clubs, including the Red Sox. He probably would have gotten a call-up in today’s game, where there’s a greater appreciation for statistics. Today, he’s helping others make their way, working as a player agent.
But occasionally — every once in a blue moon — someone will remember that other thing Stanley was involved with. He is the guy the Red Sox traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for outfielder Dave Roberts at the 2004 trade deadline. And Roberts proved the catalyst to the greatest postseason comeback in baseball history.
But Stanley’s not asked about that connection to Red Sox history as often as you might think.
“To my knowledge, unless it happened right after the trade, I can’t recall anybody else [in the media] ever reaching out,” Stanley said. “Sometimes people up there would make the connection and say thank you or hand me a newspaper clipping, or something of that nature. But nothing — no, nothing to the extent of reaching out on a phone call or anything.”
A lot, and we mean a lot, had to go right after Roberts stole second base in the ninth inning of Game 4 of the 2004 American League Championship Series. But that narrowly secured stolen bag against the New York Yankees is remembered as the turning point of a series the Sox trailed three games to none.
Boston Red Sox
Roberts was used as a pinch-runner at first base. The Sox were down 4–3 and were three outs away from being swept out of the ALCS at the hands of the Yankees. A year earlier against New York in the ALCS, the Sox at least had some fight, taking the series to seven games. Up to the point Roberts pinch ran, the ’04 group had been bulldozed.
The Boston-New York rivalry was at its modern peak. Mariano Rivera, the best closer in history, was on the mound. Catcher Jorge Posada was behind the plate. The play was so close at second base when Roberts ran, and the moment was so tense with the Sox three outs from being swept, that Roberts became the symbol of the tide turning. After his steal the Sox became the first and only team to win a best-of-seven series after trailing three games to none.
Kids these days might not even know Roberts outside of managing the Dodgers—never mind remembering Stanley.
“They don’t even know what their favorite ice cream is,” Stanley joked, “much less a manager or a former baseball player these days… I’ll use it obviously just in a joking way, when I’m out on the recruiting trail [as an agent]. I’ll always kind of laugh with people and say, ‘Hey, I’m probably the trivia answer to a question on a Monday night in South Boston.’ At some Irish pub on a Monday night, they probably say, ‘Who remembers who got traded for Dave Roberts?’ That’s probably my claim to fame certainly career-wise: getting traded for the guy who helped break The Curse.”
Roberts himself has come to realize the individual moments of the Red Sox’s 2004 playoff run are no longer emblazoned inside the memory of every baseball fan or big leaguer. Enough time has passed. During the 2017 playoffs on the day of the 13th anniversary of his famous stolen base, Roberts was asked if the moment ever comes up as a teaching point for his players.
“Funny story,” Roberts said. “Yu Darvish about two weeks ago, I guess, was surfing the Internet, and there was an aha moment. He ran across the stolen base and kind of put two and two together and didn’t realize that was his manager. So he proceeded to kind of awkwardly approach me about it and talked about my goatee and how I could steal a base. He just couldn’t believe that was my manager. So that was kind of funny. But I don’t bring it up ever. But I think a message [exists there] that I do bring up in the sense of just being prepared for a particular moment and I was in 2004. Each guy on our ball club, I think, can relate to that.”
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