Fifteen Years Ago, the Beastie Boys Rocked Worcester While the Yankees Rocked the Sox
October 12, 2004. Game one of the American League Championship Series between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees in the Bronx and Beastie Boys in the Commonwealth.
The two events are forever linked in my brain. At the time I was working for WBCN and had been tasked with giving away Beasties tickets before the show at the Worcester Centrum. I was posted up at the Uno’s across from the Centrum pre-show, armed with my enter-to-win box and a stomach full of butterflies, as the Red Sox and Yankees were about to get the ALCS underway in New York.
My plan was to give the tickets away, then belly up to the bar and watch the game. I had a ticket of my own, but had no intention of using it: the Red Sox were more important. Of course, as you probably remember, this was the pre-bloody sock start, and starter Curt Schilling was shelled for 6 runs in the first 3 innings on the way to a 10-7 Game 1 loss. I left the bar after the 3rd.
The good news? I got to see the Beastie Boys! And the show was amazing. It provided the perfect distraction from the Red Sox-related disappointment. You can read the Boston Globe’s review of the show here.