Until another team does it, the 2004 Red Sox will always be the go-to “but what about…?” whenever a sports team is down 0-3. Or, whenever anyone in New England has their backs against the wall in any life scenario.

The legend of ‘04 lives on, and Celtics fans on social media cited the mere presence of former Yankees Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez at Game 4 of the 2023 Celtics-Heat playoff series as the spark/karma/juju that led to an improbable Celtics victory.

While many credit Kevin Millar’s walk, Dave Roberts’ steal, or David Ortiz’s home run as the impetus for the Greatest Comeback of All Time, I credit another individual: Stephen King.

That’s right, the King of Horror from right up the road in Maine. Still watching Game 3 in ‘04 (I guess because I like suffering), I perked up a little when I saw Fox Sports reporter Chris Myers sidle up to the author, making jokes about how horrific the game was and trying to get him to humorously concede the series.

Instead, King did as he so often does, and zagged where he’s asked to zig. The lifelong Sox fan (then promoting his Sox-related novel The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon) flat-out refused to admit the series was over.

He even said the following when asked how he'd script the rest of Game 3:

"What I'd write is a seven-run rally in the bottom of the ninth, ending on a walk-off David Ortiz home run...Because I believe in suspense, but I also believe in happy endings."

The gleeful Myers kept pressing, while King seemed to get more and more sinister. You could almost feel the clouds forming over the Yankees' dugout.

Alas, the Sox would go on to lose Game 3, 19-8.

But the next night, they staged a late rally in the ninth inning, and won on a walk-off home run by…David Ortiz, after which the Red Sox famously won seven consecutive games against the Yankees and Cardinals to win their first World Series since 1918.

Watch the clip (already cued up) to see King’s interview yourself.

To quote Celtics great Kevin Garnett: “Anything’s possible…”

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