Dodgers Face Historic Deficit; MLB Veterans Recall 2004 Red Sox Comeback

The Los Angeles Dodgers now face a daunting 3-0 deficit in the NL Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers, a hole from which few teams have ever recovered. To even contemplate a comeback, the Dodgers must first win four consecutive games, a feat that has occurred only once in MLB postseason history.

MLB on FOX analysts David Ortiz, Derek Jeter, and Alex Rodriguez, all of whom were involved in the 2004 American League Championship Series where the Boston Red Sox rallied from a 3-0 deficit against Jeter and Rodriguez's New York Yankees, shared their perspectives on what it takes to achieve such a historic turnaround.

Ortiz, a key player for the 2004 Red Sox, emphasized a shift in mindset. "It's funny how that works, because you feel more pressure at the beginning of the series than when you are 0-and-3 because once you get there, when you hit bottom like that, it feels like you have got nothing to lose," Ortiz said. He advised the Dodgers to play without pressure, focusing on one step at a time. "There's no more room to go back. All you gotta do is just move forward. You hit bottom already. Let's just let things happen. Let's go to the flow."

History is heavily stacked against teams trailing 3-0 in a best-of-seven series. In all postseason series, teams with a 3-0 lead have advanced 41 out of 42 times. The 2004 Red Sox remain the only team to overcome such a deficit and win the series.

Jeter and Rodriguez experienced the flip side of that historic comeback. Rodriguez suggested that the pressure might now be off the Dodgers. "Now, they just go out and win a game," he stated. "And how many times have the Dodgers, over the last five years, won four in a row?… But you got to start with one pitch. You got [Tyler Glasnow] now on the mound tomorrow. If you win tomorrow, you got [Tarik Skubal] in Game 5 and then you never know."

Jeter echoed this sentiment, drawing parallels between the 2004 series and the current matchup. "It's the same thing here. If you're the Los Angeles Dodgers, you cannot take the field thinking that you're down three games. All you have to do is win one game."

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was a teammate of Ortiz on that 2004 Red Sox team. When asked about the Dodgers' chances, Roberts acknowledged the possibility, citing his personal experience. "It's certainly possible [to overcome a 0-3 deficit]. I've lived it," Roberts said. "I think the thing is that our guys have been battle tested, as was that team I was a part of. They know what's at stake and, you know, we've won four in a row, a number of times this year…. But again, we got to win tomorrow. So that's, that's our only focus."