Our old friend Kevin Millar has indeed hung up his spurs, er, spikes, and is calling it a career at age 38. KFC retires with a lifetime .274 average, 169 home runs, and 697 RBI. Nothing Hall of Fame-worthy mind you, but he will live in Red Sox glory forever for what he did the night of October 17, 2004, with the Sox in an 0-3 hole in the 2004 ALCS against the You-Know-Whos, telling anyone who would listen to him:
"Don't let us win tonight! Just don't let us win tonight!"
He began the greatest comeback in baseball postseason history (as well as sports history) by drawing a walk against the so-called greatest closer in history, and then took a seat as Dave Roberts got it moving even more dramatically.
Not bad for a guy who began his MLB career as a replacement player during the infamous, idiotic baseball strike of 1994-95.
All of us in Red Sox Nation wish you all the best, Kevin, in your new gig on the MLB Network as an analyst. We look forward to more of the goofiness that endeared you to all of us.
I posted both of these YouTube clips three weeks ago when Millar was released by the Cubs, but they are worth checking out again. The first is Kevin telling Red Sox Nation to hang tough after falling behind Cleveland in the 2007 ALCS (and he was an Oriole then!), and the other is his famous "Born In The USA" video that played on the scoreboard at Fenway during his Sox days, known as "Rally Karaoke Guy."
Thanks for the memories, Kevin. I owe you a drink if we ever meet.
3 comments:
It hasn't been announced that he has retired.
This article says he has: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/04/kevin-millar-retires-and-joins-mlb-network.html.php
Whaddaya mean, "so-called greatest closer in history"? Who's your pick - Papelbon? ;)
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