Thursday, Jan. 20, 2005 | 10:04 a.m.
Doug Mientkiewicz had just completed the final out of the 2004 World Series by catching a flip from closer Keith Foulke, and the Boston Red Sox piled onto each other.
Valley High graduate and Red Sox reserve catcher Doug Mirabelli never doubted what happened next near the pitcher's mound at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
"I could read his mind," Mirabelli said of Mientkiewicz. "He was in that dog pile and squeezing his glove as hard as possible. I look back, and I should have tackled him and taken the ball.
"What a piece of history to have; not to sell, just to keep."
One of the game's most prized possessions, from Boston's first World Series championship in 86 years, currently resides in one of Mientkiewicz's safe deposit boxes beside a gold medal from the 2000 Olympics.
"Hilarious," said Mirabelli, 34. "I love it."
Ballgate has sparked a hot-stove debate about legal ownership and served as a crazy cap to a dream season. A day after that final World Series game, a Major League Baseball official certified it as the genuine article and handed the baseball back to Mientkiewicz.
When the story broke recently, Mirabelli rang Mientkiewicz, who hadn't even spent three months with the Red Sox after a trade from Minnesota, first thing the next morning.
"You are the dumbest guy in America if you give the ball back," Mirabelli told Mientkiewicz. "I tell you right now, if I had that ball I'd lock it up and bury the key somewhere."
Mirabelli said Mientkiewicz did not tell him what he plans to do with the ball.
"If you can handle the pressure of the organization making you feel bad ... I mean, can you imagine what that is worth?" Mirabelli said. "That's one of the most beloved World Series balls. He made reference to his kids' college funds.
"In all reality, it depends what we do. If we roll out two or three World Series victories over the next 10 years, is that ball worth as much? If we don't go to the World Series for the next 20 years, that ball has to be worth something."
Mirabelli, knuckleball pitcher Tim Wakefield's personal catcher, values playing for the Red Sox so much that he accepted a $3 million offer to play for them for the next two seasons last week.
In games in which Wakefield did not throw last season, Mirabelli started in back-to-back games only twice. He hit a career-best .281, with nine homers and 32 RBIs, in 160 at-bats, and he became a free agent after Boston spun its magic.
From the new home he had built for his wife, Kristin, and two young daughters in Traverse City, Mich., Mirabelli admitted Wednesday night that his situation with the Sox is almost too good to be true.
He said other teams had inquired about his services over the winter. He could have gotten more money elsewhere, he said, and he likely would have gotten more playing time somewhere else.
"I just decided that I am happy in Boston," Mirabelli said. "Playing for a team that would lose 100 games just to say I am a starting catcher isn't what drives me. You have to have fun coming to work every day or it becomes monotonous.
"In Boston, it's unbelievable. I probably get more kudos for playing there and being a good backup than I would being a starter in other places. It's ridiculous how much love those fans have for the team. After 86 years, why leave now?"
No doubt Wakefield, who is signed through 2005, appreciates his big-mitted backstop.
"Scouts have said he's been a little short with some tools, but he's always been a great receiver," said Rodger Fairless, who coached Mirabelli at Valley. "I've heard that they consider him one of the top five (catchers) in the majors. He takes pride in what he does behind the plate."
Since the season ended, Mirabelli, who has become a fervent fan of the New England Patriots, has returned to Boston five times to appear at various functions and autograph shows.
Before Christmas, he spent four days there at an autograph show. He will return to Boston on Friday for another session, and he will go back next Thursday.
Typically, organizers have flown in Sox players -- who dubbed themselves the Dirt Dogs during the '04 season -- to sign memorabilia for three or four hours in a private setting, then fly them back out.
"Someone like (cable channel) QVC will sell a jersey for three grand," Mirabelli said. "At public shows, there's a flat fee. But I'd rather do private stuff; you don't have to feel like you're taking money straight from the public.
"They pay us a lot."
That the items most in demand bear autographs from every Red Sox player, as opposed to merchandise signed by a specific star or two, is a testament to the team's overall popularity.
Which is a boon to someone like Mirabelli.
"Guys like me, a backup catcher, never get anything like that," he said of the lucrative offers. "They need me on there from a team standpoint, and I get to take advantage of that. People are still excited.
"It hasn't been like that for 86 years. It's the Patriots' time of the year, but those people still haven't lost their fire for the Red Sox."
That was an ember after the New York Yankees doused the Sox, 19-8, in Game 3 of the A.L. Championship Series at Fenway Park. In the Boston dugout, ace pitcher Curt Schilling and Mirabelli looked at each other near the end of that debacle.
"We said, 'Don't,' as in, 'Don't let us win (Game 4). As bad as Game 3 looked, the pressure is coming your way. You have us by the throat, you better kill us,' " Mirabelli said.
"We still hadn't felt like our offense had picked up, so we were waiting for that day."
Schilling's blood-soaked sock, clutch base stealing by Dave Roberts and Johnny Damon's Game 7 moon shots are all now a part of Red Sox lore as Boston won the final four games in perhaps the game's most stunning comeback.
Few could have been shocked by Boston's sweep of St. Louis in the World Series after the Sox had snuffed out the Bronx Bombers.
"Coming from the West Coast, this was definitely something I didn't see coming," Mirabelli said. "But I love it, and I can't imagine playing anywhere else. There's no other place like it.
"New York's too big. They have had great players and a rich history, but they don't get the one-on-one with the fans like we do at Fenway Park."
Pedro Martinez left for the New York Mets, Derek Lowe went to the Los Angeles Dodgers and Roberts was dealt to San Diego so he could pursue a full-time role.
Matt Clement, Wade Miller and David Wells are new Red Sox pitchers, and it is unclear whether Mientkiewicz, or his valuable baseball, will remain in Beantown.
In Traverse City, meanwhile, 10 inches of snow fell Tuesday night. When Mirabelli awoke Wednesday morning, it was 9 degrees outside. Boston pitchers and catchers report to spring training in Fort Myers, Fla., in 27 days.
"It was a great offseason, and a great year for my family," Mirabelli said. "We can only pray for another year like 2004 to come. That was definitely one we will remember for a long time."
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