E-Mail This Article to a Friend A just Reward NESN keeps the Faith alive for Red Sox Nation BY CHRISTOPHER YOUNG

When Major League Baseball completed its season wrap-up with the Boston Red Sox taking center stage in the Official 2004 World Series DVD, it printed up a half-million copies for distribution — 175,000 more than were manufactured for the previously top-selling baseball DVD (the 1996 Yanks-Braves World Series). Most people figure that this year’s edition will easily top the previous bestseller’s tally, and another round of reprints may even be necessary as the disc approaches the sales level of the all-time best-selling sports DVD — the 2002 Patriots’ Super Bowl victory.

The baseball DVD has been scooped up by the handful in stores all over New England, and you’re likely to find one in your red stocking if you don’t already have it. MLB’s disc was eagerly anticipated after the Fall Classic ended, and for the longest time it was all we had.

Now there’s another.

Hot off the presses is Faith Rewarded: The Historic Season of the 2004 Boston Red Sox, the season compilation from New England Sports Network (NESN). The Red Sox’ TV property has published its own DVD, in which it incorporates more of the actual season highlights, rather than focusing on the post-season, as MLB did. In all, NESN has done a nice job on this piece. A lot of the footage is duplicated from the MLB DVD, but that’s not NESN’s fault; it was hamstrung by the playoff film available to it (which was MLB’s domain). The network was compiling its version at the same time as the MLB, and how was NESN to know that some of its best stuff would already be featured on the "official" DVD?

No matter. NESN’s disc is a nice complementary film that fills in a lot of the holes from the MLB DVD, and Red Sox fans shouldn’t mind seeing some of the footage repeated.

Though it is not an original concept, the new disc opens at Busch Stadium with Keith Foulke preparing to throw the final pitch of the 2004 World Series. Just as the slow-motion wind-up begins, we fade to black and head back to where it all ostensibly began: last year’s ALCS against the Yanks. After that horror show is rehashed, we move forward through spring training and into this season, where we are reminded of the opening weekend in Baltimore, the travel snafus that prevented the Sox from getting more than a few hours’ sleep before the home opener at Fenway, and the individual games that served as turning points along the way.

Through it all, as on the MLB disc, we hear myriad broadcast voices — the Sox radio team, the NESN team, and the national telecasters — interwoven with player and executive interviews, with the effusive Kevin Millar, not surprisingly, getting most of the sound bites. We get the crushing July 1 Jeter-in-the-stands loss in the Bronx, the All-Star game (where homers by David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez unwittingly helped the Sox secure home field in the Series), the late-July fisticuffs against the Bombers, and an in-depth look at the trade that sent Nomar packing.

Whereas actor/comedian/wise guy Denis Leary narrated MLB’s version, the silky baritone of NESN voice-over guy Steve Zirnkilton is a dramatic improvement here. In addition, NESN’s disc improves markedly over MLB’s by including a lot of nuances and insights that only card-carrying members of Red Sox Nation can appreciate. It focuses more on the personalities of the team members, along with their quirks and rituals (i.e., the individual handshakes specific to each player — shortstop Orlando Cabrera points out the various styles in a bonus track).

We get more of the post-season games, particularly the ALDS against Anaheim, and the culmination of the Yankee series is practically tear-jerking by the time Alan Embree records the final out. As a result, the World Series becomes almost anticlimactic. But Faith Rewarded still manages to find tasty nuggets that MLB left out, including Cards pitcher Julian Tavares trying to wave Mark Bellhorn’s game-one HR foul, and Pedro Martinez slapping Larry Walker on the back after the Redbirds’ outfielder is thrown out at home in the first inning of game three.

MLB probably did a little better job in covering the World Series celebration footage (although NESN’s focus on Johnny Pesky in the aftermath is superior), and the Dropkick Murphys’ "Tessie" provides a better closing-credit montage than the Standells’ "Dirty Water," even though the latter tune is more familiar to the Fenway Faithful. Overall, however, the official video was geared to a national audience, while NESN, based on its local experience in the field (so to speak), knows what its viewers yearn to see. Faith Rewarded thereby tailors its choreography to the wants of its regional audience, and ratchets up the emotional level that much more.

NESN’s bonus features are minimal, although entertaining. Ultimately, Sox fans can’t go wrong with either of these discs, and frankly, the more the merrier.

Next up: Blue Man Group’s Red Sox Retrospective.

Faith Rewarded: The Historic Season of the 2004 Boston Red Sox can be purchased for around 20 bucks at area music and video stores, and at www.nesn.com. "Sporting Eye" runs Mondays and Fridays at BostonPhoenix.com. Christopher Young can be reached at cyoung[a]phx.com