Trip down memory lane at Dodger Stadium inspires Red Sox, who are only happy to revisit 2018 World Series - The Boston Globe (2024)

LOS ANGELES — A few heads in the Red Sox dugout snapped to attention after the second inning of Friday night’s contest, when the Dodger Stadium scoreboard offered a two-minute montage of a legendary moment in Dodgers history.

The chosen highlight? Game 3 of the 2018 World Series, when the Red Sox suffered an epic 3-2, 18-inning loss to the Dodgers, with Max Muncy hitting a walkoff homer on the 97th pitch of the night from Nate Eovaldi, who was still on the mound for a seventh inning of bullpen work.

If the selected moment was intended to remind the Red Sox of a moment of failure,at the ballpark, it had an ironic consequence. Instead, it offered those who were with the Red Sox in 2018 a reminder of one of the greatest individual performances in postseason history, a signature moment in what proved to be a five-game flattening of the Dodgers that punctuated the most dominant season in franchise history.

“In the words of the great bench coach Ramón Vázquez, that was one moment in five games. That was cool to see. It actually brought up great memories,” said Sox manager Alex Cora. “We saw it [in the dugout]. It was like, ‘Oh, that’s cool.’ We screamed at the scoreboard, ‘Don’t slip, don’t slip,’ to Ian [Kinsler, whose errant throw in the 13th inning allowed the Dodgers to tie the game]. It was good to see.”

Jason Varitek, who was with the Red Sox as a special assistant in 2018, likewise seemed amused by the selection.

“Great baseball game. If that’s what they chose to show, that’s what they chose to show,” said Varitek, now in the dugout as the game planning coordinator. “It was the only one that they did win. They did win that game. But we were able to bounce back the next day and take care of business.”

And, of course, that bounceback was believed to be in no small part because of the work Eovaldi had done that night.

“What Evo did to save everyone else, that’s why we were able to utilize the rest of our pitching,” said Varitek. “He took the loss but he did an amazing job. That’s the biggest thing I remember from that game — what an amazing job he did.”

This weekend marks the Sox’ first return to Dodger Stadium since the 2018 World Series, when the team followed that Game 3 loss with victories in Games 4 and 5 to clinch its fourth title of the 21st century. The Sox had visited every other team before the schedule finally brought them back to the spectacular home of the Dodgers.

Of course, that remarkable performance by Eovaldi was a reminder of a remarkable team, and time, that seems in some ways like it is from another epoch. The 108-win juggernaut that stormed through the postseason with an 11-3 mark performed at an incredible level. The stature of the group has only increased with the perspective borne of the ensuing six years.

“That ‘18 team, we didn’t have any weaknesses. Really,” said Dodgers special assistant Ron Roenicke, who served as Sox bench coach in 2018 and 2019 before spending a year as manager during Cora’s 2020 suspension. “That’s the best team I’ve been involved with. All areas — starters, relievers, defense, offense, we could scrap and get a run in a tight ballgame. Whatever it took, we had the personnel that could do it. It was just an incredible year.

“We didn’t really have a question mark on that team. The feeling of the staff and players was that when we got to the playoffs, nobody was going to beat us.”

Few teams, even champions, ever experience such a feeling of certainty. And certainly, the Sox have not been able to recreate that magic since they left Dodger Stadium following their Game 5 triumph on Oct. 28, 2018.

The Red Sox have endured seismic change since that night. Only one current Red Sox big leaguer, Rafael Devers, was on that championship roster — two fewer players with 2018 rings than the Dodgers have (Mookie Betts, Joe Kelly, Ryan Brasier).

Yet the return to Dodger Stadium comes at a time when there is a palpable sense of renewed ambition from the Red Sox clubhouse. Cora has counseled his team to “get greedy” when it comes to contemplating what might be possible this year, with a group that is trying to prove that its surprising, playoff-worthy performance through nearly 100 games can endure the test of the final two months.

With that in mind, the visit to the last venue where the Red Sox won a championship may have been well-timed — with the midgame highlight of Game 3 of the 2018 World Series affording members of the 2024 club not only a history lesson but also a sense of purpose.

“Beautiful venue,” said Varitek. “Beautiful place.”

Alex Speier can be reached at alex.speier@globe.com. Follow him @alexspeier.