July 24, 2004: Jason Varitek vs. A-Rod or Bill Mueller vs. Mariano Rivera?

So many moments from the curse-busting season off 2004 are still vividly familiar to Red Sox fans who will forever cherish the franchise's band of "idiots" that won the World Series that year.

Just curious: How do Red Sox fans remember July 24,2004?

Hard-core fans will undoubtedly remember that as the day when catcher Jason Varitek had it out with hated Yankees star Alex Rodriguez and shoved his catcher's matt into the chin of the slugger to start a fracas. Tempers bubbled over when Bronson Arroyo drilled Rodriguez with a pitch. As Rodriguez was yelling out to Arroyo, Varitek inflamed the tensions by informing the Yankees star that no one hits batters with .260 averages on purpose.

While that was certainly a memorable moment in the long and stories rivalry between the Yankees and Red Sox, other fans remember that day for a much more celebratory reason.

Bill Mueller, an often-overlooked piece of that championship team, ended the game by doing the unthinkable: He drilled a walk-off, game-winning home run off Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera. Mueller hit an elevated cutter from Rivera on a 3-1 pitch into the Red Sox bullpen for the home run to cause Fenway to throb with raw emotion.

"Any time that you can help your team -- because I'm such a team guy -- to step up in that moment, in that type of atmosphere, against that type of pitcher is a special feeling," said Mueller, whose big moment was honored by the Red Sox on Thursday night as the club was inducting Johnny Damon, Mike Timlin and Jon Lester into their Hall of Fame. "I'm just happy that it worked out where it ended the game against an opponent of that caliber. It was a special day."

Mueller couldn't help but smile and laugh when asked which moment Red Sox remember more from that day: His long ball against Rivera or Varitek's glove hitting Rodriguez's chin to set off a brawl.

"I think they enjoyed the fight a lot more, which is great," Mueller told reporters in Boston. "(The fans) are always like, 'Hey! Where were you during that fight?' Of course, I was like, 'I was right behind Big Poppi (David Ortiz)!' It was perfect because he was the biggest guy.

"The fight's at the forefront and then you get to sprinkle in the home run, which is all right with me."