Red Sox Manager Terry Francona, right, celebrates with closer Keith Foulke after Boston beat the Yankees 10-3 in the seventh game of the ALCS on Oct. 20, 2004. Boston rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win the series and went on the capture its first World Series title in 86 years. Charles Krupa/Associated Press

We’ve been thinking a lot about 2004 lately. The Netflix series The Comeback is a remarkable look at the unlikeliest of championship that spans a 12-month stretch the saw the Red Sox go from one of the lowest points in their history to the highest.

Terry Francona, manager of the ’04 team that ended an 86-year championship drought, knew he got to manage the team because Grady Little couldn’t close out an epic season and lost Game 7 of the ALCS in 2003. The new manager knew how important winning it all would be to his ability to keep the job for longer than a year or two.

“It (winning the World Series) probably allowed me to continue managing the Red Sox, because, you know, I kind of knew the lay of the land,” Francona said on the 310 to Left Podcast that I co-host with Alex Speier of the Boston Globe.

“It’s funny how things work out,” Francona said. “I think the way I’ve said it is that it’s probably appropriate, the way we won. All the years people thought they were going to win. And it somehow eluded them. Then, when people kind of almost threw in the towel, like we had no chance, for us to come back and win that way… that was probably the perfect way to do it.”

Francona retired from baseball last year following 11 seasons managing in Cleveland. He came out of retirement last month after signing a three-year deal to manage the Cincinnati Reds. He joked that he needed to spruce up his wardrobe and that the Reds gave him enough swag to convince him to get back into the game.

In reality, Francona used a year away from the game to improve his health and get in shape. He said he’s eager to manage a young team led by budding superstar Elly De La Cruz.

Francona will be honored by The Sports Museum at this year’s The Tradition event on Nov. 20 at TD Garden in Boston. Other honorees are Rob Gronkowski of the Patriots, Dee Brown of the Celtics, Brad Park of the Bruins, and Olympians Scott Hamilton (skating) and Dara Torres (swimming.) Tickets are available at sportsmuseum.org.

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Rookie quarterback Drake Maye had some highs, including his 5-yard touchdown pass at the end of regulation, and lows, including two fumbles and two interceptions in New England’s 20-17 loss to the Titans on Sunday in Nashville, Tennessee. George Walker IV/Associated Press

We went from Maye Day to Mayday awfully fast. The Patriots lost a thriller in Nashville on Sunday, losing 20-17 in overtime to Tennessee. Drake Maye’s improbable 5-yard TD pass to Rhamondre Stevenson after time expired was the highlight.

His two fumbles (one lost) and two interceptions (one ending the game in overtime) were lowlights. That’s what happens when a team hands the reigns to a rookie quarterback. There will be cheers and jeers as a young quarterback learns what it takes to be consistent at the NFL level. Maye’s pass at the end of regulation was a sign of things to come. The end of the game was a sign of where things stand.

Despite the loss, it’s hard not to imagine what Maye will be like with a better team around him. This has been a dismal football season in Foxborough, but the Pats have a keeper at quarterback.

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The Bruins honored Jack Edwards before Sunday night’s 2-0 win over the Seattle Kraken at TD Garden. It was a lovely tribute for a man who gave his heart and soul to every game, every call, over a 19-year run as the voice of the Bruins.

Edwards’ passion for the game was clear to anyone who ever caught him on the mic for NESN. It was also genuine. Anyone fortunate enough to work a broadcast with him got to see it in person. He was as intense about Bruins hockey off the ice as he was on the air.

“Who has more fun than us,” Edwards liked to say of the Bruins broadcast crew on NESN. Winning is fun, and Edwards got to see a lot of it in his time high above the ice. It was only fitting that he got to see a win as he watched with his family from a suite above the Garden.

There were plenty of Maine connections to Sunday’s win. Former UMaine goalie Jeremy Swayman made 23 saves for his first shutout of the season. It came a day after Joonas Korpisalo stopped 20 shots in a 2-0 win at Philadelphia.

It was the first time different Bruins goalies posted shutouts on consecutive days since Portland Pirates Hall of Famers Jim Carey and Byron Dafoe did it back in 1997.

Tom Caron is a studio host for the Red Sox broadcast on NESN. His column appears in the Portland Press Herald on Tuesdays.