For Boston Red Sox fans, both living and dead, the baseball season was a historic high: a come-from-behind victory over the hated Yankees in the play-offs, followed by the team's first World Series triumph in 86 years. But for the rest of the U.S., the sports year was one to forget. And we're not just talking about Kobe Bryant's rape case. A rundown of the swings and misses of 2004. --By Sean Gregory
BASEBALL The steroid scandal widened and moved inexorably closer to Barry Bonds. Fans wonder: Did the slugger really think his trainer was just giving him flaxseed oil?
FOOTBALL...