The greatest stolen base ever began, like so much else in baseball, with failure.

As the 2004 postseason began, Dave Roberts was told by Red Sox manager Terry Francona to stay ready for anything, and in Roberts' first playoff opportunity as a pinch runner, in the division series against the Angels, he had failed to run.

Roberts entered Game 2 as a pinch runner after Bill Mueller led off with a single, and after Johnny Damon fell behind in the count 0-2 -- patiently waiting for Roberts to break for second -- Damon chopped into a fielder's choice. Roberts was forced out and his only chance to impact the game vanished. Kevin Youkilis moved into Roberts' lineup spot in the next half inning, to play third base.

As Roberts recently explained on the Baseball Tonight podcast, in the aftermath of that, he made up his mind that he would definitely run the next time he pinch ran. This was his mindset, then, when he moved onto the field at Fenway Park in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 4 of the American League Championship Series.