Boston.RedSox.MLB.com

By Ian Browne / MLB.com

Bruce Hurst signs an autograph for a fan prior to being honored by the Sox. (Brita Meng Outzen/MLB.com)

• Sox Hall of Fame photo gallery
• Bruce Hurst on his Red Sox career 
• Ben Mondor on being honored by Red Sox HOF 
• Bernie Carbo says he has the Red Sox in his blood 
• Notes: One Hall to another

In theory, the former players were there to be honored as some of the most storied members of Red Sox history.

Like Dennis Eckersley, for example. Eckersley, who is four months removed from receiving the highest honor given to a baseball player, was back to be recognized for his six and a half seasons with the Sox, most notably his 20-win season of 1978.

Also present were former third baseman Wade Boggs and pitcher Bruce Hurst. Who can forget Wade Boggs winning all five of his batting titles in a six-year span (1983-88) in Boston? Or Bruce Hurst going on such a heroic run in the 1986 Fall Classic that he was on tap to be named Series MVP until its tragic ending?

However, the night wound up being more about those past members of Red Sox glory celebrating the monumental accomplishment of the 2004 team. Adding to the ambiance was the World Series trophy, which the Sox brought along for the occasion.

Like his former teammates, Boggs was glued to the television throughout October, as the Red Sox came back from a 3-0 ALCS deficit against the Yankees before sweeping the Cardinals in the World Series.

"I just had one collective, big smile for all of New England because it was so great and so great for this area," said Boggs, who won the only World Series championship of his career with the 1996 Yankees.

Boggs and Hurst -- members of the 1986 team that came one strike away from winning it all -- as well as Eckersley -- part of the 1978 team that lost the one-game playoff heartbreak to the Yankees -- tried mightily to end that World Series championship drought with their teams.

So did Bernie Carbo, who struck a legendary, pinch-hit, three-run homer to set up Carlton Fisk in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series, before the Reds went on to win Game 7. At Wednesday's ceremony, Carbo's home run was recognized as a memorable moment in Red Sox history.

But much of that agony from decades gone by seemed to disappear in the blink of an historic comeback against the Yankees and an utterly dominant performance against the Cardinals.

"There's no curse," said Hurst, the left-handed starter who got on the type of run in the 1986 postseason that Derek Lowe went on a few weeks ago. "This proved it. If there was a curse, they wouldn't have won. This team was resilient and tough and single-minded. They just went out and got it done. They were tougher than the teams they played and better."

Though he didn't throw a pitch, Hurst felt intensely connected to the euphoria that was going on in St. Louis after the final out of the World Series.

"I was jumping up and down on the couch and high-fiving everyone, all my family and the kids and whoever else was watching it there with me," said Hurst. "I was a kid."

For Eckerlsey, who became a first-ballot member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame earlier this year, it was the perfect culmination to the 50th year of his life.

"It's been six years since I've played and a lot's happened, and to top it off like this, I don't think a lot of people get closure like this, so I feel very lucky," said the Eck, who does studio analyst work following Red Sox games on NESN. it takes time to see all the agony that took place to know how special it was when they did win it."

Boggs, a hitting machine throughout his career, noticed a different vibe as he roamed the streets of Boston in the days leading up to Wednesday's event.

"Walking around the streets with my wife Debbie here the last couple of days, there is a different swagger to the Bostonians now," Boggs said. "They hold their heads up a little higher, they poke their chests out a little bit more. There were a lot of smiles on their faces. Now it's, 'Well, we don't have to wait till next year'. They just want to continue the party and have a great time and enjoy it."

It seemed as if the Red Sox alums were as confident as the batch that made history occur.

"I knew once they beat the Yankees, they were going to go to St. Louis and beat the Cardinals. Babe Ruth was tired of being put in the position to always be criticized to be looked at as the curse of the Red Sox," quipped Carbo.

Then Carbo savored a tasty irony looking ahead to the coming years.

"The Yankees have the curse now," said Carbo. "They have to live with being up 3-0 and losing four in a row. That's hard to take and I know Yankees fans aren't going to stomach that very well."

But this night wasn't about the Yankees. It was about the Red Sox. And, for once, there was no historical baggage.

"There's a lot more energy surrounding [Boston]," said Hurst, who also returned to the city for the team's 100-year anniversary celebration in 2001. "It feels nice."

Also inducted during Wednesday's ceremony was Ben Mondor, the popular owner of the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox for 27 years.

There were also several members inducted posthumously. The list included catcher Bill Carrigan (who played with the Sox from 1906-16), manager Jimmy Collins (at the helm for the team's first championship in 1903), infielder-outfielder Billy Goodman (1947-57), infielder Pete Runnels (1958-62) and Haywood Sullivan, who did it all in his 35 years with the Sox as player, general manager and owner.

"I'm extremely honored," said Boggs. "When you think of the players that are in the Red Sox Hall of Fame, it's a who's who list of ex-ballplayers that had great careers. It's a special feeling."

And even more special after the events of two weeks ago.

Ian Browne is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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