Dave McCarty, player on 2004 Red Sox championship team, dies 1 week after team's reunion

Dave McCarty, an 11-year MLB veteran and member of the curse-breaking 2004 Boston Red Sox team, died Friday due to a cardiac event, the Red Sox announced. He was 54 years old.

The announcement came only 10 days after McCarty was present for the 2004 team's reunion at Fenway Park, where the group was already mourning the loss of Tim Wakefield. Wakefield died of brain cancer last October, and was followed by his wife Stacy months later.

McCarty is survived by his wife Monica and children Reid and Maxine.

Former Red Sox players Kevin Youkilis, Lou Merloni and Lenny DiNardo posted tributes to McCarty following the news.

NESN, where McCarty worked as an analyst after retirement, also posted a video showing a walk-off homer he hit in 2004.

Born in Houston, McCarty became a top prospect at Stanford and was selected third overall by the Minnesota Twins in the 1991 MLB Draft. He made his MLB debut two years later and proceeded to carve out a decade-long career working mostly as a bench bat.

He, of course, is best remembered for that 2004 season in which he hit .258/.327/.404 with four homers in 168 plate appearances, though he didn't see any playing time during Boston's legendary World Series run.