“Pitch perfect.” “Fresh.” “Really good.” So say the Boston Globe, the Boston Herald, and the Springfield, Massachusetts, Republican of Netflix’s new docuseries, The Comeback, a three-episode look at the Boston Red Sox’s historic 2004 playoff victory over the New York Yankees. Are New York critics as effusive? Hard to say. Word out of Gracie Mansion is that baseball-loving mayor Eric Adams is considering banning the streaming service in the five boroughs.

For the rest of us, the success or failure of Netflix’s latest depends largely on our feelings toward baseball nostalgia. Count me among the believers. Only a psychopath would dedicate three hours to a 20-year-old hockey series, no matter how gloriously the puck slid. Old-fashioned football works about as well as a dial-up modem. Yet America’s pastime, however bright its present, is ever and always the sport of yesteryear, the province of uncles, grandfathers, and men named Earl. So, what if a mere sprinkling of dust has settled on the American League Championship Series in question? Old baseball is invariably more interesting than new, and The Comeback is what is presently on offer.