BOSTON (AP) – Trot Nixon couldn’t wait to see the Red Sox playoff run on the big screen.

The Boston outfielder already knew the ending would be great. But what he was really looking forward to was watching the Red Sox fall apart against the New York Yankees in the first three games of the AL championship series.

“The best way to let it sink in is to watch the first three games and sit back and let the rollercoaster ride take you,” Nixon said Monday night at the premiere of the team’s World Series DVD. “That allows it to sink in even more.”

Major League Baseball hosted a gala party for the release of the DVD in the middle of Boston’s theater district. The theater was fitted with a movie screen to allow 3,700 people to watch the team overcome an 86-year title drought.

Another video, produced by the Red Sox and called “Faith Rewarded,” will be released next week and focus more on the season as a whole.

The 93-minute video released Monday recaps the teams’ first-round sweep of the Anaheim Angels and the unprecedented comeback against the Yankees in the ALCS. New York won the first three games before the Red Sox won four straight; they followed that with four in a row against the Cardinals.

Narrator Denis Leary, a virulent Red Sox fan, said he was approached by the producers after Boston won the first two games of the World Series.

“I said, Look, I’m not going to say yes or no. I don’t want to jinx these guys,”‘ Leary said. “I didn’t think about it all until they won, and I said, That’s right, I get to host the video.”

Red Sox pitcher Mike Timlin also attended the premiere, along with manager Terry Francona and team president Larry Lucchino. More than the video, the buzz on Monday night was about the free agency process that could force the Red Sox to defend their title with a vastly different roster.

Outfielder Gabe Kapler became the first player to sign elsewhere on Monday when he took a deal to play every day with the Yomiuri Giants in Japan.

rather than return to Boston as a backup. More defections are likely, with 16 players on the market, including pitcher Pedro Martinez, catcher Jason Varitek and shortstop Orlando Cabrera.

“You would like to keep this team as pristine as you possibly can, but we all know it’s not going to happen,” reliever Mike Timlin said before the debut of the team’s World Series video. “We know this is a business.”

Leary, who grew up in Worcester, is better known as a hockey fan because of a charity game that brings NHL stars and celebrities together to raise money for firefighters who die in the line of duty.

So, does the Red Sox victory make up for the absence of the NHL, which is mired in a lockout?

“This makes up for a lot of stuff,” he said. “The Kennedy assassination, the 70s. You name it.”

After watching the Red Sox through near-misses in 1967, 1975, 1978, 1986 and 2003, Leary couldn’t imagine that he would someday be narrating their championship video.

“I don’t care if they disband the team and blow up Fenway Park and move to Montreal to replace the Expos,” he said. “I couldn’t tell you how happy I am to have this happen during my lifetime.”

AP-ES-11-22-04 2116EST