Before 2004, the Red Sox were lovable losers. So many horrible things happened to the Red Sox between 1918 and 2004 to keep them from winning a World Championship. There was Bill Buckner's boot. There was Fisk's home run, in my opinion one of the most beautiful moments in baseball history. Really, I get chills every time I watch that. But of course, then they lost game 7. Then, there was Bucky Dent.
But it was good in some ways. The rest of the nation was able to rally behind the Red Sox and cheer for them. As perennial losers, their fans were not obnoxious and focused on things like Bob Havlicek. When the A's lost to the Red Sox in the ALDS in 2003, I was able to rationalize it by saying, "Well, at least the people in Boston finally won something." "At least it isn't the Yankees."
Unfortunately, there's been an awful shift in the sports universe and the Red Sox fans have now become the Red Sox nation. They're just as obnoxious as other sports nation fans, and it hurts to watch them win. Let's get this straight though. I love it when people support their hometown team. I hate it when people jump on the bandwagon of a winning team because they're trendy. This is what the Red Sox have become recently (fotunately the Phillies have taken some of this away). But, at least they don't employ Derek Jeter. There aren't any guys on this current team that make me too upset, so maybe if I could go to an A's-Sox game in Oakland with at least 60% Oakland fans, I'd be a little happier.
Now that the rant is complete, let's look at the Red Sox. Last year they finished behind the Rays and the Yanks in the AL East. And if any team could be described as snakebit, it's the 2010 Red Sox. Kevin Youkilis, Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, Michael Cameron, Victor Martinez Josh Beckett, and Daisuke Matsuzaka all missed portions of last season. A veritable All-Star team was on the bench. That they won 89 games was still an amazing feat. Even with all of those injuries, they finished in the top 6 in runs, home runs, and batting average. And, oh yeah, they got better.
The Red Sox were able to scrounge up the money to sign Carl Crawford (.307/19/90/47 SB) to patrol the green monster. They also managed to part with their top pitching prospect in order to get Adrian Gonzalez to play first base. In Petco Park in a bad offense, he hit 31 home runs while driving in 101 and hitting .298. Imagine what he can do in a hitters' park with a loaded offense. It's getting scary.
So not only do they sign one of the most dynamic players in the game and one of the best power hitters, but they return former AL MVP Dustin Pedroia to play second, who in 2009 went .298/15/72 from the two hole. They also get back Kevin Youkilis to switch back over to third. In only 102 games he went .307/19/62. And wait, there's more! Jacoby Ellsbury also returns from his various injuries. 2009: .301/8/60/70 SBs. You may now be realizing, holy crap it's serious.
At DH is still Big Papi, David Ortiz. He silenced many doubters last season by going .270/32/102. In right field will be the veteran J.D. Drew (.255/22/68) and shortstop will be filled by another veteran Marco Scutaro (.275/11/56). Catching, as long as he can throw back the ball, will be Jarrod Saltalamacchia. This was a guy who was once good enough for the Rangers to trade Mark Teixiera. Good stuff.
On the pitching side, how about this for a rotation: Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, John Lackey, Clay Buchholz, Daisuke Matsuzaka. It doesn't take much more than that. Some of the best hurlers in the game, all in the same rotation, pitching to protect a lead provided by once of the most electric offenses. If they can be healthy and bounce back from a rough year, it could be the best top to bottom rotation in the game, I predict an average ERA of 3.11. Of course, they only have to go eight innings, because at the end they only have to hand it to Jonathan Papelbon, one of the best closers in the game.
Now that it's outlined, here are the Red Sox:
C Jarrod Saltalamacchia
1B Adrian Gonzalez
2B Dustin Pedroia
3B Kevin Youkilis
SS Marco Scutaro
LF Carl Crawford
CF Jacoby Ellsbury
RF J.D. Drew
DH David Ortiz
SP Jon Lester
SP Josh Beckett
SP John Lackey
SP Clay Buchholz
SP Daisuke Matsuzaka
CL Jonathan Papelbon
Best Case Scenario
It's pretty simple boys and girls. The Red Sox go wire to wire in the lead. Ortiz, Youkilis, and Gonzalez all hit over 30 HR. Crawford, Drew, and Pedroia add another 20 a piece. Each starter has over 15 wins, and the Red Sox cruise to a World Series title. The nation forgets about baseball as drama hits an all time low. Adrian Gonzalez wins the AL MVP. Boston, of course, is so happy that they annex Rhode Island. People everywhere begin thinking it's cool to talk like Matt Damon right after Good Will Hunting came out. People who were already fans of other teams cry themselves softly to sleep until opening day 2012.
Worst Case Scenario
It's pretty simple boys and girls. The Red Sox go wire to wire in the lead. Ortiz, Youkilis, and Gonzalez all hit over 30 HR. Crawford, Drew, and Pedroia add another 20 a piece. Each starter has over 13 wins, and the Red Sox cruise to the Wild Card. They face the Giants in the World series as heavy favorites. After getting out to a 3-0 series lead, Curt Schilling is found to have lied about the bloody sock and bet on baseball while kicking goats out of the park and then selling them to finance his new Broadway smash: Schillings for World Series Titles. It stars a washed up and cut by the Rays Manny Ramirez as Theo Epstein. Overnight the Schilling Sock Sox Schandel is blown out of the water, and the Giants win the series 4-3. The Red Sox fade back into obscurity, and don't win a world series for another 85 years. People around the nation rejoice as the Red Sox nation, without the Sox and without Tom Brady, and after the NBA has its own lockout, start focusing on the Bruins. Because only 6 people outside the northeast care about hockey, the world order is again at ease.
It is a good rotation, but I'm not sure I'd call it the best in the bigs, even if all healthy. God only knows what we're going to see from Josh Beckett. And Daisuke hasn't been anything near good since 2008. Lester's a legit stud, but Buchholz has only one good year under his belt. And they're the only two of the five with an ERA under 4.40 last year. I know two were injured, but that's just more reason they might be shaky.
ReplyDeleteI still think I'd take Halladay over Lester,
Lee over Lackey, Oswalt over Buchholz and Hamels over the current Beckett. Blanton and Daisuke are pretty much even.
But the Sox do have the best team in baseball, hands down.