Read the arguments from Loyal Homer and Bleacher Fan about which teams they believe were the best World Series Champs of this decade.
It all ended on October 27, 2004. The best World Series Champion of the past decade – and one of the best in the history of baseball – completed the final out in an unprecedented season. To the chagrin of new TSD contributor and fan persona Babe Ruthless, the 2004 Boston Red Sox are the best World Series Champion of this decade.
The Red Sox finished the 2004 season two games shy of 100 wins, and three shy of the division crown, taken again by perpetual stumbling block, the New York Yankees. After sweeping the Los Angeles Angles in the American League Division Series the Red Sox faced its old foe and curse-perpetuator from the Bronx. We all know the story now, down 0-3 in the series and 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth of the first game in the series where the Saawwwwxx faced elimination, spark plug Dave Roberts pinch runs for Kevin Millar. Millar drew a rare walk from Mariano Rivera, and then Roberts stole second and scored the game tying run in the bottom of the ninth on a Bill Mueller RBI base hit. The rest is an improbable history making event where the Red Sox were the first team in history to overcome a three games to zero hole to win an American League Championship Series, before sweeping through the World Series. This Red Sox team accomplished what few thought was possible in the modern era of sports, winning a series after putting itself in a three game hole. But the amazing feats from this Red Sox team did not stop with a surprising comeback.
Another reason the Red Sox are the greatest World Series championship team of this decade is because each player on the roster exceeded their previously established talent limitations. For example, opening day second baseman Mark Bellhorn set career highs in batting average (.264) and RBI (82). Catcher Jason Varitek hit a career best .296 and even grabbed 10 stolen bases. The usual suspects in the middle of the order, Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz – put up their usual excellent stats. The difference makers for this team were the several players on the Red Sox roster that played above what their career stats indicate as possible. You know the scenario in your favorite team’s context. “I know player X, player Y, and player Z are going to be great this season. But if player A, player B, and player C give us ANYTHING it will be gravy.” The 2004 Red Sox were a team dominated by gravy.
Players that are able to go beyond their limitations are a requisite for any championship team. What makes the Red Sox better than the usual championship team is that they broke a 100 year “curse.” Therefore the players that exceeded their capabilities exceeded them by such a significant amount that the team was able to accomplish something no other team in the history of baseball was ever able to do.
During TSD’s last production meeting Bleacher Fan specifically asked that I not make any mention of the bloody sock. However, it is impossible to research and write anything about the 2004 Red Sox and avoid the bloody sock. Pitcher Curt Schilling pitched hurt during the ALCS and the World Series, and he pitched extremely well. We all know the story. In retrospect the bloody sock is important not because of Schilling’s individual performance but because historic teams – transcendent teams that defeat not only a formidable opponent but vanquish a curse – must have a symbol that embodies the experience and the journey. For the Red Sox the bloody sock was so much more meaningful than a red stain on a baseball sock. The sock symbolized hard work, dismissing frustration, above and beyond effort, and a general disregard for adversity – all characteristics of the team’s personality.
No team built momentum like the 2004 Red Sox, either. After the surprising comeback against the Yankees in the ALCS, the Red Sox were an unstoppable locomotive, sweeping the National League champion St. Louis Cardinals. The team redefined momentum with its beating down of the Cardinals – the team that won more games during the regular season than any other team in baseball in 2004, including the Yankees – 11-9, 6-2, 4-1, and 3-0.
Many great teams exist in baseball’s history. Only ONE broke a curse in a spectacular, unprecedented, and an unavoidably entertaining way.
What ultimately makes the 2004 Red Sox great is not solely what the team was able to accomplish in between the chalk lines. The team had more than just baseball skills. It had history, character, and an unstoppable spirit rivaled by no other team.
