Doesn’t This Look Familiar?

By Gary Armida

You know, we’ve seen this all before, haven’t we? The Red Sox seem quite familiar to the observant baseball fan. There’s the gritty third baseman (who played first most of the regular season), the big power bat in the middle of the order, the young middle infielder who seems to get the clutch hit every time, the new acquisition who plays with a quiet desire, the solid starting staff which is battle tested, the seemingly never ending bullpen, and the lights out closer. They even have the stoic manager who seems to know his team so well that it allows the team to play relaxed despite tremendous expectations. Yes, the Boston Red Sox organization is the best in baseball. With the ALCS tied at one game apiece and heading back to Boston, one cannot help to sit in awe of the Sox. The mainstream media has correctly made the comparison of this Red Sox dynasty to that of the Yankees during the late 90′s. The mainstream is half right here. Yes, the Red Sox are eerily similar to the late 90′s Yankees, but there is one difference. If the Red Sox can capture their 3^rd title in 5 years, the Red Sox team is not only similar to the Yankees, but they are much better.

Similar? Yes.

While Yankees fans try to regain consciousness after reading that last statement, let’s take a look at the similarities. The Yankees championship teams from 1996-2000 (only 1997 was not a championship year) was based on a cliché. The cliché is that they were a group of gritty, gutty, selfless players who did everything with the team concept in mind. The foundation of the team was a young shortstop with a flair for the dramatic hit in Derek Jeter, the warrior in right field in Paul O’Neill, the tough first baseman in Tino Martinez, and the graceful centerfielder who hit big homeruns in Bernie Williams. They had role players like Luis Sojo, Scott Brosius, Chad Curtis, and Shane Spencer who would seemingly get big hits in pressure packed games. The Yankees had a deep pitching staff with big game pitchers like David Cone, Jimmy Key, Andy Pettitte, Orlando Hernandez, David Wells, and later Roger Clemens. The bullpen had the best closer of all time in Mariano Rivera with a myriad of solid setup men like Jeff Nelson, Mike Stanton, and Ramiro Mendoza. Of course, Joe Torre was there to push all the right buttons to get his team to play well.  

The Red Sox have all of that. They have the gritty Kevin Youkilis who puts up big numbers despite limited physical abilities. Youkilis puts up even better numbers in the postseason where he is a career .367/.440/.671 hitter. The young middle infielder who performs in the clutch is second baseman Dustin Pedroia who could very well be the 2008 American League MVP. The Sox have their own tough hitter in David Ortiz who players despite complications from his broken wrist. Jason Bay is the quiet performer who puts up great numbers with little fanfare, much like Bernie Williams. Role players? Coco Crisp seems to play well whenever he is in the lineup. Players like Alex Cora, Jed Lowrie, and Mark Kotsay have filled in admirably when a regular was injured. The pitching staff of Josh Beckett, Diasuke Matsuzaka, Jon Lester, and Tim Wakefield is the battle tested group who keep the Sox in every game. The bullpen has options too with right handers Manny Delcarmen and Justin Masterson and lefty Hideki Okajima in front of the lights out closer Jonathan Papelbon.

Yes, the similarities are there. But (brace yourself Yankees fans, it’s coming again), the Sox are much better.

Yes, they are better

The Yankees did win 4 championships in 5 seasons. It was an incredible run. If the Sox can win this season, they will have 3 championships in 5 seasons. Yes, 4 is always greater than 3, but there is a difference. The difference is that the Red Sox are built to win another 3 or 4 championships while the Yankees were at the end of their run with a mostly aged core. The Yankees turned to free agency to try to extend the run. While they continued to make the playoffs and even two World Series, they couldn’t replicate the setup that the 1996-2000 teams had. With Youkilis (29 years old), Pedroia (24 years old), Lowrie (24 years old), Ellsbury (24 years old), Bay (29 years old), and Ortiz (32 years old), the Red Sox core offense is young and dynamic. While Ortiz is closing in on the end of his prime, the rest are just entering their prime, most productive years. The pitching staff is actually in better shape with Lester (24 years old), Beckett (28 years old), Matsuzaka (27 years old), Delcarmen (26 years old), Masterson (23 years old), and Papelbon (27 years old). All are signed to relatively low contracts considering the marketplace. There is even help on the way with youngsters like Clay Buchholz and Michael Bowden.

Papelbon, in particular, is the biggest reason why the Red Sox will remain a World Series favorite for a while. Papelbon is just 27 years old and has already demonstrated that he can close when the games count the most. He has given up zero earned runs (one overall) in his 22 post season innings. While he cannot be held in the same regard as Mariano Rivera yet, he is well on his way to ascending into that rarified air.

The Red Sox are led by perhaps the best general manager in the business in Theo Epstein. While Epstein has had his share of bad signings (Matt Clement for one) and bad trades (Arroyo for Wily Mo Pena), he has systematically built the Red Sox entire organization in way where a star is not necessary as evidenced by their trade of malcontents Nomar Garciaparra and this season, Manny Ramirez while in the midst of a playoff run. If an injury occurs to a key player like Mike Lowell, the Sox simply move Kevin Youkilis to third and play a Mark Kotsay at first base or have Jed Lowrie slide to third. When the starting shortstop, Julio Lugo went down, young Jed Lowrie was able to fill in quite well, perhaps better than before. The Sox are even prepared for the inevitable JD Drew injury because Epstein chose to hold onto Coco Crisp when popular thought was that he would be traded. Epstein’s evaluation skills have allowed him to put together a championship caliber team that still has enough money to sign a key piece of the puzzle. With Manny Ramirez’s contract off the books, the Red Sox could add a significant free agent for their 2009 run even if one is not necessarily needed.  

As illustrated earlier, Epstein has set the Red Sox up for an extended run, something that even the Yankees couldn’t do. When the Red Sox won in 2004, many veterans were up for free agency. Rather than re-sign players out of loyality, Epstein chose to let Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe leave. A year later, he let Johnny Damon and Kevin Millar leave. Long story short–because Epstein developed his entire system, the Red Sox will be a title contender for many more years with a workable payroll.

Closing Thoughts

While many in the mainstream media are looking at Tampa Bay’s game two extra inning win as a sign of the Rays taking control of the series, it was simply a bump in the road for the Red Sox who had won 6 straight post season games as a road team before losing on Saturday night. The Red Sox did exactly what a champion does. They won at least one on the road to take back home field advantage. The Red Sox were 56-25 at Fenway during the regular season and took 7 of 9 from the Rays in Boston. With their best pitcher, Jon Lester, on the hill for game three in Boston (where he is 11-1 with a 2.49 ERA), the Red Sox are in a perfect situation. Unfortunately for the Yankees, Rays, Blue Jays, and Orioles (let’s include them to be nice), the Red Sox are not only in the perfect position for this series, they are in perfect position for many seasons to come.

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