LUCKY HARM
Bosox misery makes ’ 13 title seem fortuitous
CHAMPIONSHIPS are forever. There are no asterisks. If the Warriors finish off the Cavaliers, their title will not say, “They won, but all four of their playoff opponents were without key pieces.”
The Marlins have been a laughingstock for pretty much all but two of their 23 seasons, but won it all in those two seasons. Where do the Cubs sign up for that?
So the Red Sox’s 2013 title is forever.
But with the perspective of what came immediately before and since can we ask if it is among the luckiest championships in MLB history? That title now stands as a rose surrounded by a cesspool. It is similar to the football Giants’ last title, a parade amid playoffless failure. But the Giants never quite did pushups on rock bottom like these Red Sox.
Boston missed the 2010 playoffs and had a historic collapse in 2011 fattened in ignominy by “beer and fried chicken.” The response was Bobby Valentine and the franchise’s worst record since 1965.
The 2013 title made it easy to blame all that occurred in 2012 on Valentine. But Boston finished last in 2014 and is in last again this season. The Red Sox are an AL worst 98129 since the beginning of 2014. That is not a blip that can be dismissed— or blamed on Valentine.
The Red Sox have a teamrecord payroll that should top $ 200 million. They are run by smart people and have talented players. That combined with an AL East inwhich no one has run away keeps me thinking they will win 12 of 15 and be right back in it.
However, the evidence continues to mount that 2013 was the aberration, not 2012, 2014 and more and more 2015 ( their minus62 is the AL’s worst run differential). If this persists, the following case that the 2013 title was among the luckiest ever only will grow ( Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington was contacted and did not wish to comment on this topic):
1. Only once in major league history was an organization willing to assume more than a quarter of a billion dollars in contracts during a season. Not even George Steinbrenner would have approved that. But in 2012 the Dodgers had been bought by a deeppocketed group eager to energize the fan base and distance the organization from the penurious rule of Frank McCourt by adding stars/ payroll.
So, the Red Sox got a financial get out of jail card in August 2012 when the Dodgers notably acquired Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez and Josh Beckett. Without those never before, never since monetary moons aligning, the Red Sox could not have had the payroll maneuverability to …
2. Go six for seven in free agency after the 2012 season. Ryan Dempster was the only one from that class of Stephen Drew, Jonny Gomes, Mike Napoli, David Ross, Koji Uehara and Shane Victorino who did not have a strong 2013 ( Victorino’s threeyear, $ 39 million deal has been dreadful since).
If a teamb ats .500 on free agents, it is doing well. Six for seven is
unprecedented. And there would be plaudits for the Red Sox acumen except it feels like good fortune nowbecause they almost instantly wanted to trade the big freeagent deal prior to it ( Crawford) and since ( Hanley Ramirez, Pablo Sandoval). If anything that six for seven …
3. Made the Red Sox believe they had found a formula of spreading the money around and trusting their feeder system that would assure longterm excellence.
They lowballed Jon Lester essentially out of Boston and convinced themselves they could win without an ace. But acquiring and extending Wade Miley and Rick Porcello has not gone well. They mistakenly believed they could take on a temperamental player such as Ramirez and play him out of position in left.
Xander Bogaerts played so well in the 2013 postseason after a lateseason cameo that Boston thought in 2014 it could go with him at short and fellow rookie Jackie Bradley Jr. in center. That didn’t work. The Red Sox believed the Dodgers had not only solved their financial problems with that big trade but had been fleeced by giving up Rubby De La Rosa and Allen Webster, too. Neither pitcher worked in Boston and both were traded for Miley— so that could be a compounded problem.
To this point, Mookie Betts, Blake Swihart and Rusney Castillo have failed to honor their prospect hype, raising questions whether Boston’s feeder system is more monster or myth. Or perhaps the …
4. Dysfunction at Fenway is undermining the growth of talented players. The removal of Valentine was supposed to remove the toxicity. Keep in mind, though, that those opposed to Valentine wanted Dale Sveum, who instead went to the Cubs and lost the most games in the NL in 201213 before being canned.
To replace Valentine, Boston hired John Farrell, whowon it all in his first year. But if this is the Red Sox’s 2015 season, Farrell will have been a manager five years between Boston and Toronto and had one above. 500 campaign. That occurred …
5. In the year of Boston Strong. I watched up close howthe 9/ 11 tragedy inspired a Yankees dynasty running on fumes in 2001 to be uplifted by a unified community around it and get all the way to World Series Game 7.
The 2013 Boston Marathon bombing galvanized a city around a team. A random outside event near the outset of their schedule buoyed the Red Sox to cohesion and excellence in a way we have yet to see again.