Rebirth, bad luck is finally over…
THE NEW OWNER OF THE RED SOX NATION (2002-TODAY)
The Yawkeys sold the team after 70 years of ownership in 2002 to a consortium headed by John Henry. The president was Larry Lucchino and at 28 years old Theo Epstein was named general manager, the youngest in Major League history.
In 2003 Boston had a very powerfull offense with Manny Ramirez, new acquire David Ortiz,
David Ortiz in action
Kevin Millar, Nomar Garciaparra, batting champion Bill Mueller and was able to reach the American League Wild Card. In the first round Boston won against Oakland, coming back from a 0-2 deficit and faced the rivals Yankees in American League Championship Series. The two teams split the first 6 games and in the deciding seventh game, Boston led 5-2 in the eighth inning. Manager Little allowed a tired Pedro Martínez to pitch in the 8th, and he suffered three runs to tie the game, including a two-run double by Yankee’s catcher Jorge Posada. The Red Sox could not score off closer Mariano Rivera over the last three innings and they lost the game 6-5 when Yankee third baseman Aaron Boone hit a solo home run off Red Sox knockballer Tim Wakefield. All the baseball world blamed Grady Little cause he didn’t removed the tired Martinez in the 8th inning and this action cost the lost. So Epstein decided to fire him and replaced the manager with the former Philadelphia Phillies Terry Francona.
Due to this terrible lost the 2004 season was highly expected with an amazing lineup and a decent pitching staff now terrific with the new acquired veteran ace Curt Schilling and formidable closer Keith Foulke. Anyway the regular season was full of high and low and Boston was able to win the race for the Wild Card and beat the Angels in the first round.
In the American League Championship Series Boston faced in a rematch the Yankees. The serie didn’t started well for the Red Sox, down 3-0 after the firsts 3 games because of a Schilling’s injury and a flat offence. No one ever came back from a similar situation in baseball history ,and the Yankees were ready to reach another trip to the World Series when, in game 4, they led the match 4-3 in the 9th with their incredible closer Mariano Rivera on the mound. But Mariano blown the save thanks to a single by Mueller and in the extra innings Boston prevailed with an homer by Ortiz. A few hopes reanimated the Red Sox Nation but the Yankees were still lead 3 to 1.
Game 5 lasted for 14 innings (longest ever in an American League Championship) and Ortiz again won the match for Boston with a single after both team lost a lot of opportunities. Still down 3-2 the series moved back to New York with Boston still on the brick.
Game 6 was one of the most emotional of all time with Schilling, pitching injury and bleeding during the match, who just allowed one run to lead Boston to the victory and to tie the whole series.
In Game 7, the Red Sox completed their historic comeback with Lowe on the mound and two homers by Johnny Damon defeating finally the Yankees in the most incredible series of their life.
Johnny Damon in action
The World Series was easy for Boston with a swept of the St.Louis Cardinals and for the first World Series win after 86 years. The “Curse of the Bambino” was finally over. During the celebration more than 3 million people invaded the streets of Boston. Everybody still thinks to that Red Sox like “the Idiots” a nickname created by Damon to describe the roster of the team.
In the following season everybody expected Boston to play again for the title, but because of a lot of injury the team wasn’t capable to play at his best and they lost in the first round of the playoff to the Chicago White Sox. A lot of key players of the past were replaced including Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe and the new comers weren’t at their level.
2006 was full of other changes in the roster with the acquisition of ace flamethrower Josh Beckett, power bat Mike Lowell, first baseman Kevin Youkilis and the loss of Johnny Damon (who signed a multi yars contract with the Yankees), and Millar via free-agency. 2006 was also the year of the debut of rookie pitcher Jonathan Papelbon one of the best closer today.
Jonathan Papelbon - A picture
But the lineup was injury prone and a lot of players lost many games so Boston didn’t reach the postseason.
2007 began with sign of Japanese superstar pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka in one of the most expensive transaction of sport’s history (Boston payed 50 million dollars just for the right to negotiate with the player’s agent). The Red Sox also signed outfielder J.D. Drew on the free agent market. With this acquisition and with other players called from the Minor like Ellsbury and Pedroia Boston take the American League East for the first time in twelve years.
In the playoff, after a sweep to the Angels in the first round, the Red Sox faced the Cleveland Indians in the American League Championship Series. Despite a win in the first game the club faced the elimination, losing the next 3 match. But Beckett helped Boston once again with an outstanding performance in game 5. The last two game were easy and the Red Sox won the serie 4 to 3. In the 2007 World Series Boston faced the Colorado Rockies, unbeatable during the postseason. The Red Sox won easily 4 – 0 and take the second World Series Title in 4 years.
In the following (and current) season no major move were made by Epstain in the roster and Boston reached the Wild Card thanks to a bad season by the Yankees. During this campaign Matsuzaka lead the team with Beckett often on the disabled list.
In the playoff, after a first round win against the Angels, Boston is eliminated by the Tampa Bay Rays, a team that have never reach a single postseason in his history.
