Our countdown of baseball’s 50 best groups — an inventory often known as the Greatest 50 — rolls in the present day to No. 36, the 2004 Boston Crimson Sox. The rankings come from my new ebook, Baseball’s Greatest (and Worst) Groups.
Right here’s a fast boilerplate clarification that I’m appending to each story on this sequence:
I compiled the Greatest 50 by analyzing 2,544 major-league groups from 1903 to 2024. These golf equipment have been ranked by their workforce scores (TS), that are plotted on a 100-point scale. (A given membership’s all-time percentile is the share of the opposite 2,543 groups that it outperformed.)
See my ebook for an evidence of my TS calculations. The ebook additionally gives separate breakdowns of one of the best and worst golf equipment for each decade and franchise, complete profiles of the Greatest 50 (together with position-by-position lineups and way more info than you’ll discover on this e-newsletter), and related summaries of the ten worst groups of all time.
Now on to in the present day’s profile.
Workforce: 2004 Boston Crimson Sox
Workforce rating: 86.128 factors
All-time rank: 36 of two,544
All-time percentile: 98.62%
Season document: 98-64 (.605)
Season place: Second place in American League East
Last standing: World champion
The Crimson Sox rode a peculiar streak into 2004. That they had completed second within the American League East each season since 1998 — six years and counting.
There have been causes to hope for higher issues in ’04. Boston featured a strong batting order that generated 5.86 runs per recreation, main each leagues. And the pitching employees’s ERA of 4.18 was third-best within the AL. The Sox vaulted to an early divisional lead, however their nemesis — the membership that had claimed each AL East crown since 1998 — vaulted previous them in June. The New York Yankees stretched their result in 10 video games by August 16.
That’s when the Sox hit the accelerator, going 33-12 the remainder of the best way. They didn’t catch the Yanks, although they did declare a wild-card postseason berth. Critics chided Boston’s gamers for celebrating — they’d completed second, in any case, for the seventh straight yr — however supervisor Terry Francona defended his troops. “In the event that they’re excited to be within the playoffs, they’ve a proper to be excited,” he mentioned. “What’s the large deal?”
Get the whole lowdown on the 50 best (and 10 weakest) golf equipment of all time
The Crimson Sox carried their momentum into the American League Division Sequence, sweeping the Anaheim Angels. However they abruptly went useless within the AL Championship Sequence, shedding the primary three video games to the dreaded Yankees. “Quickly it will likely be over,” wrote Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan, “and we’ll spend one other dreary winter lamenting this and lamenting that.”
The Sox eked out a pair of extra-inning wins to make the sequence respectable, then completed off the Yankees with 4-2 and 10-3 victories in Yankee Stadium. It was the primary postseason comeback from a three-game deficit in baseball historical past. “That is as huge because the World Sequence,” exulted pitcher Tim Wakefield.
The ultimate spherical proved to be shockingly simple. The Sox swept the Cardinals by a composite rating of 24-12, bringing Boston its first World Sequence trophy since 1918.
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No different American League membership may match Boston’s one-two punch of left fielder Manny Ramirez and designated hitter David Ortiz.
Ramirez led the AL in house runs (43) and slugging share (.613). Opponents raved about his dedication. “In relation to his craft, his artwork, his talent, he’s as sensible as anybody,” mentioned Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez. Ortiz was the one batter in both league to exceed 40 homers and 135 RBIs. The eight-year veteran had discovered how one can attain pitches anyplace within the strike zone. “He used to have holes on the within. You’d go exterior,” mentioned New York nearer Mariano Rivera. “Holes? Now they’re not there anymore.”
Middle fielder Johnny Damon infused the lineup with energy and velocity. He swatted 20 homers and stole a team-leading 19 bases. Gritty catcher Jason Varitek cemented his repute as a confirmed winner. He grew to become considered one of solely three gamers ever to look within the championship video games for separate World Sequence on the Little League, collegiate, and big-league ranges.
An offseason commerce with Arizona added Curt Schilling to Boston’s beginning rotation. The 37-year-old Schilling was well-known for his sturdiness and irascibility. These qualities impressed Philadelphia basic supervisor Ed Wade to seek advice from Schilling as “a horse” on the mound and “a horse’s ass” elsewhere. The Crimson Sox have been nothing however happy along with his league-leading 21 victories.
Pedro Martinez didn’t appear like an influence pitcher, not along with his slender 170-pound body. But he flashed a exceptional fastball, offsetting it with an distinctive changeup. Martinez completed second within the AL with 227 strikeouts.
