This is the best Red Sox team...ever.

Spelunker

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So you guys got me thinking: Check this out:

The MVP is defined as what it is. So, if Mookie wins the MVP and JDM wins the Triple Crown, the TC is technically, almost definitionally a lesser award this season.

How much trash do we think Mookie would talk to JDM about the Triple Crown if this happens? Like, how good do you have to be to have the opportunity to pooh-pooh the Triple Crown as a kind of consolation prize? What is it like to win the Triple Crown and still have that guy in the clubhouse? And, I mean, they're all having fun.

That kind of shit is on the table with this team.
{Ted Williams likes this}
 

uk_sox_fan

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How amazing is it that they've been 14-2 against the O's so far and yet still need to win 2 of 3 to post a better record against them than they did against the Jays?

Oh to have that last series against TB over again...
 

nvalvo

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How amazing is it that they've been 14-2 against the O's so far and yet still need to win 2 of 3 to post a better record against them than they did against the Jays?

Oh to have that last series against TB over again...
TB is an excellent team. In another division, especially the AL Central or NL West, they would probably be a playoff team. The Boston media had this stupid idea that they were somehow rebuilding because they traded Steven Sousa, as if that was such an irrecuperable step back. We were frankly lucky to play them so many times while their pitching staff was disordered by injuries at the beginning of the year.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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TB is an excellent team. In another division, especially the AL Central or NL West, they would probably be a playoff team. The Boston media had this stupid idea that they were somehow rebuilding because they traded Steven Sousa, as if that was such an irrecuperable step back. We were frankly lucky to play them so many times while their pitching staff was disordered by injuries at the beginning of the year.
They traded Souza...and Longoria and Boxberger and Odorizzi and Dickerson. And they let Duda and Cobb and Morrison and Hunter walk as free agents. And they were sellers at the deadline this year, shipping out Archer and Miller and Ramos and Eovaldi and others. Can't imagine where the notion that they're rebuilding would come from.

Yet they never took a step back and instead are getting better. It's rather incredible.
 

Adrian's Dome

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They traded Souza...and Longoria and Boxberger and Odorizzi and Dickerson. And they let Duda and Cobb and Morrison and Hunter walk as free agents. And they were sellers at the deadline this year, shipping out Archer and Miller and Ramos and Eovaldi and others. Can't imagine where the notion that they're rebuilding would come from.

Yet they never took a step back and instead are getting better. It's rather incredible.
Most of those players aren't exactly irreplaceable, as they've proven. Having a pitcher like Snell certainly helps, too.

TB's front office deserves a ton of credit for moving that much bulk and remaining competitive in a division with two 100-win squads. That's hardly an easy task.
 

Rasputin

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115 wins isn't out of the question.

Best the Yankees best season, beat them in ten straight games, force them on the road for the wild card, finish fifteen games ahead of them, break their record against them on the last day of the season, then watch their demoralized desiccated corpses get kablamminated by the Athletics while we go on to play the second best ALCS ever and a World Series that the rest of the world thinks is even more boring than 2004 and 2007.
 

sean1562

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Most of those players aren't exactly irreplaceable, as they've proven. Having a pitcher like Snell certainly helps, too.

TB's front office deserves a ton of credit for moving that much bulk and remaining competitive in a division with two 100-win squads. That's hardly an easy task.
Tv has to be given credit for the risks they have taken and for maximizing the payroll they have. Considering Baltimore is in one of the premier media markets in the states, and can afford a high payroll, the record of success of both teams, comparatively, is pretty astonishing. Tampa is just a really well run team and easily my least hated team in the division
 

JimD

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59.5 game lead over Baltimore. There is no way this isn't at least in the low 60's by season's end.
 

patoaflac

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59.5 game lead over Baltimore. There is no way this isn't at least in the low 60's by season's end.
For me growing up in the late 60s and in the early 70’s, it was frustrating to hear some games on a shortwave radio and reading the previous day box scores in the paper and seeing that the O’s were almost always better than the Sox. Today we could see a new record in game lead in modern baseball history (65.5 back, Boston Doves, 1909).
 

Reverend

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For me growing up in the late 60s and in the early 70’s, it was frustrating to hear some games on a shortwave radio and reading the previous day box scores in the paper and seeing that the O’s were almost always better than the Sox. Today we could see a new record in game lead in modern baseball history (65.5 back, Boston Doves, 1909).
This feels like the, “Chuck Norris doesn’t sleep, he waits,” of Orioles hatred.
 

patoaflac

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This feels like the, “Chuck Norris doesn’t sleep, he waits,” of Orioles hatred.
It was hatred admiration when they had Palmer, McNally, Cuellar and Dobson. Now they are completely inconsequential and miserable, but I expect a new record, at least 66 back (although I know probability is not on my side).
 

JimD

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Things looked a little dicey three weeks ago after the Rays wiped out Boston and the Yankees completed a four-game sweep of the woeful Orioles, but the Sox responded with a 13-5 run while Aaron Boone's crew reacted to their good fortune by going 8-11 and have now lost series to the White Sox, A's, Twin and Blue Jays (and managed only a split with the Tigers) and dropped five and half games in the standings. Overall, since the glorious early August sweep of the MFY's at Fenway, the Sox have gone 24-13 (.649), winning seven series, losing two and splitting three, and pushing the Yankees two games further in the rear-view mirror.
 

Pozo the Clown

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レッドソックスは野球で最高のチームです

And for those who aren't fluent in Japanese: Die Red Sox sind die beste Mannschaft im Baseball.
 

Rasputin

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Did we ever definitively establish the record for the most games a team has ever finished behind another?

I ask because as far as Wikipedia can tell me, the modern era record is 65.5 and the Orioles are currently at 60 and it's a record worth breaking.
 

Savin Hillbilly

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The wrong side of the bridge....
In the two-league era, it's 65.5 (Boston Doves, 1909). I don't think the O's have enough games left to break it, though obviously the fact that they have three games left against us (and three more vs. the Yanks) makes it a bit more possible.

Also, if that happens and the Jays and Royals both get hot, the O's could wind up twice as far behind as any other team, which I'm pretty sure has never happened.
 
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Rasputin

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In the two-league era, it's 65.5 (Boston Doves, 1909). I don't think the O's have enough games left to break it, though obviously the fact that they have three games left against us (and three more vs. the Yanks) makes it a bit more possible.

Also, if that happens and the Jays and Royals both get hot, the O's could wind up twice as far behind as any other team, which I'm pretty sure has never happened.
That is exactly what I found, so that's good enough for me.

I think there's plenty of time left for them to break it.

They have 11 games left and a .285 winning percentage which works out to a 3-8 record the rest of the way. The Sox have 11 games left and a 682 winning percentage which works out to a 7-4 record. If those hold up, that's a 64-game deficit. All it would take for the record is for the Sox to play a bit better than that and/or the Orioles to play a bit worse and here's the Orioles schedule the rest of the way.

1 v Toronto
3 @ NYY
3 @ BOS
4 v HOU

If they went ofer the rest of the way, I don't think anyone would be shocked.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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Did we ever definitively establish the record for the most games a team has ever finished behind another?

I ask because as far as Wikipedia can tell me, the modern era record is 65.5 and the Orioles are currently at 60 and it's a record worth breaking.
i thought it was 65.5 but this post - https://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2018/9/18/17873774/orioles-al-east-red-sox-theres-blood-everywhere - says that the Boston Beaneaters trailed the 116-win Cubs by 66.5 games in 1906.

Red Sox have to sweep Os for any chance of this to happen. It would be great if they did.
 

Savin Hillbilly

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The wrong side of the bridge....
Aaah. I made the mistake of looking up "teams with worst records", figuring that set would have to be more or less coterminous with the "teams furthest behind" set. But of course I should have looked at the teams with the best records, as well.
 

Reverend

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That is exactly what I found, so that's good enough for me.

I think there's plenty of time left for them to break it.

They have 11 games left and a .285 winning percentage which works out to a 3-8 record the rest of the way. The Sox have 11 games left and a 682 winning percentage which works out to a 7-4 record. If those hold up, that's a 64-game deficit. All it would take for the record is for the Sox to play a bit better than that and/or the Orioles to play a bit worse and here's the Orioles schedule the rest of the way.

1 v Toronto
3 @ NYY
3 @ BOS
4 v HOU

If they went ofer the rest of the way, I don't think anyone would be shocked.
And here for a moment the other day we thought you might find no more mountains left to climb!
 

Wake49

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What’s with the preoccupation with the Orioles? Never seen so many people give a shit about a last place team.
 

joe dokes

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What’s with the preoccupation with the Orioles? Never seen so many people give a shit about a last place team.
Its baseball history. Just like people "gave a shit" about the Tigers as they careened toward 120 losses.

The oldest guy on that 1906 team was born in 1869. And 150 years later, we're talking about his team. I love stuff like that.
 

Wake49

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Its baseball history. Just like people "gave a shit" about the Tigers as they careened toward 120 losses.

The oldest guy on that 1906 team was born in 1869. And 150 years later, we're talking about his team. I love stuff like that.
It’s interesting, but this Orioles thing seems more like an obsession for some. But whatever. I’m more concerned with how the Sox have looked the last two games than how poorly the Orioles have played.
 

patoaflac

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Maybe some of us are as relaxed and confident as the Sox look, and as the players we are distracted by other things, thinking that untill October we should not worry.
 

reggiecleveland

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It’s interesting, but this Orioles thing seems more like an obsession for some. But whatever. I’m more concerned with how the Sox have looked the last two games than how poorly the Orioles have played.
They have not hit or had good relief pitching vs good teams. They are limping to the finish with a big lead.
Anyway I know the positive thinking crew with jump on me, (100 wins! etc) but the Sox have one win in 5 games vs the Astros and Yankees scoring 15 and giving up 29. They have a .679 ops ins September and .753 against. Take out the three game 2019 Blue Jays open tryout and it is worse.
 

Wake49

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They have not hit or had good relief pitching vs good teams. They are limping to the finish with a big lead.
Anyway I know the positive thinking crew with jump on me, (100 wins! etc) but the Sox have one win in 5 games vs the Astros and Yankees scoring 15 and giving up 29. They have a .679 ops ins September and .753 against. Take out the three game 2019 Blue Jays open tryout and it is worse.
I know. They could fold in the division series rather quickly unless they figure some things.
 

Salem's Lot

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They have not hit or had good relief pitching vs good teams. They are limping to the finish with a big lead.
Anyway I know the positive thinking crew with jump on me, (100 wins! etc) but the Sox have one win in 5 games vs the Astros and Yankees scoring 15 and giving up 29. They have a .679 ops ins September and .753 against. Take out the three game 2019 Blue Jays open tryout and it is worse.
So if they were winning meaningless games 10-1 every night it would somehow have an effect on how well they play when it counts? As a fan I know it sucks watching them waltz to the finish after they have it mostly locked up instead of seeing them go balls out and try to win 120, but players’ brains don’t work that way. The players have confidence that they will turn it on when they need it. It still may not be good enough because Houston, Cleveland, and New York are really good, but their performance in these games literally has nothing to do with how they will play when it matters. The only ones getting emotional about it are fans because it sucks to watch and we hate to watch losses.
 

BaseballJones

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They have not hit or had good relief pitching vs good teams. They are limping to the finish with a big lead.
Anyway I know the positive thinking crew with jump on me, (100 wins! etc) but the Sox have one win in 5 games vs the Astros and Yankees scoring 15 and giving up 29. They have a .679 ops ins September and .753 against. Take out the three game 2019 Blue Jays open tryout and it is worse.
They aren't limping to the finish...yet. Until two days ago, they had won 9 of their last 12 games, including going 4-2 against playoff teams (Atl and Hou). They've won 13 of their last 20. Over those 20 games, they've beaten Carlos Rodon (who currently sports a 3.22 era), Mike Foltynewicz (2.90 era), Dallas Keuchel, and Jacob deGrom.

They have 10 games left. They still have a chance to finish strong.
 

Rovin Romine

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I'm more concerned with getting guys rested/worked and teed-up for the playoffs. If they have the luxury of doing that, and do it correctly, it adds to the greatness tag.
 

Rasputin

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What’s with the preoccupation with the Orioles? Never seen so many people give a shit about a last place team.
There's a lot of reasons. There's the history. There's the sheer spectacle. There's the way it reflects on just how awesome the Sox have been this season.

But mostly it's because Buck Showalter is the dick cheese of MLB managers.
 

JimD

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Ironically, Sox fans can look to the 2000 Yankees for some measure of comfort. After taking two of three games against the Blue Jays on Sept. 12-14, the 84-60 Yankees proceeded to go 3-14 down the stretch, losing series to the still-powerful Indians as well as the far less impressive Jays, Rays and O's. They hit .240 with a .671 OPS over their final 21 games, the pitching staff had a 7.24 ERA, and they put up a minus-84 run differential during that stretch (72-156). As many of us remember, the Red Sox utterly failed to capitalize on this, playing out the string at a perfectly mediocre 9-9 and finishing 2.5 games back (6 games back of the wild-card Mariners). Once in the postseason, the Yankees survived a tough five-game series against the A's (hmmm ... prophetic?) before regaining their swagger in the ALCS, dropping the opener before pasting the Mariners four games to two to win the AL pennant and then prevailing in the hard-fought Subway Series in five games against the Mets. Last I checked, Yankees fans don't dock the 2000 team style points or put an asterisk next to that year on their 'Got Rings?' t-shirts.
 

RedOctober3829

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Ironically, Sox fans can look to the 2000 Yankees for some measure of comfort. After taking two of three games against the Blue Jays on Sept. 12-14, the 84-60 Yankees proceeded to go 3-14 down the stretch, losing series to the still-powerful Indians as well as the far less impressive Jays, Rays and O's. They hit .240 with a .671 OPS over their final 21 games, the pitching staff had a 7.24 ERA, and they put up a minus-84 run differential during that stretch (72-156). As many of us remember, the Red Sox utterly failed to capitalize on this, playing out the string at a perfectly mediocre 9-9 and finishing 2.5 games back (6 games back of the wild-card Mariners). Once in the postseason, the Yankees survived a tough five-game series against the A's (hmmm ... prophetic?) before regaining their swagger in the ALCS, dropping the opener before pasting the Mariners four games to two to win the AL pennant and then prevailing in the hard-fought Subway Series in five games against the Mets. Last I checked, Yankees fans don't dock the 2000 team style points or put an asterisk next to that year on their 'Got Rings?' t-shirts.
The 2000 Yankees had no problem knowing they could turn it on in the playoffs because they were coming off of 2 straight titles. This Red Sox group largely has had no playoff success to fall back on.
 

Adrian's Dome

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The 2000 Yankees had no problem knowing they could turn it on in the playoffs because they were coming off of 2 straight titles. This Red Sox group largely has had no playoff success to fall back on.
Yeah, I'm sure that's got the Sox shaking in their cleats.

Where do you even come up with this shit?
 

streeter88

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There's a lot of reasons. There's the history. There's the sheer spectacle. There's the way it reflects on just how awesome the Sox have been this season.

But mostly it's because Buck Showalter is the dick cheese of MLB managers.
This. Plus bad blood between the two teams for what seems like forever.