What year is your favorite Red Sox season?
- Thread starter Lose Remerswaal
- Start date
I picked 2013 over 2004 for the fact that I feel it was basically the perfect baseball season for a fan. Dominance, career years, high character players, absolute crushing of the Yankees especially toward the end of the season and a 6 game pennant and WS where you had pause once or twice but could roll with an "it's their destiny to win" vibe.
the 2004 ALCS was too exhausting. the WS was like a flash and great but as a whole the season and post season were a more draining experience and less enjoyable.
2007 was also pretty draining with the ALCS. I look back on it much less fondly because of the playoff failures that followed and culminated in 2011. It was a bad period and I think 2013's relative ease helped wash some of that away and made me enjoy the Red Sox being in the post season again.
God that last part makes me sound like a fucking Yankee fan. Fuck me.... :smithicide:
the 2004 ALCS was too exhausting. the WS was like a flash and great but as a whole the season and post season were a more draining experience and less enjoyable.
2007 was also pretty draining with the ALCS. I look back on it much less fondly because of the playoff failures that followed and culminated in 2011. It was a bad period and I think 2013's relative ease helped wash some of that away and made me enjoy the Red Sox being in the post season again.
God that last part makes me sound like a fucking Yankee fan. Fuck me.... :smithicide:
Usual caveat that 2004 was an epic year due to finally winning it all, but I chose 1978 since I really fell in love with playing baseball and the Sox that year, despite the tragic ending of that season that was a great core that sadly didn't stay together much longer, but they held so much promise - I was a bit too young to remember the excitement around 1975, so 78 is it for me...
I will never care about a non-family related thing as much as I cared about beating the M.F. Yankees and winning a World Series in 2004.
I was born in 1954, so imagine what it was like to be a thirteen year old in 1967. Like anyone my age I can still name the starting nine, the mid-season acquisitions (Jerry Adair, anyone?), and the pivotal moments from around mid-July to Game 7 of the World Series. I remember it as one long summer night listening to the radio as the Sox pulled off another late-inning rally to stay in the race. No one my age or older will ever forget, for instance, the rally against the Angels from 8 runs down (in August, I think) when (I also think) Jerry Adair got the winning hit, or Tartabull throwing out Ken Berry at home plate (great stretch by Elston Howard), or the last two games of the season against the Twins when I believe Yaz went 7 for 8.
I was hooked.
I died with Bill Lee's eephus pitch. Died again in '78 when Yaz popped up to third. Couldn't speak for a couple of hours after the Sox blew it in the tenth in '86. Wanted to murder Grady Little when he kept Pedro in, in 2003.
2004, 2007, 2013 took all the pain away. I still laugh uncontrollably when I think of Game 7 in Yankee Stadium in 2004. Johnny Damon's Grand Slam will always be the purest joy I've ever felt watching a sporting event.
But it was '67 that forged the bond.
I was hooked.
I died with Bill Lee's eephus pitch. Died again in '78 when Yaz popped up to third. Couldn't speak for a couple of hours after the Sox blew it in the tenth in '86. Wanted to murder Grady Little when he kept Pedro in, in 2003.
2004, 2007, 2013 took all the pain away. I still laugh uncontrollably when I think of Game 7 in Yankee Stadium in 2004. Johnny Damon's Grand Slam will always be the purest joy I've ever felt watching a sporting event.
But it was '67 that forged the bond.
I feel the need to throw a little bit of love to the 2007 season. While I can't say that it was my favorite, I do think it is a little underrated. After the drama of 2003 and catharsis of 2004, Sox fans suffered through a disappointing 2005 and 2006. If the 2004 season was redeeming, the 2007 season was affirming.
I think part of the reason that 2007 may have shrunk in our collective memory is many of the players who played leading roles have fallen in our esteem over the past decade (or never were too high in the first place) - I'm thinking of Beckett, Papelbon, Schilling, Matsuzaka, Ellsbury, JD Drew, even guys like Lugo, Eric Gagne, and Wily Mo Pena. Perhaps the years will be kinder to this squad and they'll eventually be thought of as more than just a happy footnote between 2007 and 2013.
This was Beckett's best year in a Red Sox uniform, Lowell's too. We saw Buchholz' no-hitter, Manny's ALDS walk-off, Drew's grand slam, Coco's ALCS Game 7 catch, Papelbon's pick off. Ortiz wasn't too shabby either. This was also the year we met Hideki Okajima, the somewhat forgotten reliever whose gutsy 2 1/3 inning stint between Schilling and Papelbon to preserve the lead in Game 2 would be more legendary had the rest of the series not been such a cakewalk.
More than anything, I think of 2007 as the year of Pedroia - a ROY season after a very shaky start, the solo bomb to lead off the WS, and setting the stage for his 2008 MVP season.
Anyway, I felt like some of the case for 2007 needed to be on the record, even if it doesn't add up to anyone's favorite season.
I think part of the reason that 2007 may have shrunk in our collective memory is many of the players who played leading roles have fallen in our esteem over the past decade (or never were too high in the first place) - I'm thinking of Beckett, Papelbon, Schilling, Matsuzaka, Ellsbury, JD Drew, even guys like Lugo, Eric Gagne, and Wily Mo Pena. Perhaps the years will be kinder to this squad and they'll eventually be thought of as more than just a happy footnote between 2007 and 2013.
This was Beckett's best year in a Red Sox uniform, Lowell's too. We saw Buchholz' no-hitter, Manny's ALDS walk-off, Drew's grand slam, Coco's ALCS Game 7 catch, Papelbon's pick off. Ortiz wasn't too shabby either. This was also the year we met Hideki Okajima, the somewhat forgotten reliever whose gutsy 2 1/3 inning stint between Schilling and Papelbon to preserve the lead in Game 2 would be more legendary had the rest of the series not been such a cakewalk.
More than anything, I think of 2007 as the year of Pedroia - a ROY season after a very shaky start, the solo bomb to lead off the WS, and setting the stage for his 2008 MVP season.
Anyway, I felt like some of the case for 2007 needed to be on the record, even if it doesn't add up to anyone's favorite season.
Pretty much this.
After the 2003 ALCS, and at a time when every regular season MFY game felt like the playoffs, it seems almost impossible to me that we'll ever elevate the rivalry to that level again. Maybe given a long enough timeline it will, but not in our lifetimes.
I was in Colorado and saw them win it in person in 2007.
I flew back to Boston to attend the 2013 parade.
Both awesome, but neither was as great as watching 2004 on TV.
I flew back to Boston to attend the 2013 parade.
Both awesome, but neither was as great as watching 2004 on TV.
2007 rocks, but both Beckett and Lowell played many more seasons with the Sox afterwards.
You could add Youk, whose rapid decline and quarrels with teammates muddied his image a bit in the last few years of his career. His errorless Gold Glove year at first base in 2007 marked the dawn of his brief but shiny golden era.
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Beckett indeed played many more seasons but 2007 was by far his best year in Boston, all things considered.
Regular Season: 20-6, 3.27 ERA, Second in Cy Young Voting, All Star.
Post Season: 4-0, gave up 4 earned runs total in his 4 starts/wins; stopped the bleeding in that pivotal game 5 in the ALCS and set the tone in game 1of the WS by striking out the side in the first inning and giving up only one run in the blow out win.
Admittedly, his 2011 regular season was pretty special, too. But I am unaware of any starter who has ever pitched that well in the regular season and the post season while winning a World Series in the same season. Maybe there are pitchers out there who have done better with that trifecta. But if there are, it's news to me, and I'm guessing it's a very small group.
Beckett's dominance, and some of the other points made above, are why 2007 is so high on my list. Being able to watch an ace be truly dominant all along the way to a title is a rare treat. As good as Lester was in the playoffs in 2013 and in the beginning and end of that year, his middle of the season was choppy. Schilling's greatness in 2004 was one of the many reasons why that season will always be Number 1. Of course, it pales in comparison to beating those mothers from NY in the way the Sox did it and just getting over the hump. But there's nothing like watching an ace do his thing from start to finish/title, and we got that out of Beckett in 2007.
We've talk about this before. I'm 100% with you. 2004 was awesome in retrospect but in reality I was a complete disaster. I can recall when they won it, I drove down to Stamford to meet you guys and I wasn't even happy. I think that I had a beer and then went home and fell asleep.
The low moment was in ALCS game 6, I believe, I was home alone. I had a traditional cement unfinished basement. It was the only place we'd ever smoke in the house so I turned the tv on just loud enough to hear it from the basement and sat on the cold cement ground hugging my knees, rocking back and forth and chain smoking the entire time.
You were at Game 7 in the Toilet the year before, so it's understandable. The other person who was with you, and happened to be my roommate, was on our second floor landing during 04 Game Six, also curled up in the fetal position asking me to describe full innings to him. The ARod bitch slap was a real tough one to communicate.
As for my favorite team, the 2004 team is definitely my favorite team because I loved the Holy Dominican Trinity so much (In the name of Pedro, the Manny and the Holy Ortiz, Amen.) but you don't forget your first. For me that was 1986. Dave Henderson is why I'm a Red Sox fan today. Jim Rice, Dwight Evans, Bill Buckner, Boggs, Baylor, Marty Barrett, Spike Owen -- they were all heroes. And Roger Clemens. Are you kidding me with this guy? He was unbelievable that year.
There is something about being 11-years-old and finding your team and thinking that everyone has a Roger Clemens year in them. Or that every team has a Dave Henderson to save its ass from the fire. Or that Jim Rice was 100% true when he said at the City Hall rally after they lost, that the Sox have a great team and if they don't win next year, they'll win the year after that or the year after that*.
* I watched the 1986 Boston Red Sox highlight video so much that his speech at the end of the movie is imprinted in my brain.
The thing is, like you guys, I've read a lot about the Red Sox and this 1986 team especially and some of the stories make them sound like pricks. From what I remember they voted not to give full playoff shares to clubhouse guys and then there was the whole Margo Adams/Delta Force debacle and Roger Clemens bitching about "carrying his own bags" and stuff like that. But for that one summer, it was awesome to watch a team and not really worry about that stuff, because I didn't know it existed. That's the dragon I think that we're all trying to chase.
Just to put the cherry on top of this excellent summary - Beckett also threw 2 scoreless innings in the All Star game in 2007 and earned the victory in the game which ultimately secured home field advantage for the Red Sox in the World Series.
2003.
Simply put, it was the beginning of the new era of good, winning, and most importantly, REALLY FUN Boston Red Sox baseball.
New forward-thinking GM. First full season of new ownership. New seats on top of the Green Monster. New emphasis on red in the uniforms as opposed to blue (red undershirts, red alternate jersey, red catchers' gear).
There were a few new players who would go on to do some pretty excellent things in a Red Sox uniform: Bill Mueller. Kevin Millar. Mike Timlin. Alan Embree. Gabe Kapler. Oh yeah, and David Ortiz.
There was "Cowboy Up", eight walk-off victories, Derek Lowe's mound celebration in Oakland, Pedro fighting with Don Zimmer, and yes, Grady Little and Aaron Boone.
The loss in 2003 was as painful as any sports loss I've experienced. And it's all because of how truly enjoyable that 2003 season was. Without 2003, I don't know that 2004 happens.
Simply put, it was the beginning of the new era of good, winning, and most importantly, REALLY FUN Boston Red Sox baseball.
New forward-thinking GM. First full season of new ownership. New seats on top of the Green Monster. New emphasis on red in the uniforms as opposed to blue (red undershirts, red alternate jersey, red catchers' gear).
There were a few new players who would go on to do some pretty excellent things in a Red Sox uniform: Bill Mueller. Kevin Millar. Mike Timlin. Alan Embree. Gabe Kapler. Oh yeah, and David Ortiz.
There was "Cowboy Up", eight walk-off victories, Derek Lowe's mound celebration in Oakland, Pedro fighting with Don Zimmer, and yes, Grady Little and Aaron Boone.
The loss in 2003 was as painful as any sports loss I've experienced. And it's all because of how truly enjoyable that 2003 season was. Without 2003, I don't know that 2004 happens.
2004 was the breakthrough we have all dreamt of, and it was sweeter than I could have projected. But I voted 1986, because that is the year the Red Sox stole their way into my soul, never to leave. I got accepted into Boston University in April of 1986, which shifted my focus immediately from the NJ suburbs I was raised in (with a huge Yankee fan for a father, God rest his soul) towards the bright lights of Boston. Being a huge baseball fan, I immersed myself in the 1986 Sox team, with all their homegrown stars, none of whom caught my eye quite as much as Dwight Evans. Boggs was a monster, and Clemens was unreal, and every passing summer night drew me closer to the team and the city I would soon call home. I got to Boston in August to start orientation, and just gobbled up every bit of Sox news I could in the Globe coverage (before the internet, out of town papers were not easily available to a kid in NJ) and from locals in and around the BU campus. As I began my college career, the Sox were closing in on the division title, and it was the perfect storm of innocence, new love and baseball destiny. I watched Game 6 of the World Series from Towers dorms behind Kenmore Square, and was actually coming down the stairs of said dorm in the bottom of the 10th to join in the chaos of the celebration when the Mets began to rally. I stopped in a lower floor dorm to catch the last vestiges of that terrible inning, and went out to Kenmore anyway, where there were gaggles of people wandering out of the square with empty eyes and disbelieving countenances. I was haunted by some of those faces for the rest of the night, and I couldn't shake just how much pain people seemed to suffer after that game and the inevitable Game 7 collapse to lose the Series to the cocky Mets. I read every piece of reportage on the series for the next few weeks, and was struck by the visceral, honest writing that drew me closer to the fan base, trying to fully understand what 68 years of waiting had done to generations of loyalists. That fall and winter finally secured, for me, the love of this franchise that will never wane, and has only grown over the past 30 years. My family, now located in Minnesota, calls the Red Sox their team, and my wife and kids were at my side in 2004 to see it all go so wonderfully right after near misses during the 1999-2003 (when the kids were 2-6 years old).
2004 was the end of the journey, but 1986 put my feet on the path, and the trail has been a wonderful, heartfelt ride ever since.
2004 was the end of the journey, but 1986 put my feet on the path, and the trail has been a wonderful, heartfelt ride ever since.
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Orel Hershiser in 1988 was the obvious one that jumped out at me. And maybe Schilling in 2001.
1975. 1st year of religiously following the team and the pennant race throughout the season. Rookie years of Fred Lynn and Jim Rice. Swept an Oakland team that won the 3 previous WS in the ALCS. Forced a loaded Big Red Machine team in the WS to a Game 7 after an epic Game 6. Fisk was my favorite player.
Tiant, Torrez, Eckersley, Lee and Wright. I still can reel off that starting five better than from any Sox team except very recent ones (2004 of course). The 1978 starting five started 142 of 163 games. 2004 starting five started an amazing 157 games. 1978 had huge ups and downs: the tremendous highs early, then the horror of seeing the huge lead over the MFYs disappear, then the recoup to get back tied, then that one game playoff. Sigh. 2004 was it for me. 1967 was just a gigantic wonderful surprise and maybe I was happy to just see the Sox get to the Word Series. Damn Bob Gibson, but you had to admire him he was so fucking good.
My favorite team was the '75 Red Sox. Homegrown: Fisk, Yaz, Burleson, Petrocelli, Rice, Lynn, Evans & Cooper; Pitchers Lee & Moret
My new favorite team is the '16 Red Sox. Homegrown: Swihart, Ramirez (kind of), Pedroia, Bogaerts, Castillo (sort of), Bradley & Betts; Pitchers Buchholz & Owens
Catch the similarity?
I'd rather pull for a homegrown (albeit balanced) team any day over a bought/assembled team. What's better than watching guys grow up and win in front of you? (except pitchers, of course)
My new favorite team is the '16 Red Sox. Homegrown: Swihart, Ramirez (kind of), Pedroia, Bogaerts, Castillo (sort of), Bradley & Betts; Pitchers Buchholz & Owens
Catch the similarity?
I'd rather pull for a homegrown (albeit balanced) team any day over a bought/assembled team. What's better than watching guys grow up and win in front of you? (except pitchers, of course)
2004. No question about it.
But I have a special fondness for 1986. Al Z can still name the '78 rotation. For me it's the '86 rotation: Clemens, Oil Can, Hurst, Nipper, Tom Seaver.
I was in my late 20s and spent the season in the bleachers. A kid who was an intern at my office hung the K cards for Clemens, so I used to go up there and hang out. Sometimes he let me hang one (he was very serious about it).
1986 was the first time I went to post-season games. Games 2 & 7 of the ALCS. A whole 'nother level of fandom.
Rice. Boggs in his prime. Baylor. Barrett. Evans.
What a fun year.
But I have a special fondness for 1986. Al Z can still name the '78 rotation. For me it's the '86 rotation: Clemens, Oil Can, Hurst, Nipper, Tom Seaver.
I was in my late 20s and spent the season in the bleachers. A kid who was an intern at my office hung the K cards for Clemens, so I used to go up there and hang out. Sometimes he let me hang one (he was very serious about it).
1986 was the first time I went to post-season games. Games 2 & 7 of the ALCS. A whole 'nother level of fandom.
Rice. Boggs in his prime. Baylor. Barrett. Evans.
What a fun year.
1975, the year I tabbed Red Sox as my team and I've been faithful ever since. Total underdogs to the Big Red Machine and they pushed it to 7 Games., Yaz, Fisk, Rice, Lynn, Tiant and Lee. I was hooked!
No need to be a contrarian here. 2004 the year we paid the Yankee's off, and won it all for the first time since ancient history. Experiencing that with my 90 year old uncle, was incredible.
I'm on the fence between 2004 and 2013, but ultimately voted 2013.
While 2004 was ultimately more satisfying, it's almost like the victory was better enjoyed in hindsight. I enjoyed the comeback against the Yankees, but I don't think I allowed myself to actually enjoy it until Johnny Damon hammered the first pitch from Javier Vazquez over the right field wall. Game 4 was disappointing until Dave Roberts crossed the plate to tie it, and then it just became terrifying. Game 5 was pretty much the same. Game 6 was the stuff nightmares are made of, except it wound up breaking our way. But I think I spent most of that series in the fetal position. Yes, there was strong attachment to the players, but at the same time 2003 still stung, and the prospect of believing the Red Sox would pull off a World Series victory felt akin to a kid getting his hopes up that the deadbeat dad is coming home for Christmas. But once Johnny Damon hit that grand slam, I knew they'd win the whole damn thing.
The 2013 season, on the other hand, became enjoyable at some point in April. Maybe it was the seven game winning streak, or Nava's home run after the Marathon bombings, or Ortiz's speech - or a combination of all those things, but the entire season was just one long pleasure cruise. Walk-off after walk-off. Beards. Koji. The funny thing is, I remember going into the playoffs with one expectation: "just don't lose to the friggin' Devil Rays" (because I hate those bastards). Figured there was no way in hell we'd get past that stacked Tigers team. Then they did, out-scoring the Tigers 19-18 in six games, featuring two key grand slams and tremendous pitching duels. Remember Tazawa getting Cabrera in that pivotal situation, moments before Victorino's ALCS winning grand slam? And then we won a World Series, including a game that ended in a pickoff with the tying run at the plate.
So I think I enjoyed 2013 more as it happened, and 2004 more in hindsight.
While 2004 was ultimately more satisfying, it's almost like the victory was better enjoyed in hindsight. I enjoyed the comeback against the Yankees, but I don't think I allowed myself to actually enjoy it until Johnny Damon hammered the first pitch from Javier Vazquez over the right field wall. Game 4 was disappointing until Dave Roberts crossed the plate to tie it, and then it just became terrifying. Game 5 was pretty much the same. Game 6 was the stuff nightmares are made of, except it wound up breaking our way. But I think I spent most of that series in the fetal position. Yes, there was strong attachment to the players, but at the same time 2003 still stung, and the prospect of believing the Red Sox would pull off a World Series victory felt akin to a kid getting his hopes up that the deadbeat dad is coming home for Christmas. But once Johnny Damon hit that grand slam, I knew they'd win the whole damn thing.
The 2013 season, on the other hand, became enjoyable at some point in April. Maybe it was the seven game winning streak, or Nava's home run after the Marathon bombings, or Ortiz's speech - or a combination of all those things, but the entire season was just one long pleasure cruise. Walk-off after walk-off. Beards. Koji. The funny thing is, I remember going into the playoffs with one expectation: "just don't lose to the friggin' Devil Rays" (because I hate those bastards). Figured there was no way in hell we'd get past that stacked Tigers team. Then they did, out-scoring the Tigers 19-18 in six games, featuring two key grand slams and tremendous pitching duels. Remember Tazawa getting Cabrera in that pivotal situation, moments before Victorino's ALCS winning grand slam? And then we won a World Series, including a game that ended in a pickoff with the tying run at the plate.
So I think I enjoyed 2013 more as it happened, and 2004 more in hindsight.
1975
My parents had split up that fall and I was living with my grandparents. Life wasn't hard, but it seemed lonely all of the sudden. Fred Lynn hit the 3 banger near the beginning of Game 6. Curt Gowdy said "this place is rocking." Even after losing, that collection of guys and their baseball cards got me through the winter and into the rest of my life.
My parents had split up that fall and I was living with my grandparents. Life wasn't hard, but it seemed lonely all of the sudden. Fred Lynn hit the 3 banger near the beginning of Game 6. Curt Gowdy said "this place is rocking." Even after losing, that collection of guys and their baseball cards got me through the winter and into the rest of my life.
This is my first post ever on SOSH, but if you are of a certain age I don't know how you could ever respond with anything other than 1967. That year changed everything. Yaz had one of the greatest years of anyone ever. Fifty years of boring mediocrity was replaced with young, exciting, and meaningful baseball. Nothing that happened later, including 1975, 1978, 1986, Morgan magic, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2013, or 2016 would have happened without 1967
I was too young in 1967 to appreciate it. My first clear Sox memory was the year they lost because of a rain out and Luis Aparacio slipping while running the bases, 1972. (That might explain a lot about me, actually).
But I've heard that line before, here and elsewhere. And, respectfully, I don't understand it.
Were the 2001 Patriots born out of the 1976 team?
Did the 2008 Cs derive from the Bird, Cowens or Russell teams?
Did the 2011 Bruins derive from the Orr teams?
And maybe derive is the wrong word. But were the latter wins only made possible by what happened earlier?
I would argue that in each case, the answer is that the winners were created by their owners, FO, GMs, coaches and, of course, players, and that while winning in the earlier generations created a tone, that each era stands on its own. After all, there were many lean (though not terrible) years between 67 and 04, and the same was true in the other sports.
To be clear, I'm not knocking 1967 as a choice. I can't get my head around choosing a year in which the team fell short of its ultimate goal over 2004 (especially), 2007 or 2013, but to each his own. Not everyone in this poll has chosen a title year and many of the posts explaining those choices have been fascinating. Still, this "those years don't happen without 1967" mantra never resonated with me.
I wouldn't say 1946, 48 and 49 were boring mediocrity. And Williams should have won the MVP in 1947. But, welcome to the board.
Quite late to this party, but I say 2004. How could it be anything else? It was just mind-blowing.
I voted 2004. Since then, the only moments that have come close were the Butler pick, Ortiz's HR that went over Hunter's head, and the win in 2013. I didn't start dating my now wife until 2008 when I introduced her to the Sox. I show her the DVD's, but it's impossible to understand. 2004 is the answer...I went for a drive after the 19-8 game, frustrated beyond belief that I cared so much about 25 guys that didn't know I exist. I was 24 in 2004...and now life with kids, wife, and work prevent me from getting into that much other than those 3 things. But I can always think back to Roberts, Ortiz, and "We'll see you later tonight".
While nothing can top 2004, I have to say 2007 does it for me. Living in Venezuela it is a bit difficult to follow every game since we don't get NESN.
But that year I was in Florida around march so I drove from Ft. Lauderdale to Ft. Myers with my uncle (huge baseball fan but a Yankee) and I got to watch the Red Sox live for the first time... I was looking forward to see Dice K pitch that day but I got Beckett (years later I was able to watch a few more Red Sox games live and it was always Beckett on the mound for me). Anyways, I remember following every single game of that season, watching them on stream (Sopcast was top notch at the time). I remember Coco's insane defensive season, Pedroia's HR against Gagne, Dice K debut in Kansas, Buchholz no hitter, the trade deadline (fuckin' Gagne), the 4 consecutive HR's against the Yankees, Okajima becoming one of the best relievers in the league, Beckett's Cy Youngish season, Lowell's MVPish season, Lester coming back from cancer... and then the post season.
Crushing the Angels, Manny's walkoff (my favourite Manny moment), the comeback against the Indians (they brought Josh's ex to sing the anthem, fuck them), and then the WS was a walk in the park with Ellsbury tearing everything up...
But I actually remember that season as the one where (almost) all of our prospects panned out: Pedroia, Youkilis, Papelbon, Ellsbury... not too shabby.
And of course, we can't forget the best moment of that 2007 season:
http://killerfrog.com/videos/coco-crisp-and-royce-clayton-discuss-taco-bell-42989.html
But that year I was in Florida around march so I drove from Ft. Lauderdale to Ft. Myers with my uncle (huge baseball fan but a Yankee) and I got to watch the Red Sox live for the first time... I was looking forward to see Dice K pitch that day but I got Beckett (years later I was able to watch a few more Red Sox games live and it was always Beckett on the mound for me). Anyways, I remember following every single game of that season, watching them on stream (Sopcast was top notch at the time). I remember Coco's insane defensive season, Pedroia's HR against Gagne, Dice K debut in Kansas, Buchholz no hitter, the trade deadline (fuckin' Gagne), the 4 consecutive HR's against the Yankees, Okajima becoming one of the best relievers in the league, Beckett's Cy Youngish season, Lowell's MVPish season, Lester coming back from cancer... and then the post season.
Crushing the Angels, Manny's walkoff (my favourite Manny moment), the comeback against the Indians (they brought Josh's ex to sing the anthem, fuck them), and then the WS was a walk in the park with Ellsbury tearing everything up...
But I actually remember that season as the one where (almost) all of our prospects panned out: Pedroia, Youkilis, Papelbon, Ellsbury... not too shabby.
And of course, we can't forget the best moment of that 2007 season:
http://killerfrog.com/videos/coco-crisp-and-royce-clayton-discuss-taco-bell-42989.html
2004, in a runaway. I was a 13 year old in 1986, sitting in shock as I was unwittingly indoctrinated into Sox Misery, Inc.. Each year was better than the next until the epic comeback of 2004 vs NYY. I sat at Boston Beer Works with 3 buddies before Game 1 vs StL when one scored 3 tickets through an MLB connection. It was my first playoff game (watching live) and first time attending a Duck Boat Parade after they won it all.
I still really wish they pulled it out in 86, though. Would have been great to celebrate with my dad.
I still really wish they pulled it out in 86, though. Would have been great to celebrate with my dad.
I was thinking about this for a few days, and I think I'm coming from a different place. In 1966, the Sox were 8th in the AL in attendance. On opening day of '67 they drew 8,324 and the day after, only 3,607. I lived in Southborough and played Strat-O-Matic with my friends and nobody seemed to want to be the Red Sox. Tom Yawkey made noises every once a while about needing to leave Boston to make money and people took him seriously. Forget about what was happening on the field, (and there were some signs of hope in '66) this was not a healthy franchise.
By September, Fenway was selling out every day, every car radio had the game, people on the street and in stores were talking about the Red Sox. The transformation between opening day and the end of the season was simply amazing.
Sitting where we are today it's hard to tell, but for someone in the 7th grade in the spring of '67, it was not out of the realm of possibility that a couple more years like '65 or '66 would have resulted in the team moving somewhere. By the end of the year, Yaz, Lonborg and Williams were icons and the Red Sox meant something.
You're right - the other years were the products of other players and managers and front offices, but for someone who lived through it, '67 felt like a year that changed how New England felt about the franchise.
This. My family had moved on Massachusetts in 1966, then the above happened. The Impossible Dream season, and I was hooked, as DJ eloquently stated. 2004 was the most emotional, for the obvious reasons.
Thanks SOSH, for your inimitable commentary and bringing into vivid relief what's it is like to be a NE sports fan.
Somewhat offbeat season, but 1990 for me. I was 8 years old and that season was when i fell in love with baseball, sports never mean as much to you as they do those first few formative years when your learning the game. Went to Fenway for the first time on opening day and saw Clemens pitch an absolute gem over the Tigers, a harbinger of things to come for him that year, probably his best in a Sox uniform even if the writers couldn't get past Bob Welch and his shiny win total. A star laden team featuring some peak seasons from Clemens, Boggs, Greenwell, and Burks masked some pretty gaping holes in the bottom of the lineup and a suspect rotation behind Boddicker that coaxed career seasons out of Bolton, Harris, and Kiecker to win an enimic AL East with 88 wins and enjoy the privilege of being cannon fodder for a loaded A's team that had figured out what in the world a team could do with Willie McGee.
For a somewhat forgotten division winning team, that season had quite a few memorable moments
*A hobbled washed up Bill Buckner back for one last hurrah hitting what had to have been the longest, slowest inside the park home run of all time.
*Dewey's swan song with the Sox, not a great season statistically but featured what seemed to be a parade of game breaking home runs and doubles throughout the season including hitting the game tying and game winning homer in extra innings off of the briefly dominant Greg Olson of the Orioles on a beautiful June day.
*Brunansky coming over in a midseason trade and carrying the team for stretches at a time with some Daubach-esque hot streaks including a 3 home run game where he tatooed the net above the Monster. Also provided Sean McDonough's finest hour with some choice right field defense a few months later
*Marathon Monday massacre against the Brewers where they scored 18 runs without a home run
*The Jeff Stone Game, the Junior Felix Game, and what seemed to be a parade of heart stopping September games against the pre-dynastic Blue Jays, serving the role as hated AL East rival while the Yankees were surviving the Kevin Maas wilderness years.
Just a ton of a good memories from that team, even if looking in hindsight were the embodyment of the "25 guys, 25 cabs" Sullivan era Red Sox. Throw in Walpole Joe and his illogical hunches and the classic WSBK 38 intro for the Friday night games and i have no shame in calling that my favorite random Sox team.
For a somewhat forgotten division winning team, that season had quite a few memorable moments
*A hobbled washed up Bill Buckner back for one last hurrah hitting what had to have been the longest, slowest inside the park home run of all time.
*Dewey's swan song with the Sox, not a great season statistically but featured what seemed to be a parade of game breaking home runs and doubles throughout the season including hitting the game tying and game winning homer in extra innings off of the briefly dominant Greg Olson of the Orioles on a beautiful June day.
*Brunansky coming over in a midseason trade and carrying the team for stretches at a time with some Daubach-esque hot streaks including a 3 home run game where he tatooed the net above the Monster. Also provided Sean McDonough's finest hour with some choice right field defense a few months later
*Marathon Monday massacre against the Brewers where they scored 18 runs without a home run
*The Jeff Stone Game, the Junior Felix Game, and what seemed to be a parade of heart stopping September games against the pre-dynastic Blue Jays, serving the role as hated AL East rival while the Yankees were surviving the Kevin Maas wilderness years.
Just a ton of a good memories from that team, even if looking in hindsight were the embodyment of the "25 guys, 25 cabs" Sullivan era Red Sox. Throw in Walpole Joe and his illogical hunches and the classic WSBK 38 intro for the Friday night games and i have no shame in calling that my favorite random Sox team.
This really hits home for me. I can say there have been 5 sports moments in my life during which I have been physically ill. After Proehl scored the TD to tie SB36, as D-Lowe was pitching to Terrence Long in the ninth inning of 2003 game 5 ALDS, during basically innings 9-14 of 2004 ALCS Game 5, the worst (actual basic loss of my sanity) was Foulke pitching to Tony Clark in game 6, and then after Kearse made the catch last year before Malcolm...
The stakes of 2004 after 2003, I will always love that team for coming through, and that TEAM will always be the one I appreciate the most, but as a season, those couple of weeks of playoffs were pretty much excruciating. Even though I just watched all my old saved videos on my laptop of every moment of that postseason and it still makes me smile...
2013. Worst to first. The Boston Marathon bombings that brought the city together in such horrible adversity. David Ortiz, "This is our fucking city!" My friend Shane Victorino having a dream post season with Game Winning/Series Clinching RBI's in each series which has never been done before. So yeah, destiny. No one saw this coming nor expected it. You just knew that it was going to happen; destiny.
2004 was a magical season to be sure. But that team was so frustrating at times, not living up to its potential until late July/early August on. It was wild and exhausting ride, but damnit I was so pissed at that team after game 3 of the ALCS, particularly considering 03 alcs loss.
2013, on the other hand, was a group of players performing probably above their levels and staying consistently good all year. A bizarrely relaxing year as a fan I think, partially because 04 and 07 made the fans not so tense, but for once, the Red Sox had a team that wasn't pressured to win, and simply did, but with a bit of surprise. Can't underestimate the Marathon Bombing in how special 2013 was either.
So, I am going with 2013, even if 2004 seems more obvious. That "team" was my favorite even if they weren't the first.
2013, on the other hand, was a group of players performing probably above their levels and staying consistently good all year. A bizarrely relaxing year as a fan I think, partially because 04 and 07 made the fans not so tense, but for once, the Red Sox had a team that wasn't pressured to win, and simply did, but with a bit of surprise. Can't underestimate the Marathon Bombing in how special 2013 was either.
So, I am going with 2013, even if 2004 seems more obvious. That "team" was my favorite even if they weren't the first.
1977 for me, too. It was the first year that I followed baseball. God damn but that team looked great at times. The second Sox game I ever saw was on June 19, 1977, my little brother's birthday and they beat the yankees 11-1 with 5 homers. One of those was Yaz hitting the facing where the retired numbers now hang. Yes. It's true. I don't know if a Red Sox team ever looked so incredibly good for stretches of the regular season as that team did. They had a stretch of 10 games in June where they hit 33 homers. Hitting 3+ homers a game does tend to give you a leg up on the other team. But they won 97 games and the yankees won 99. I still remember a crucial late September game in which Reggie Cleveland gave up a big homer to some other guy named Reggie.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BOS/BOS197706190.shtml
2004 was the best... But like Nip it was not my "favorite" while it was happening. I went through the stages of illness Captain Oeuvre goes through in "Airplane!" -- I was lucky to be alive when it was over, Oeuvre.
1999 was my favorite.
I was 15 and followed that season as if my life depended on it. It's a silly season to pick, but it was a season of pure joy to follow.
I used every dollar I earned as a camp counselor on tickets, probably attended 45+ games. Tore open the Globe to read the box scores and summaries the next day.
That season featured:
1) Pedro revealing himself as our Lord and savior.
2) Vintage Nomar hits .357 plus the 3 HR game in May.
3) The ASG at Fenway (McGwire, Nomar with Teddy Ballgame, Pedro's straight Ks)
4) PEDRO. Seriously, every 5th game felt like Hannukah morning all season.
5) ALDS comeback down 0-2. Coming back to beat the Indians in Game 5 of the ALDS behind Pedro and Yummy O'Leary remains one of my favorite Sox moments.
Even losing to the MFY in the ALCS wasn't that painful. I was young and stupid then, and remember being certain that -- with Nomar and a healthy Pedro, and our baby Pedro, Juan Pena ( :-/ ) -- the team would be unstoppable in 2000.
1999 was my favorite.
I was 15 and followed that season as if my life depended on it. It's a silly season to pick, but it was a season of pure joy to follow.
I used every dollar I earned as a camp counselor on tickets, probably attended 45+ games. Tore open the Globe to read the box scores and summaries the next day.
That season featured:
1) Pedro revealing himself as our Lord and savior.
2) Vintage Nomar hits .357 plus the 3 HR game in May.
3) The ASG at Fenway (McGwire, Nomar with Teddy Ballgame, Pedro's straight Ks)
4) PEDRO. Seriously, every 5th game felt like Hannukah morning all season.
5) ALDS comeback down 0-2. Coming back to beat the Indians in Game 5 of the ALDS behind Pedro and Yummy O'Leary remains one of my favorite Sox moments.
Even losing to the MFY in the ALCS wasn't that painful. I was young and stupid then, and remember being certain that -- with Nomar and a healthy Pedro, and our baby Pedro, Juan Pena ( :-/ ) -- the team would be unstoppable in 2000.
Not much of a contest in my book, as 2004 stands far above any other season in my lifetime, even the other two WS wins, great as they were. My 2nd place season, however, would be 2007 — my vote for most underappreciated Red Sox season. The Red Sox led from wire-to-wire (well except for the first couple weeks of April) and except for a brief hiccup in the ALCS, rolled through the postseason all but uncontested. The most dominant Red Sox team of my life as a fan. But, maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like that 2007 season is rarely mentioned with any great fondness or nostalgia by Red Sox fans.
My dark horse candidate would be 1982, a year in which Ralph Houk -- a very underappreciated Red Sox manager if you ask me -- took a team that was thin on talent to say the least, and had them in a genuine pennant race, even in first place in the AL East as late as, I think, August 2, before they inevitably returned to Earth down the stretch. But I recall that season as a really fun, unexpected ride.
My dark horse candidate would be 1982, a year in which Ralph Houk -- a very underappreciated Red Sox manager if you ask me -- took a team that was thin on talent to say the least, and had them in a genuine pennant race, even in first place in the AL East as late as, I think, August 2, before they inevitably returned to Earth down the stretch. But I recall that season as a really fun, unexpected ride.