Boston Red Sox - Decade in review

The 1999 Boston Red Sox season ended with a loss to the NY Yankees in the ALCS, and a streak of 81 consecutive seasons without a World Series championship. Ten years later, we look back on a decade in which the team not only snapped that streak (after it reached 86), they won another title only three years later. They end the 2009 season as one of the best teams in ML Baseball, with a strong major league roster backed up by a strong minor league system, with excellent revenue streams and an ownership and management team willing to spend on the team.

For the vast majority of Red Sox fans, this was the best decade they've ever seen, but it's actually only the second-most successful decade in team history.

Boston Red Sox, by the decade

Decade	Games	W	L	T	%	R	RA	Pyth	WS
1910s	1507	857	624	26	.569	6149	5236	.573	4
2000s	1619	920	699	0	.568	8647	7449	.568	2
1940s	1552	854	683	15	.550	7714	6776	.559	0
1970s	1609	895	714	0	.556	7559	6766	.551	0
1950s	1543	814	725	4	.528	7534	7005	.533	0
1900s1	1344	691	634	19	.514	5406	5069	.529	1
1980s	1564	821	742	1	.525	7586	7165	.526	0
1990s	1555	814	741	0	.523	7549	7287	.516	0
1930s	1528	705	815	8	.461	7429	7879	.473	0
1960s	1610	764	845	1	.475	6851	7303	.471	0
1920s	1542	595	938	9	.386	6229	7964	.389	0
1 - Only 9 seasons, as they began play in 1901.

Major Events:

• In 2001, GM Dan Duquette put together one of the most talented teams in baseball, adding Manny Ramirez to a team that featured the best pitcher in the game, Pedro Martinez, one of the best catchers in Jason varitek and the reigning AL batting champion Nomar Garciaparra, one of the best players in baseball. But Garciaparra was hurt before the season began, Martinez and Varitek (and Carl Everett and Frank Castillo and Rich Garces and Brian Daubach) went down for extended periods of time, and the team that some thought would be the best in baseball never took the field once. A late-season swoon, with most of the team's stars on the shelf, resulted in the removal of manager Jimy Williams and the elevation of pitching coach Joe Kerrigan to the manager's office. His tenure was short, as he was replaced by Grady Little during a management shake-up in the middle of spring training the following season.
• In December 2001, the team was sold by the Yawkey Trust, changing ownership for the first time since the depression. While there were many good teams over the years, they had never had the right combination of talent and luck that results in World Series wins. The new ownership team, led by John Henry (formerly owner of the Florida Marlins), scared many fans, convinced that the new group would never pay what was necessary to be successful. Those fears were not realized.
• The signature event of the decade, one of the signature events of the team's history, was, of course, the 2004 post-season. One year removed from a late-game collapse in game 7 of the ALCS to the hated Yankees, the 2004 Red Sox fell behind those same Yankees 3-0, a hole from which no baseball team had ever recovered. After three straight close and dramatic games, Boston pounded the Yankees - in Yankee Stadium - in game 7, and went on to beat the Cardinals in four to win their first World Series in '86 years.
• In the winter following the 2005 season, negotiations between ownership and GM Theo Epstein broke down, leaving the team without a GM. Jed Hoyer and Ben Cherington served, briefly, as co-GMs, and traded SS prospect Hanley Ramirez to the Florida Marlins for Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell. Epstein returned to the team the following spring, and while there have been rumors that he would not have made that trade, they were a lot louder during the 2006 season when Beckett struggled than they have been since the 2007 World Series, which the Red Sox won and in which Lowell and Beckett were key contributors.

Signature moments:

• No-hitters:
  
  • Hideo Nomo, in Baltimore
  • Derek Lowe, in Fenway
  • Clay Buccholz, in Fenway
  • Jon Lester, in Fenway
  And almost...
  • Pedro Martinez hits the first batter of a game in Tampa, Gerald Williams, who charges the mound causing a benches-clearing brawl. The Rays take exception at something they thought that Brian Daubach did, throwing at him all night, resulting in seven ejections. Martinez, meanwhile, retires the next 24 Rays, losing his no-hitter to the first batter of the ninth, one pitch after the chain around his neck broke and was put into his pocket.
  • Curt Schilling took a no-hitter into the ninth inning of a game in Oakland. With one out, he shook off Varitek's sign, for the first time that day, and gave up a single.
• Pedro Martinez puts up a 1.74 ERA in a league where the average ERA is 4.92. His ERA+ of 291 is the second best ever recorded, trailing only Tim Keefe's 294 from 1880.
• Theo Epstein avoids the media by leaving Fenway Park in a gorilla suit.
• Trot Nixon wins a playoff game with an 11th inning, pinch-hit walk-off home run.
• The screen was replaced with Monster Seats.
• With two on and no outs in a one run game, Derek Lowe gets a bunt out and two strikeouts to preserve a division series-clinching win in Oakland.
• Dave Roberts' steal of second base in game 5 of the 2004 ALCS.
• Johnny Damon's grand-slam in game 7 of the 2004 ALCS.
• Curt Schilling's bloody sock, game 6 of the 2004 ALCS.
• The Red Sox score against Mariano Rivera and go on to win two consecutive elimination playoff games.
• Derek Lowe, coming off one of the worst seasons of his career, goes six innings with only two days rest to win game 7 of the ALCS.
• (Notice a trend?)
• Shea Hillenbrand beats Mariano Rivera with a HR.
• Jason Bay beats Mariano Rivera with a HR.
• The ownership group that people feared wouldn't spend blows everyone else out of the water with a $51 million sealed bid for the right to negotiate with Daisuke Matsuzaka.
• Coke bottles appeared and then disappeared.
• The ownership group that people feared wouldn't spend pays $70 million for five years of JD Drew. A certain segment of the Boston fan base and media is not happy.
• Giambi homers. Grady Little leaves Pedro in the game. Karim Garcia hits a hard line-drive single. Grady Little leaves Pedro in the game. Pedro finishes the seventh to handshakes and congratulations. Grady Little sends Pedro out for the eighth. Jeter doubles. Grady Little leaves Pedro in the game. Bernie Williams singles. Grady Little leaves Pedro in the game. Matsui doubles. Grady Little leaves Pedro in the game. Posada doubles. It occurs to Grady Little that Pedro might be done. So are the Red Sox.
• David Ortiz sets a Red Sox record for Home Runs in a season with 54.
• Josh Beckett dominates the 2007 post-season.
• Dustin Pedroia wins the Rookie of the Year and MVP awards in back-to-back seasons.

Hitters:

173 batters went to the plate for the Red Sox during the 2000s. The top 10 in some notable offensive categories (as well as a few bottom 5s):

[Rate stats are for batters with 500+ plate appearances]

Red Sox - Hitter leaderboard - 2000s

	Player	Runs Created		Player	HR		Player	RBI
1	Manny Ramirez	888.0	1	Manny Ramirez	274	1	Manny Ramirez	868
2	David Ortiz	797.9	2	David Ortiz	259	2	David Ortiz	830
3	Jason Varitek	600.4	3	Jason Varitek	148	3	Jason Varitek	596
4	Trot Nixon	513.0	4	Trot Nixon	118	4	Trot Nixon	471
5	Kevin Youkilis	463.7	5	Kevin Youkilis	93	5	Kevin Youkilis	408
6	Johnny Damon	415.2	6	Nomar Garciaparra	82	6	Nomar Garciaparra	350
7	Nomar Garciaparra	398.5	7	Mike Lowell	75	7	Mike Lowell	348
8	Dustin Pedroia	317.0	8	Brian Daubach	65	8	Johnny Damon	299
9	Mike Lowell	316.4	9	Johnny Damon	56	9	Brian Daubach	233
10	Bill Mueller	251.2	10	J.D. Drew	54	10	Kevin Millar	220
	Player	Hits		Player	R		Player	SB
1	Manny Ramirez	1232	1	Manny Ramirez	743	1	Jacoby Ellsbury	129
2	David Ortiz	1065	2	David Ortiz	674	2	Johnny Damon	98
3	Jason Varitek	1045	3	Jason Varitek	513	3	Coco Crisp	70
4	Trot Nixon	800	4	Trot Nixon	475	4	Julio Lugo	48
5	Johnny Damon	730	5	Johnny Damon	461	5	Dustin Pedroia	47
6	Kevin Youkilis	705	6	Kevin Youkilis	424	6	Nomar Garciaparra	31
7	Nomar Garciaparra	666	7	Nomar Garciaparra	362	7	Trot Nixon	25
8	Mike Lowell	598	8	Dustin Pedroia	324	8	Jason Varitek	22
9	Dustin Pedroia	580	9	Mike Lowell	270	9	Carl Everett	20
10	Bill Mueller	437	10	J.D. Drew	247	10	Kevin Youkilis	19
	Player	AVG		Player	OBP		Player	SLG
1	Nomar Garciaparra	0.323	1	Manny Ramirez	0.411	1	Manny Ramirez	0.588
2	Manny Ramirez	0.312	2	Kevin Youkilis	0.391	2	David Ortiz	0.578
3	Dustin Pedroia	0.307	3	J.D. Drew	0.39	3	Nomar Garciaparra	0.541
4	Bill Mueller	0.303	4	David Ortiz	0.388	4	Jason Bay	0.534
5	Jacoby Ellsbury	0.297	5	Jason Bay	0.38	5	Carl Everett	0.519
6	Johnny Damon	0.295	6	Bill Mueller	0.378	6	Kevin Youkilis	0.487
7	Mike Lowell	0.295	7	Nomar Garciaparra	0.373	7	J.D. Drew	0.485
8	Kevin Youkilis	0.292	8	Dustin Pedroia	0.37	8	Trot Nixon	0.48
9	David Ortiz	0.288	9	Trot Nixon	0.368	9	Mike Lowell	0.479
10	Dante Bichette	0.287	10	Johnny Damon	0.362	10	Bill Mueller	0.474
	…			…			…
29	Alex Cora	0.252	29	Shea Hillenbrand	0.317	29	Mark Loretta	0.361
30	Julio Lugo	0.251	30	Doug Mirabelli	0.315	30	Jose Offerman	0.359
31	Mark Bellhorn	0.247	31	Troy O'Leary	0.311	31	Alex Cora	0.35
32	Doug Mirabelli	0.238	32	Alex Gonzalez	0.303	32	Julio Lugo	0.346
33	Mike Lansing	0.234	33	Mike Lansing	0.276	33	Mike Lansing	0.338
	Player	OPS		Player	RC/25
1	Manny Ramirez	0.999	1	Manny Ramirez	7.68
2	David Ortiz	0.966	2	David Ortiz	7.25
3	Nomar Garciaparra	0.914	3	Nomar Garciaparra	6.75
4	Jason Bay	0.914	4	Jason Bay	6.72
5	Kevin Youkilis	0.878	5	Kevin Youkilis	6.46
6	J.D. Drew	0.875	6	J.D. Drew	6.20
7	Carl Everett	0.869	7	Carl Everett	6.16
8	Bill Mueller	0.852	8	Trot Nixon	5.88
9	Trot Nixon	0.848	9	Bill Mueller	5.85
10	Mike Lowell	0.829	10	Johnny Damon	5.70
	…			…
29	Mark Loretta	0.706	29	Gabe Kapler	3.93
30	Jose Offerman	0.702	30	Lou Merloni	3.83
31	Alex Cora	0.671	31	Julio Lugo	3.61
32	Julio Lugo	0.665	32	Alex Cora	3.49
33	Mike Lansing	0.614	33	Mike Lansing	2.58

Pitchers:

59 men started baseball games for the Red Sox in the 2000s. 141 total took the mound. Here are the leaderboards for some notable pitching categories...

Red Sox - Pitcher leaderboard - 2000s

	Pitcher	G		Pitcher	GS		Pitcher	IP
1	Mike Timlin	394	1	Tim Wakefield	250	1	Tim Wakefield	1747
2	Tim Wakefield	346	2	Pedro Martinez	139	2	Pedro Martinez	936 2/3
3	Jonathan Papelbon	268	3	Josh Beckett	122	3	Josh Beckett	792
4	Manny Delcarmen	241	4	Derek Lowe	101	4	Derek Lowe	788 2/3
5	Derek Lowe	239	5	Curt Schilling	98	5	Curt Schilling	675
6	Alan Embree	211	6	Jon Lester	91	6	Jon Lester	558
7	Hideki Okajima	198	7	Daisuke Matsuzaka	73	7	Daisuke Matsuzaka	431 2/3
8	Javier Lopez	172	8	Bronson Arroyo	61	8	Mike Timlin	409
9	Keith Foulke	159	9	John Burkett	59	9	Bronson Arroyo	401 1/3
10	Rich Garces	152	10	Frank Castillo	49	10	John Burkett	354 2/3
	Pitcher	W		Pitcher	L		Pitcher	S
1	Tim Wakefield	110	1	Tim Wakefield	95	1	Jonathan Papelbon	151
2	Pedro Martinez	75	2	Derek Lowe	41	2	Derek Lowe	66
3	Josh Beckett	65	3	Josh Beckett	34	3	Ugueth Urbina	49
4	Derek Lowe	61	4	Curt Schilling	29	4	Keith Foulke	47
5	Curt Schilling	53	5	Pedro Martinez	26	5	Mike Timlin	27
6	Jon Lester	42	6	Frank Castillo	24	6	Byung-Hyun Kim	16
7	Daisuke Matsuzaka	37	7	Mike Timlin	22	7	Curt Schilling	9
8	Mike Timlin	30	8	Daisuke Matsuzaka	21	8	Brandon Lyon	9
9	John Burkett	25	9	Bronson Arroyo	19	9	Tim Wakefield	7
10	Bronson Arroyo	24	10	John Burkett	17	T-10	Rolando Arrojo	6
						T-10	Hideki Okajima	6
						T-10	Rod Beck	6
(min. 10 starts)			(min. 100 IP)
	Pitcher	ERA		Pitcher	ERA
1	Pedro Martinez	2.53	1	Jonathan Papelbon	1.84
2	Kason Gabbard	3.65	2	Pedro Martinez	2.53
3	Jon Lester	3.66	3	Hideki Okajima	2.72
4	Justin Masterson	3.76	4	Javier Lopez	3.3
5	Derek Lowe	3.83	5	Rod Beck	3.63
6	Curt Schilling	3.92	6	Jon Lester	3.66
7	Daisuke Matsuzaka	4	7	Keith Foulke	3.73
8	Josh Beckett	4.05	8	Manny Delcarmen	3.74
9	Paxton Crawford	4.15	9	Mike Timlin	3.76
10	Bronson Arroyo	4.19	10	Justin Masterson	3.76

Team of the Decade

Red Sox Team of the Decade - 2000s

C	Jason Varitek	As bad as he's been the past couple of years, there really isn't a question here.
1B	Kevin Youkilis	He's not only passed Millar and Daubach in production, but in games played.
2B	Dustin Pedroia	They went through a bunch of them, of varying effectiveness, before Pedroia arrived.
3B	Mike Lowell	The only alternative would be Shea Hillenbrand. Not a pleasant thought.
SS	Nomar Garciaparra	They've been trying to replace him since he left.
LF	Manny Ramirez	The occasional issues don't come close to outweighing the monstrous production.
CF	Jacoby Ellsbury	Tough call. Everett was better, Crisp played more games
RF	Trot Nixon	Drew was better, but Nixon played twice as many games.
DH	David Ortiz	One of the three hitting positions where there isn't a second option.
SP	Pedro Martinez	At his best, he was the best.
SP	Curt Schilling	He had a lot to say, but the performance to back it up.
SP	Josh Beckett	Hasn't been what we all want him to be, but his dominance was a big part of a second championship.
SP	Jon Lester	He may never win a Cy Young, but watching, it's not outlandish to think that he might.
SP	Tim Wakefield	Has never actually been the kind of "innings-eater" that people think
RP	Jonathan Papelbon	Dominant
RP	Keith Foulke	He's taken too much abuse, particularly as he was a big reason that the "curse" ended in 2004.
RP	Mike Timlin	Led the team in appearances for the decade while pitching well

What a ride!

As noted earlier, this was unquestionably the second best decade in team history. It was a period of great and colorful players, and successful teams. They won 95+ five times, 90+ six times and had a low-point of 82 wins, and that was in a season of devastating injuries.

And this does have one advantage over the 1910s. At the end of that decade, the success was over. The team was divesting itself of its best players, and the 1918 championship was followed by the departure of Babe Ruth and many of the better players from that team. It would be 17 years before the next Red Sox team to finish over .500. While we do not yet know what the 2010s will bring, we know what the 1920s brought, and it is difficult to imagine that that we're heading back to anything like that. The 2009 Red Sox, as an organization, are far, far better positioned for future success than the 1919 version was.