Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Red Sox Nation An Unexpurgated History of the Boston Red Sox by Peter Golenbock Boston Red Sox. The Boston Red Sox were created in 1901 in the American League, when the league decided to claim Major League status as a rival to the National League. They were not known as the Red Sox until 1908; before that time, they were refered to by various unofficial names such as the Boston Americans, Boston Pilgrims or Boston Somersets. Early in the century, the Red Sox won World Series titles in 1903, 1912, 1915, 1916, and 1918. They won the AL pennant in 1904, but New York Giants manager John McGraw refused to play the American League champions in a World Series that year. The 1903 title came in the first modern World Series and was an upset of the National League's Pittsburgh Pirates thanks to the pitching of Cy Young and Bill Dinneen. That win did much to secure the American League's claim as a worthy rival of the senior circuit. Other early stars were outfielders Tris Speaker and Harry Hooper, third baseman Jimmy Collins - also the team's first manager - and pitchers Smokey Joe Wood and Babe Ruth. After this early success, the franchise unravelled when owner Harry Frazee began trading or selling most of his top players to the New York Yankees beginning in 1920, in order to meet financial pressures. The most infamous of these deals was the sale of pitcher turned outfielder Ruth to the New York Yankees, a deal that changed the fate of two franchises. The Yankees won their first pennant in 1921 and immediately became perennial World Series participants, while the Red Sox sank to the bottom of the standings, and did not emerge again as a competitive force until the second half of the 1930s. Leading the team back to respectability were Joe Cronin, Jimmie Foxx and Lefty Grove, all acquired from other teams at the height of the Great Depression. The Red Sox got back to the World Series in 1946, but lost in 7 games. In 1948, they tied the Cleveland Indians in the regular season, forcing a one-game playoff, which they lost in part because of Joe McCarthy's controversial decision to start unheralded Denny Galehouse in the deciding game; the loss cost the city of Boston the chance to have an all-local World Series, since the crosstown rival Braves won their last pennant in Boston that year. Ted Williams and Bobby Doerr were the team's big stars in the 1940s, with Williams, the last .400 hitter in major league history in 1941, playing until 1960. The Bosox returned to the Fall Classic in 1967, 1975, and 1986, losing each series in 7 games as well. In 1978, the Red Sox blew a nine-game lead over the New York Yankees and lost a one-game playoff, which featured Bucky Dent's 7th-inning three-run homer off Mike Torrez over Fenway Park's Green Monster. Carl Yastrzemski was the iconic figure in the 1960s and 1970s, almost single- handedly steering the "Impossible Dream" Sox to the 1967 Series with a Triple Crown season. The 1975 team was highlighted by two great rookies - Fred Lynn and Jim Rice - and the pitching of Luis Tiant. The 1986 team featured an aging Rice, but was driven by the great pitching of Roger Clemens and the hitting of Wade Boggs. The Red Sox lost the ALCS in 1988 and 1990 in four-game sweeps to the Oakland A's, the 1995 ALDS to the Cleveland Indians and the 1999 and 2003 ALCS to the Yankees. The 1990s teams had fewer superstars, although Pedro Martinez, acquired in 1998, was the best pitcher in baseball for a few years after joining the team. In 2004, the Yankees took a three games to none lead over the Red Sox in the ALCS. However, the Red Sox came back to tie Game 4 in the 9th inning (at Fenway Park) off Yankees' closer Mariano Rivera, highlighted by Dave Roberts's steal of second base followed by a game-tying single from Bill Mueller. Later, David Ortiz won the game with a home run in the bottom of the 12th inning. Boston staged another late-inning rally in Game 5, with Roberts again scoring the tying run. Ortiz won that game with a run-scoring single in the bottom of the 14th inning. The series then moved to Yankee Stadium and Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, who had a severe ankle injury, was able to win Game 6. The Red Sox would then beat the Yankees in Game 7 to win the ALCS, then swept the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series to win their first World Championship since 1918. The Sox were a wild-card entry in the post-season 2005 and lost to the Chicago White Sox in the Division Series. The team finished second in the AL East for 7 consecutive seasons (from 1998 to 2004), and in 2005 tied the Yankees for first in the division, but were awarded the wild card due to a 9-10 head-to-head record against their rivals. After missing the postseason altogether in 2006, the Sox finished first in the AL East in 2007, going on to sweep the 2007 World Series against the Colorado Rockies. They won the AL wild card in 2008 but fell to the upstart Tampa Bay Rays in a seven-game ALCS match-up. In 2009, they started the season on fire, but were eventually caught and passed by the Yankees in August, ending up once again as the wild card; in the Division Series, they once again faced the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, to which they had never lost in the postseason, but this time were swept in three games, ending a disappointing season but still completed their most successful decade since the 1910s. The stars of that team were Ortiz, Kevin Youkilis, Manny Ramirez and Jason Varitek. The Red Sox missed the postseason in 2010 but were back in an epic race with the Yankees in 2011, led by newly-acquired Adrian Gonzalez and a the home-grown Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia. They seemed to have a postseason slot wrapped up heading into the last two weeks of the season, but suffered a memorable collapse to be passed by the Rays on the season's last day. After that disappointment, the Red Sox replaced manager Terry Francona, who had been at the helm for both of their recent World Series titles, and replaced him with Bobby Valentine. General manager Theo Epstein, who built those winning teams, also left, being replaced by Ben Cherington. Other significant departures after that season were that of closer Jonathan Papelbon, who held the franchise record with 219 saves, via free agency, and the retirement of knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, with the most games started and innings pitched, and of Varitek, who had caught more games than anyone in team history. Youkilis soon joined them, being traded early in the 2012 season. That season turned out to be a disaster, with the Red Sox finishing in last place and Valentine losing his job at the end of the season. In August of that year, the Sox made a huge trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers, sending Gonzalez, Josh Beckett and Carl Crawford to L.A. in return for a package of youngsters, the trio representing over $250 million in future salary commitments. With former pitching coach John Farrell now at the helm, the Red Sox came back to win a third World Series in ten seasons in 2013. The city of Boston was the victim of a brutal terrorist attack at the finish line of its annual marathon that April, and its baseball team helped to rally the people, with David Ortiz giving a rousing speech just after the tragic events. With newcomers Mike Napoli, Stephen Drew and Shane Victorino joining holdovers Ortiz, Pedroia, Ellsbury and Jon Lester, the Red Sox cruised to a division title and through the postseason to defeat the St. Louis Cardinals in six games in the Series. That season was followed by another last-place finish in 2014, in which the Red Sox traded a number of players in order to rebuild. After another poor season in 2015, marked by Farrell taking some time off to recover from cancer, they came back to win back-to-back division titles in 2016 and 2017. A new generation of players was propulsing these teams, especially the outfield of Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley and Andrew Benintendi, as well as SS Xander Bogaerts. They managed to overcome the retirement of Ortiz following the 2016 season, but both years, they were quickly ousted from the postseason after losing the Division Series. Farrell paid the price after the second of these, being replaced by Alex Cora, who made his managerial debut in 2018. The addition of slugger J.D. Martinez seemed to energize the team that year and they set a team record with 108 wins during the regular season. They then breezed through the postseason, losing but one game in each of the three rounds and defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series for their fourth title since breaking the curse. The postseason was highlighted by Cora's brilliant use of his starters in key outings to complement his relief pitchers, and his knack for finding the right substitute at the right time. Characteristically, it was a role player, platoon 1B Steve Pearce, who was the Series MVP.