Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - July 26, 2013

Your pal Sully leaving his job at Cisco.

It made a big effect on me in a short period of time. That got me thinking of what players made a great impact on a team in just a season.

And that is the topic of today's Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.

Bryce Harper, Billy Butler, Mat Latos and Mark Buehrle  all owned baseball on July 25, 2013.


To see the up to date tally of "Who Owns Baseball?," click HERE.

Subscribe on iTunes HERE.

Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - July 26, 2013

   

The Rivera, Roberts, Robertson connection

There is a strange connection between two of the lowest moments of Mariano Rivera's career.

What was the most famous failure in Rivera's career?
Probably not closing out the Red Sox in the 2004 ALCS.

And what was the famous image of that comeback?

The stolen base by Dave Roberts.

Now Rivera's 2012 is over and his career is in danger, which is no doubt the lowest point of his Yankee tenure.

With Rivera gone, who is taking over?

David Robertson.

There is something about the combining of the names "David" and "Robert" that just doesn't mix with Mariano Rivera.

If I had a friend named Dave and another named Robert, I wouldn't introduce them to Mariano in that order. Or maybe I'd call the Robert "Bob."

It's kind of like the Lincoln/Kennedy coincidences.
 

My fellow Boston fans... the 2000's are over

When the game ended at the Staples Center Thursday night and Kobe and company were crowned as repeat champions, a thought crept into my head:

This wouldn't have happened in the 2000s.
If this were the 2000s, the Celtics would have drained a bunch of threes in the last minute and the Lakers would come up just short.

That's the way the 2000s were for Boston teams it felt like.
But it is 2010 now... and despite some nitwits insistence that it isn't a new decade yet, the results on the field, on the court and in the rink suggest otherwise.

For so long, the Boston sports scene was a place of futility. And after the 1986 Celtics title it was barren of titles.

After the Celtics beat the Rockets that year you had the 1986 World Series and the legacy THAT gave Boston.

You had Magic's hook shot over the Celtics. That along with the deaths of Len Bias and Reggie Lewis, the breakdown of Bird and the M.L. Carr and Rick Pitino years turned the once proud Celtics into just another team on the schedule.

You had the two Stanley Cup Finals where Edmonton waxed the Bruins (and the lights were shut off in the Garden during one of the games.)

You had the Patriots in the Super Bowl against the Packers, only to lose and the Bill Parcells/Robert Kraft Soap Opera hanging over the entire game. And let's face it, the Patriots were an afterthought in New England.

For 16 years that was it. The 1990s saw each Boston team sinking into irrelevance and the Yankees AND Lakers transformed themselves into dynasties by the beginning of the 21st Century.

It was tough being a Boston fan. We thought Drew Bledsoe, Joe Thornton, Antoine Walker, Mo Vaughn and Nomar Garciaparra would be the next great Boston sports hero... but all fell short.

Then came the 2000s.

And the change in Boston sports came without warning. The tuck rule went the Patriots way, but the Super Bowl was going to be yet another mismatch like the Bears in 1986 and the Packers in 1997. The Rams were going to kill them.

But when Vinatieri's field goal went through, I remember my friend and current workmate Jon Corbett yelling with disbelief "I can't believe the Patriots won the Super Bowl!"

It is hard for young Boston fans to understand how unbelievable this was. Using my theory that you don't really follow a sports team until you are 8 years old, there are 16 year olds who only know Boston sports as a place where championships are expected.

But between the 86 Celtics and the Patriots first Super Bowl win, there was a grand total of zero victory parades in Boston.

That's a 16 year gap. There were 24 year Boston fans where that Super Bowl was the first real memory of one of their teams winning.

Then they did it again... but when Grady left Pedro in too long, it looked like more of the same for the Red Sox. Sure the Pats could win, but the order of the universe was still the same.

Then Dave Roberts stole second... and anything became possible.

Could the Red Sox beat the Yankees?

Yes and in humiliating ways never seen before.

Could the Red Sox win a championship?

You bet... and like the Patriots, they could have MULTIPLE titles.

Could the Celtics be champs again? Why not? And why not have one of the biggest thumpin's in NBA history for a clincher against the Lakers no less?

Could the Patriots go undefeated in a regular season? Check the videotape!

Could the Red Sox win an elimination game where they were down 7-0? Do you even doubt it?

The Duck Boats got a lot of miles on them and we Boston fans showed we could be just as obnoxious in victory as we were in victory.

There were so many new heroes in Boston sports lore that they threatened to push many older legends out of everyone's memory.

Tom Brady! Tedy Bruschi! Richard Seymour! Curt Schilling! Big Papi Ortiz! Josh Beckett! Paul Pierce! Ray Allen! Kevin Garnett!

And cult heroes like Kevin Millar, Ty Law and Big Baby Davis!

But it was more than just victory... remember with every victory there is a team defeated and for a glorious period of time some of the most hated figures in Boston sports kept wetting the bed.

The Yankees had two of their biggest collapses in team history in the 2000s with the 2001 World Series and the 2004 ALCS... and after 2004, they couldn't make it out of the Division Series and missed the playoffs altogether in 2008.

And the pick up of A-Rod seemed to blow up in their face as he kept folding like a tent and slapping wrists in the playoffs.


The Lakers imploded in the 2004 Finals and the team was dismantled to please Kobe... and the titles dried up as Kobe couldn't deliver a title without Shaq.

And Peyton Manning had the stats, but Tom Brady was the CHAMPION.

Phil Jackson and Joe Torre wrote books about how rotten things were behind the scenes.

It was a glorious time and it was a petty time.

It was a time of happiness for our team's victory and for schadenfreude for other fan base's misery.

It was a perfect storm of our ability to celebrate and be pricks.

And it's over now.

Manning? He's a Super Bowl champ now and he's won one more recently than Brady because of the OTHER Manning.

A-Rod? He's a World Champion now and he hit key game tying homers and game winning hits in the Division Series, ALCS and World Series to get his ring.

Kobe? He has back to back titles now, the last one coming at the expense of our Celtics not being able to hold a 13 point second half lead. People are now talking about him in the same breath as Michael Jordan.

Since October 2009, Papelbon let up 3 ninth inning runs to eliminate the Red Sox, the Patriots got blown out at home in the playoffs, the Bruins blew a 3-0 series lead and the Celtics blew a shot at the NBA championship with less than 6 minutes to go.

The swagger is gone and that sense of impending doom has sadly crept back into our consciousness.

It's kind of like the movie Awakenings. For a brief moment we were able to come out of our slumber to experience the joys of winning teams, only to slip back into our immobile state.

Now in full disclosure, I am not a Boston Bruins fan. I am a San Jose Sharks fan and they have their OWN issues!

And my devotion to the Patriots is tenuous at best. I would trade all three Super Bowls for J. D. Drew to get a double off of David Price in the 8th inning of Game 7 of the 2008 ALCS... or for the Celtics to hang on to the 4th quarter lead on Thursday night.

And I am sure my friends who follow the Bruins primarily would trade the 3 Super Bowls, 2 World Series titles, and the NBA title for one Stanley Cup.

Maybe it will be good for us Boston fans to take a few lumps. It will help us appreciate what an amazing decade we experienced. What a huge class of water we had after a long thirst.

I'm not saying we shouldn't root hard for our teams. We should.
I'm not saying we won't see our teams win this decade. I bet some will.

But perhaps it was appropriate that Manny showed up t Fenway the day after the NBA Finals loss.

It was a reminder of that glorious decade where everything seemed to go our way.

We may never have a decade like this again.

Think of how lucky we are that we could experience it.

I feel bad for the kids born in 2002 and are 8 years old just following teams now. They missed out on a great decade.

Turn the page and let's give those kids some memories of their own!

Get Well Dave Roberts...

The Sox are down and they need a lift to spark a lifeless team... they need a Dave Roberts like jolt.

And today we all received news that puts the 2010 Red Sox's woes in perspective. Dave Roberts, the most beloved 4th outfielder in Red Sox history (sorry Hendu) has lymphoma.

Evidently it was caught relatively early, but still our thoughts, hopes, prayers or whatever you like to do should go to the man who gave all of Boston hope on an unlikely October night.

Good Luck Dave... steal another one... this time for yourself.

BRING BACK DAVE ROBERTS!!!!!

The Giants just released Dave Roberts.
Hey Theo!

Your pal Sully has an idea...

SIGN DAVE ROBERTS!!!!

I didn't even include him in my potential Red Sox reunions because I didn't think the Giants were going to cut him.

I know, Theo, that you are as sentimental as Spock...But come on! We can use a weapon like Roberts.

Who are out backup outfielders? We have Rocco Baldelli, but he's there to spell J. D. Drew against tough left handers.
Neither Jonathan Van Every nor Jeff Bailey are world beaters.

We would just need him for that late inning potential stolen base...
Remember when we once needed a late inning potential stolen base?














Remember what it led to?

















Remember how it ended?



















Come on! Is giving Jeff Bailey a roster spot so important that you don't want Fenway going nuts every time the Sox need a run late?

Just invite him to camp!

Strange... I'm not that nervous

Yesterday was supposed to be the center square on the Bingo Card.

Lester pitching at home... that was the "given" game.
That was the game that made us all not really sweat out the 11 inning game 2 loss.

"Hey, we're 1-1 with Lester on the mound. We'll take it."

And before you could ask "What does B. J. stand for?" we were down 5-0.

And yet here I sit typing this blog entry... and I am not a bundle of nerves.
I am not panicking.
I'm not really even that worried.

Let's list the reasons and find the Silver Lining in a Katrina like cloud.

1. It was quick

As I stated before, 9-8 losses are the worst. But 9-1 losses, those I can handle.

Those are games where nothing went right. There's no one play that nags at you after a 9-1 loss. No stifled rally, no bad call. It was a decisive ass thumpin'. And hopefully the Sox can just shrug and say "We'll get them tomorrow."



2. The Paul Byrd Factor

By taking the bullet and going the remaining 3 1/3 innings, Paul Byrd allows the Sox to set up the bullpen perfectly for games 4 and 5.

Papelbon, Masterson, Okajima and Delcarmen haven't pitched since the Saturday marathon... so Paps could go two innings. And the others can each go at least one. With Wakefield on the mound, it's good to know they can get as many as 5 innings from their top relievers.



3. We've Heard This Song Before!

It's almost exactly a year ago today that I told Red Sox Nation to calm the f--- down.

Yeah being down 2-1 to Tampa sucks.
How is that worse than being down 3-1 last year, IN Cleveland, facing Sabathia and Carmona for games 5 and 6?

How is that worse than being down 3-1 in 1986, IN Anaheim with Mike Witt dealing?

How is that worse than being down 2-0 in the 1999 Division Series, no Pedro, no Nomar, no life on the team and Cleveland's bats going nuts?

How is that worse than being down 2-0 in the 2003 Division Series facing Oakland's pitching?

Seriously... how is this worse than being down 3-0... 3 outs from a sweep... the Yankees in Pedro's head... Schilling on the operating table... Rivera on the mound... bottom of the order coming up?

How soon we all forgot Dave Roberts!



4. The Wakefield Factor

Call me insanely optimistic, but I think that with Tampa's offense clicking, now's as good a time as any to wheel out Tim Wakefield.

Seriously, they've been smacking the ball around left and right and their timing is just on...

Maybe some of Wake's knucklers floating into the zone is just what the doctor ordered. Maybe they'll be flailing at it. Maybe they'll be overly agressive. Either way, it will force them to change their approach to hitting which, safe to say has been working!



5. It's already been fun!

Don't get me wrong. I want the Red Sox to win the 2008 World Series as much as anyone you will ever meet.

And don't think for a second that I won't be incredibly disappointed if the season ends with the Red Sox watching another team celebrate.

But I won't be devastated.
Devastation ended in 2004. The feeling of "Oh Crap... I can't believe I was so stupid to think they'd actually win" is long gone.

And this isn't even the intense disappointment of 2005 either.
That year the Red Sox and Yankees finished the season tied... but because the Yankees won the season series 10-9, they were the Division Champs and the Red Sox were the Wild Card.

One more single win in 2005 would have meant the Sox would host the Angels (who they always beat) in the Division Series instead of starting the post season on the road against the much better (and eventual champion) Chicago White Sox.

The Red Sox were clobbered in game 1 in Chicago and lost two close games to end the defense of the World Series by being swept.

The end of the year left a disappointing emptiness. Not to mention the fact that the team was old and clearly breaking up. (Mueller, Damon, Millar and Arroyo will all be gone by the next opening day... Nixon, Foulke and Kapler would be gone the next off season.)

This year the Red Sox already pulled off the upset of the 100 win Angels with 4 unforgettable games including a 2 run 9th inning game winning homer from J. D. Drew and the series ending single by Jed Lowrie.

Between those games and the Dice-K game 1 win in the ALCS, the Sox have provided infinitely more October memories than the last time they defending a World Series title.

Plus with Lowrie, Papelbon, Youkilis, Ellsbury, Lester, Masterson and Bay all still young and not going anywhere... there isn't a sense of this being the only shot.


So let it be known I am rooting full steam ahead for the Red Sox to repeat as World Champions... but I'm not at all panicked.

Emotionally we are playing with house money.

That being said, I hope they kick Tampa's ass tonight.

Sorry rest of the baseball world... It's Red Sox vs. Yankees time again!

Last year I made it clear that the Red Sox/Yankees rivalry is just better than the other baseball rivalries and everyone else just has to deal with it.

I stand by that.

And tomorrow the Yankees go to Fenway to play the Red Sox.
I'm sorry, let me correct myself...
Tomorrow the Yankees go to Fenway to play the Defending World Champion Boston Red Sox.
That's better.

And yeah, neither team is off to a blazing start at 5-5... but please. If the Orioles win the Division I will buy you a house.

And by "you" I mean anyone currently reading this blog.

When the rivalry reached its breaking point between 2003-2005.

With the rivalry already rich in history, tradition and venom, think about the chapters added just 5 years ago that are already legendary:

- Pedro throwing Zimmer to the ground
- Grady leaving Pedro in too long
- Aaron Boone extending the curse another year
- The race to get A-Rod
- Jeter flying into the stands in that wonderful extra inning game
- The Varitek/A-Rod brawl game ending with Bill Meuller's walk off against Mariano
- Pedro declaring the Yankees to be his daddy
- The Yankees winning 19-8 in Fenway to take a 3-0 lead
- 3 outs from a sweep, Roberts steals and scores on Meuller's hit... Papi's walk off in extras
- 6 outs from elimination, Sox rally back and Papi wins it again in 14
- Schilling's bloody sock
- A-Rod slaps the ball from Arroyo's glove
- Johnny Damon's grand slam blows open the clinching game in the Bronx
- The Red Sox get their rings in front of the visiting Yankees
- Yankees and Red Sox finish 2005 tied... but the Yankees are the Division Champs because of the 10-9 head to head record
- Johnny Damon defects to the Yankees in the off season.


Hey Cubs and Cardinals fans... list that many memorable moments of your rivalry!

For us, that's only going back to the start of the Iraq war.

Now I know the rest of baseball hates us (yes Red Sox fans... people hate us now) because our teams tend to gobble up all the big players.

They have a point and I have another list.

Here are players added to the Yankees starting in 2003:
Hideki Matsui
Alex Rodriguez
Gary Sheffield
Tom Gordon
Kevin Brown
Javier Vasquez
Randy Johnson
Carl Pavano
Jaret Wright
Johnny Damon
Bobby Abreu

And that's not including Roger Clemens and Andy Pettite, who left and came back for big bucks.

But Red Sox fans shouldn't get smug about the Yankees free spending.

The faces added to the Sox starting in 2003:
David Ortiz
Kevin Millar
Bill Meuller
Curt Schilling
Keith Foulke
Edgar Renteria
Matt Clement
David Wells
Josh Beckett
Mike Lowell
Daisuke Matsusaka
Hideki Okajima
J. D. Drew
Julio Lugo

And of course this doesn't include big buck free agents Manny Ramirez (signed before 2001) and Johnny Damon (signed before 2002)

So yeah, both teams are guilty as charged of stockpiling other people's stars.
Granted not all of the moves worked, but they have enough dough to absorb the Kevin Browns and Matt Clements of the world.

I have no sympathy for Red Sox fans who whine about the Yankee spending.
We're an Evil Empire too. It's what we wanted... revel in it!

Well guess what?
Just when you thought the rivalry couldn't get better/more annoying... behold the new direction of the Yankees and the Defending World Champion Boston Red Sox:

We're growing our own stars now!
No more mercenaries!
I loved the 2004 team more than any baseball team in my life... but let's face it, they were mercenaries.

Now a home grown Red Sox team is slowly rising led by Kevin Youkilis, a product of the farm system, and the Captain Jason Varitek, who was drafted by Seattle but has spent his entire big league career in Boston.

And the Yankees have their stable veterans, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera.

And those veterans are looking over a batch of young talent that should bring about debates for the next generation.

Who is better?
Dustin Pedroia or Robinson Cano?
Jacoby Ellsbury or Melky Cabrera?
Jonathan Papelbon or Joba Chamberlain?
Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester or Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy?

Shortstop Jed Lowrie is on the World Champion Boston Red Sox roster going into this weekend and Yankee outfielder Austin Jackson won't be far behind.

The debates can even seep into players from the Orient...
Which ace is better?
Daisuke Matsusaka or Ching Mein Wang?
And who will win when Francona brings in Hideki Okajima to face Hideki Matsui.

Sure both teams will still have their imported stars.
Hell, both teams MVP candidates (David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez) were swiped from other teams.

But the prospect of both teams building the next great rivalry teams from the ground up and using their dough to keep them together is so great that I don't care if it pisses the rest of baseball off.

One big difference from the rivalry now and the teams of the past:
No matter how great the Red Sox players were, Yankee fans always had the simple retort of "No Ring."

Williams vs DiMaggio and Mantle? Williams was good... no ring.
Rice, Yaz, Lynn and Evans vs. Reggie, Piniella, Rivers and Chambliss?
Sox were more talented... no rings.
Fisk vs. Munson? Munson career was cut short and he still had the rings!
Clemens and Boggs? They needed to go to the Yankees to get their rings.

Cue the 1918 chant.

Now?
Well Papelbon, Lester, Buccholz, Ellsbury, Pedroia, Matsusaka and Okajima all got theirs.
Youkilis and Varitek got their second rings.

And the Yankees haven't won a playoff series since Dave Roberts stole second.

The Rivalry has a new dynamic in the 21st century (with the Red Sox leading 2-1 in titles).

It's going to be good.
Deal with it, rest of baseball.

For the second time in my life...

I will see the Red Sox get World Series rings and raise a World Championship banner.

I remember in 2005 (while my kids were barely a month old) that it was the last piece of the magical 2004 season and now it was back to work.

I remember also thinking "I may never see this again."
They brought back so many former Red Sox back then (as well as Celtics and Pats and Bruins) and the roar for Dave Roberts and Johnny Pesky was deafening.

They were playing the Yankees, which gave us petty Red Sox fans some added venom.
Of course I had to see it taped! YES network decided not to air the ring ceremony. I believe they showed the Yankeeography for Ken Phelps.

Give out the rings again... and let's do it again next year

I AM THE PRESIDENT OF THE J. D. DREW FAN CLUB!!!!!

I LOVE J. D. DREW!!!!

He could be my favorite current Red Sox player. He is a legend whose name will send chills of joy down the spine of Red Sox fans for generation!

What do you say?
I called his signing the worst move I could remember the Red Sox making?

Yeah... what's your point?

I created a whole elaborate payment system for him implying he was an uncaring heartless and gutless player?
I'm not sure I see the relevance.

I said umpires had a special responsibility to not blow calls involving J. D. Drew because his doing something positive was so unlikely that we can't afford to let one slip away?
And?

That I identify him to my wife as my least favorite player in all of baseball?
Where is this going?

All that is swept away now.
It's what you do in October that people remember!

Do Red Sox fans remember that Dave Henderson was a backup outfielder for the Sox who didn't even arrive in Boston until mid August of 1986 and only started 7 regular season games for the Sox?

Nope. They remember the game 5 homer and some even remember the World Series homers.

How many Red Sox fans in 2004 really knew who Dave Roberts was when the playoffs started? He was a 5th outfielder (Gabe Kapler usually came in for defense before Roberts). Now he is as beloved as Paul Revere.

When you mention to a Yankee fan the name Aaron Boone, do they think of a guy who spent only 2 months with the team and was batting .125 in the ALCS before being benched? Or do they remember a certain home run that will earn him standing ovations at old timers games for generations to come?

Bucky Dent, Gene Tenace, Darrell Porter, Francisco Cabrera, Scott Speizio...
All defined not by a disappointing season but by October heroics.

If the Red Sox win game 7 and go to the World Series... nobody will remember the lousy season J. D. Drew had. They'll just remember the slam that set the tone for Game 6.

I've been wrong before (see my love for the Gagne trade when it happened) and I will be wrong again.

So let me say it loud and proud...
J. D. DREW ROCKS!

In honor of Kevin Millar...

... who came to the Red Sox in a bizarre waiver move that kept him from going to Japan

... who was a legit goofball and decent line drive hitter that fir perfectly into the Red Sox clubhouse

... who came up with that stupid "Cowboy Up" phrase that almost worked in 2003

... who is on camera predicting the Red Sox comeback in 2004 to a skeptical Dan Shaughnessy

... who drew the lead off walk in the 9th of game 4 off of Rivera, only to have Dave Roberts come in as the most famous pinch runner in baseball history

... and walked again the next night in the 8th, setting up the other Dave Roberts tying the game off of Rivera moment

... who is the kind of character the Sox have been missing since 2004!

THE MAGIC NUMBER IS 15!

In honor of Dave Roberts...

... who in a mere 3 second dash from first to second made every Red Sox fan sit up and believe
...who only played 3 months in Boston and didn't play an inning in the 2004 World Series, yet is as beloved as any sports figure in Boston history...

THE MAGIC NUMBER IS 31

Best Red Sox Trades of All Time

original post date, September 10, 2006

Enough of talking about BAD trades.

Let's talk good trades! The Red Sox have had a few and here are my top 10 of the modern Red Sox

There are a few great deals in the past, especially acquiring Jimmie Foxx and Lefty Grove in their primes, but let's focus on the Red Sox since 1970, shall we?

Obviously this list of trades will favor the 2004 Champs, because any moves that procured what we were all waiting for deserves special attention, but there are some other ones too.

Counting down from 10

10. Trading minor leaguer Henri Stanley to the Dodgers for Dave Roberts

A minor league outfielder who still has never seen the show is a small price to pay for the most famous pinch runner in baseball history.

This trade barely made a blip when it happened.

Now Dave Roberts is mentioned in the same breath as Paul Revere and John Hancock as Boston heroes.

9. Trading Calvin Schraldi and Al Nipper to the Cubs for Lee Smith

Let's see... the 1987 Red Sox bullpen was a joke, so let's take Schraldi who was one bad outing from getting shock treatment and Al Nipper who I am guessing is a hell of a nice guy but no starting pitcher and send them off to Chicago for the best reliever in the National League.

The result?

A division title.



8. Trading Rick Wise, Mike Paxton, Ted Cox and Bo Diaz to the Indians for Dennis Eckersley and Fred Kendall

Wise was broken down and while Diaz became an All Star catcher, the Eck became a 20 game winner and the lone highlight for the Red Sox rotation for 4 years.

If only we thought of converting him to the bullpen!

7. Trading Don Aase to the Angels for Jerry Remy
Aase was a quality youg arm and actually saved 34 games for Baltimore in 1986... but the deal brought Rem Dog to Boston where he belongs!

6. Trading Mike Easler to the Yankees for Don Baylor

There was a time when the Yankees and Red Sox made the occasional trade.

This one looked simple enough: swap quality DHs. Easler was left handed and would fit well in the Bronx while Baylor's right handed stick would fit in Fenway.

Baylor's power fit right into the line up (and made up for the injured Tony Armas) but it was his prescience in the lax John McNamara "led" clubhouse that fired up a dull team and brought them to within a pitch of the title.



5. Trading Rey Quinones, Mike Brown, John Christensen and Mike Trujillo to the Mariners for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen

Quinones couldn't cut it as the starting shortstop, so the Sox picked up Clemens and Schraldi's old college teammate Owen who did a nice job. But Henderson, who was brought over for his glove to help Armas, gave us one of the most dramatic homers in baseball history over the Angels and would have been the hero of the World Series if that third out was ever made. Always remember, pick up backup outfielders named DAVE!



4. 4 team trade sending Nomar Garciaparra to the Cubs and receiving Orlando Cabrera from the Expos and Doug Mientkiewicz from the Twins

Possibly the ballsiest trade in baseball history.

Theo put emotions aside, shored up the defense, loosened up the clubhouse and let Lowe feel comfortable getting ground ball outs.

The 2004 Red Sox miss the playoffs all together if this trade wasn't made.




3. Trading Heathcliff Slocumb to the Mariners for minor leaguers Jason Varitek and Derek Lowe

Dealing an inconsistent reliever and getting a team captain and the heart and soul of the eventual World Championship team? Not a bad move? Throw in a guy who nearly won a Cy Young award, came out of the pen to close out the A's in 2003 and won the clinching game of the Division Series, ALCS and World Series in 2004 and we are talking about a trade that GMs lose their jobs over.




2. Trading Casey Fossum, Brandon Lyon, Jorge De La Rosa and Michael Goss to the Diamondbacks for Curt Schilling

The Thanksgiving dinner heard round the world!

The Red Sox weren't going to win anything without a pair of aces, and if that meant pretending Shonda's stuffing was good, then so be it!

1. Trading Carl Pavano and Tony Armas Jr to the Expos for Pedro Martinez

Two pretty good pitching prospects in exchange for a Cy Young winner? A good deal then, but who could have predicted the magical 7 year Red Sox run with Pedro on the hill? Was there a more fun, electric and thrilling sight to see than Pedro dominating a game. He single handedly won playoff births in 1998 and 1999 and finished in the top 4 of the Cy Young in 6 of the 7 years with Boston. His 6 innings of no hit relief in 1999 and his game 3 vs St Louis were two of the great moments in Red Sox history. Thus this is the best trade the Sox EVER made