This Red Sox team is the best to win a World Series championship

The Red Sox had a dominating season from beginning to end. They’ll go down as the greatest Red Sox team to win a Championship

After back-to-back American League East division titles resulted in losing in the first round of the playoffs, the Boston Red Sox needed a change. In Boston, it’s all about championships. Anything less than that the season is a failure.

A year ago, Dave Dombrowski fired John Farrell and hired Alex Cora. Hiring Cora was a great move to get a different voice in the clubhouse and someone who could connect with the players.  Farrell had a hard time communicating with his players and it showed. Cora from the beginning hadn’t missed a step. At spring training they were the best team and it continued throughout the season and postseason.

For the Red Sox to win the World Series it really defines them as a team. All the doubt about the bullpen, David Price, and not being able to beat Houston and New York are gone. The bullpen pitched great when it mattered the most. Price proved he can be a great pitcher in the postseason, silencing the people that doubted him. Finally beating Houston and New York on their fields was something special. Houston the defending World Champions are hard to beat at home and the Yankees really good at home in the playoffs. Didn’t matter, the Sox took care of business. Then in Los Angeles to win the World Series over the Dodgers.

You can say this is the best Red Sox World Series winning team ever.

During the 1900’s, the Sox won Championships with their last one in 1918. After that, they’d win divisions, go to three World Series and lose. It took 86 years before the Sox won another championship in 2004.

That ’04 team was special and probably the second best World Series-winning team. Power hitter David Ortiz really was great that season and postseason. Also, coming back from down 3-0 to the Yankees and completing the greatest comeback in postseason history was something special. They would then sweep the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series. That team was special because it hadn’t won in a long time. They pulled together as a team and got the job done.

The ’07 team was good. Alex Cora was apart of that team as well as Dustin Pedroia. The Sox were easy favorites over the Rockies that year but they were an older team too. Same for 2013 the Sox team that wanted to win a championship for Boston after the Marathon Bombing. Ortiz led the Sox and the team would celebrate another championship.

Now this season. All these players are young, vibrant, and athletic. Many were all drafted by Theo Epstein and came up into the minor leagues together. They played with each other hoping one day they would be World Champions. That day has come for Mookie Betts and a young core that is able to win championships for years to come.

Even for Alex Cora, I put him as the best manager the Red Sox have ever had. I’m not sure if Terry Francona would’ve put his ace to close out Game Five of the World Series. When Cora put in Sale to close the series out you could tell that Cora is something special.

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Throughout this whole postseason, Cora put starters in the bullpen to come into the game as relievers. Price, Sale, Eovaldi, Porcello, and Rodriguez all came into the games at some point this postseason and pitched well. Even Joe Kelly and Ryan Braiser came in and did their job. Kelly had a difficult season but when it came to the playoffs he was nails, shutting the hitters down. Craig Kimberl was questionable at times but it didn’t matter too much at the end of the day.

Cora’s in-game strategy is something special. Always pushing the right buttons this whole season whether it was to pinch-hit for someone or bring someone in from the bullpen. From Brock Holt hitting for the Cycle in the ALDS in New York to Mitch Moreland’s pinch-hit home run in Game 4 of the World Series. Most of what Cora did work out.

If Cora made a mistake he would own up to it. Whether that be to the media or to the team. Sometimes it would be both. Cora was so honest with the media this whole season and admitted to being wrong when he made a mistake. You would never see past managers own up to mistakes as Cora does.

The Red Sox didn’t need power hitters like Betts and J.D. Martinez to help them win games this postseason. On previous championship teams, you always saw a clutch home run from Ortiz to put the Sox ahead. With this team, those ‘Ortiz’ moments came from the middle of the Sox lineup. That was really shown in the World Series. Betts and Martinez had home runs in Game Five of the World Series but overall it was Nunez, Pearce, and Bradley who came in clutch for the Sox in the entire playoffs.

I’m so proud of this team and how they played together. It always takes an entire effort.  In past championship years, the Sox weren’t running away with the AL East. This season was so much different. They had 108 wins the most in team history. It’s no question this Sox team will go down as the greastest Red Sox team of all time. Domintation from beginning to end.