The Red Sox came back strong in 2007 by going 96-66 and winning the AL East for the first time since 1995. After surviving a rugged ALCS against the Cleveland Indians by coming back from a 3-1 deficit, the Sox swept the Colorado Rockies in the World Series for their second title in three years. With young new players like Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, Jon Lester, and Jacoby Ellsbury joining up with veterans Curt Schilling, David Ortiz, and Jason Varitek and new additions (via trade) Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell, the Red Sox looked poised to mount a strong season in 2008.
For the only time this century, the 2008 Red Sox had a strong follow-up to a championship season and came very close to repeating. The 2008 team went 95-67 but finished second in the division to the Tampa Bay Rays, settling for the Wild Card instead.
Led by Pedroia’s MVP season and basically the same players as the year before, Boston took Tampa to Game Seven of the ALCS and was a hair’s breadth from winning the game. I still remember the agony when JD Drew was called out on a check swing with the bases loaded late in the game which ended in a 3-1 Tampa victory. In his book, Terry Francona said that to this day he considers the 2008 team to have been better than the 2007 squad.
The 2009 Red Sox again went 95-67 and finished second in the division, but bowed out in the ALDS by getting swept. Things got worse in 2010 with an 89-73 finish but 2011 looked like it would be the year they’d get back to the Series. Theo Epstein traded for slugger Adrian Gonzalez and signed free agent Carl Crawford. On paper the team looked stacked and like they’d run roughshod over the entire league.
They were cruising heading into September, behind the Yankees for the division lead but nine games ahead of the Rays for the Wild Card. Incredibly, the team went 7-20 in September and lost on a blown save in the ninth inning against the Orioles to finish in third place and out of the postseason.
It turned out there were problems in the clubhouse all that season which were personified in the “fried chicken and beer” scandal involving Lester, Beckett, and John Lackey. Theo Epstein left to be the GM of the Chicago Cubs, manager Terry Francona was fired after the season, and Bobby Valentine was hired as his replacement.
The 2012 season was the nadir of this ownership group’s tenure, with the Red Sox going 69-93 and finishing in last place. Valentine was fired, former pitching coach John Farrell was hired away from Toronto to manage the team and GM Ben Cherington cleaned house and signed a bunch of low risk/high-reward players heading into the 2013 season.