Red Sox Memories: A common pitching thread to Red Sox championships
A common thread for Boston Red Sox pitching
Albert Einstein was not infallible in his scientific theories. Professor Einstein has an endearing quote regarding insanity: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” The Boston Red Sox have been rather successful this century in doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting the same results. Four times various administrations have used the same tactic and each has resulted in a contribution to three World Series championships. An impressive accomplishment with all four having a common connector resulting in three titles – trading young players.
Baseball has a version of an Einstein in Earl Weaver. Weaver was a proponent of two specifics in the configuration of a successful team. The three-run home run and pitching. As Weaver had his own perceptive quote: “The only thing that matters in baseball is that little bump in the middle of the field.”
The Red Sox made four noted trades that eventually resulted in curse breaking and flag raising. The price was high to get the necessary talent, but the results were obvious. Each trade centered on “The Earl of Baltimore’s” perceptive quote on pitching. A fifth championship may be dependent on Chaim Bloom adopting what proved successful from Dan Duquette to Theo Epstein to Dave Dombrowski. Sometimes history should repeat itself.
Red Sox GM Dan Duquette does a heist from the Expos
When a Cy Young Award winning pitcher becomes available you must take notice and explore the potential of acquiring such a talent. In this instance, the talent was only 26-years-old when Dan Duquette heisted Pedro Martinez from the Montreal Expos. The term “heist” may be over-exuberance, but history – otherwise known as hindsight – has proven that correct.
The formula would be similar in the acquisition of other deals that would follow the time stream. Young talent – especially young and controllable pitching – for a player deemed too expensive. Martinez was in the last year of his contract and the Red Sox acted quickly, signing Pedro for six-years and $75 MM after acquiring the ace.
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Martinez’s superb pitching kept the Fenway Park stands filled, the team competitive, and certainly brought Hispanics to the park. The final year was not typical of a dominant Martinez but the record of 16-9 and a 3.90 ERA was still instrumental in securing another shot at a championship.
Martinez was a terrific performer, an exuberant personality, an incredible competitor, and one of the best pitchers in baseball history.
The price? Boston shipped two young pitchers to the Expos – Carl Pavano and Tony Armas. Neither Pavano (24-35, 4.83) or Armas (48-60, 4.45) came close to Martinez’s 117-37 in his entertaining seven Boston seasons. But Martinez needed a complimentary force in 2004 and it was delivered.
Curt Schilling hitches a ride to the Red Sox
Does life imitate art? If a television commercial can be considered art then the most prophetic one was done by Curt Schilling. Schilling is pictured hitching a ride to Boston “to break a curse.” A self-fulfilling prophecy since Schilling accomplished just that when he partnered with Martinez. Reminiscent of Schilling’s partnering with Randy Johnson in Arizona that also produced a championship.
The saga of Schilling with the Red Sox is one of closing the circle. Schilling was originally drafted by Boston (1986) and then was traded to Baltimore in a questionable but understandable transaction. Schilling eventually solidified his pitching credentials with Philadelphia and Arizona before being traded to Boston. He was 37-years-old and the presumption was nearing the end of the baseball trail.
The Diamondbacks received three pitchers with lefty Casey Fossum being regarded as the most promising. Two others – Brandon Lyon and Jorge De La Rosa – were both considered close to Fossum in potential. The Red Sox also included outfield prospect Mike Goss who never advanced past Double-A.
Fossum had three years with the Red Sox while still attempting to harness his occasionally electric talent. Lyon had shown his potential as part of the Red Sox 2003 bullpen going 4-6 and collecting nine saves. Lefty De La Rosa had originally signed with Arizona in 1998, signed by Boston, sent to Arizona, and was unloaded again in another trade with Milwaukee. The consensus was the Red Sox were snookered in this deal.
The Paul Harvey rest of the story is well etched in Red Sox folklore and baseball history. Schilling’s remarkable 2004 performance is the stuff of legends and athletic heroism. With Boston, Schilling went 6-1 in the playoffs and 11-2 overall in his lengthy career. As a 40-year-old, Schilling contributed to the 2007 World Series run with a 9-8 record, but 3-0 in the playoff including his final World Series win.
Fossum never fully mastered his talented left arm, making 27 starts for Arizona in 2004. Fossum delivered a 4-15 record and embarrassing 6.65 ERA. Lyon became a serviceable if unremarkable bullpen piece for Arizona and one season notched 26 saves. And De La Rosa? A career 104-87 record stretched over 15 seasons including a pair of 16 win seasons with Colorado.
Josh Beckett arrives to save the 2007 Red Sox season
The dividends from trade with Miami in 2005 took slightly longer to coalesce than the Schilling trade to capture a World Series. The transaction also turned quite favorable for both the Red Sox and the Marlins. The baseball axiom that the best trades help both teams is the result.
The key players were Mike Lowell and Josh Beckett to Boston and two top of the line prospects in Hanley Ramirez and Anibal Sanchez went south to Miami. Again the pattern was now being established with prospects in exchange for players with contract considerations.
At 23-years-old, Beckett had become a World Series Most Valuable Player with an outstanding performance against the New York Yankees in 2003. In 2005, Beckett won 15 games for the Marlins and followed up with 16 wins for Boston in 2006. That set the stage for a dynamic 2007 season and a 4-0 playoff run and American League Championship Series Most Valuable Player Award.
In the regular season, Beckett was pure ace material and topped the American League in wins with 20. In the playoffs against the then-named Indians, Beckett won a pivotal Game 5 with Boston down 3-1 in the series. Beckett had previously defeated eventual Cy Young winner C.C. Sabathia in Game 1. In the World Series against the Rockies Beckett won another game and Lowell became the series Most Valuable Player.
Beckett never attained the same level of pitching mastery as he did in 2007, finishing his Red Sox tenure with 89 wins spread over seven seasons. However, Beckett did make two All-Star teams before his excessive contract was shipped to the Dodgers in the infamous Nick Punto trade.
An integral part of Beckett being traded is some of the more notorious histories of the Red Sox. The Great Collapse of 2011 when Beckett, Jon Lester, and John Lackey drank beer, ate fried chicken, and played video games in the clubhouse during games. Not to be outdone in the dysfunction department, Beckett reportedly played golf on a day he was a pitching scratch during the 2012 season.
Lowell became a steady and solid third baseman and clubhouse anchor slashing .290/.346/.468 with 80 home runs in his career. Ramirez became a Rookie of the Year and batting champion with Miami. Eventually, Ramirez came back to the Red Sox with an ill-advised free-agent signing. Sanchez pitched seven seasons with Miami going 44-45.
Two top prospects bring Chris Sale to the Red Sox
Rare indeed is a point in baseball evaluation that the Red Sox have the top prospect in the game. In 2015, the Red Sox had just that with Yoan Moncada, a pricey free agent international signing from Cuba. The Red Sox also had the sixth-ranked right-handed pitching prospect in the flamboyant and volatile Michael Kopech. Both were soon delivered to the Chicago White Sox for Chris Sale. The pattern of youthful promise for established professional credentials.
Sale is the complete package when constructing a pitching ace. The fastball is remarkable, his slider is fearsome, and a change that can quickly end the at-bat misery for an unfortunate hitter. The string bean thin Sale has an arm extension that just complicates the art of hitting Sale to the extreme. Then to finalize a close to pitching perfection is pinpoint accuracy with any pitch. This is the type of pitching tidbit that no cerebral functioning general manager can resist when available. A left-handed Martinez.
Sale’s first two seasons did not disappoint, but that second season showed the naysayers who saw his delivery as surgery in waiting correctly. Sale made 27 starts with the expected results – 12-4 and a 2.11 ERA and major league-best 2.27 SIERA. When needed most Sale came up pitching lame.
Sale was eventually relegated to the bullpen for the World Series against the Dodgers after one forgettable start. Redemption came in game five when Sale came in for the final out. A most memorable whiff of Manny Machado to win the series. Without Sale, during the season the Red Sox would be viewing from the comfort of their homes.
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Moncada had a .315 breakout season in 2019 and a .225 breakdown season in 2020. Moncada is just 25-years-old and has signed a five-year extension with the Pale Hose. As for Kopech, he has harnessed his 100 MPH fastball just in time to show his potential only to blow his arm out. Both Kopech and Sale will restart sometime in 2021.