The ten greatest moments from the 2002 Red Sox season
Though they fell short of making the postseason, the 2002 Red Sox represented a turning point in the franchise’s history. It marked the first season of the historic John Henry-led ownership group, and by year’s end, Theo Epstein would take over the general manager’s role.
Many of the key pieces from the 2004 World Series championship team were already in place, including left fielder Manny Ramirez, catcher Jason Varitek, starting pitchers Tim Wakefield, Pedro Martinez, and Derek Lowe, and center fielder Johnny Damon who had come over from the Athletics the previous offseason.
The 2002 season also marked a considerable improvement after two extremely underwhelming seasons. The Red Sox went from 82 wins in 2001 to 93 wins in 2002, as they finished in the top 10 in the majors in both runs scored and ERA.
Unfortunately for the Red Sox, they had the misfortune of sharing a division with the 103-win Yankees, and with the Angels grabbing the wild card with 99 wins, they missed the playoffs for the third straight year.
Still, 2002 marked a huge step forward for the franchise. Twenty years later, let’s look back at the ten most memorable moments of the 2002 Red Sox season.