Giving up the ghost in Boston

It's easy to forget now, but the New York Yankees missed the playoffs in 2008.

Aside from Mike Mussina, who won 20 games for the only time in his career, the pitchers were either injured or not especially effective. Jorge Posada and Hideki Matsui had injury problems, and the storybook farewell to the old Yankee Stadium didn't happen.

So they went out and did something about it. The signed CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett to shore up the pitching staff and got Mark Teixeira to play first base. They also traded for Nick Swisher, although that wasn't nearly as big a deal as the others.

They won the World Series the next year, have made the playoffs every year since, and three of those four players are still contributors. Sabathia is the unquestioned ace of the staff. Although I hate his streaky ways, Teixeira is still a force in the middle of the order and top-flight first baseman, and Swisher has been productive. And as far as everything I've heard, they're all good in the clubhouse.

Even Burnett had a pretty good year in 2009, going 13-9 with a 4.04 ERA in 33 starts before falling apart and eventually being shipped to Pittsburgh.

The Boston Red Sox missed the playoffs in 2010, in large part because they had a ton of injuries, including season-enders for Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis. So they went out and got one of the most-coveted free agents in Carl Crawford and traded for Adrian Gonzalez, who everyone save perhaps the Yankees (because of Teixeira) and the Cardinals (who had some guy named Albert Pujols) were drooling for a chance to get when he inevitably became to rich for the San Diego Padres' blood.

Before the season started, the Boston Herald declared the team the best Red Sox squad ever. Eric Ortiz shot even higher, saying the Red Sox could challenge the 1927 Yankees as the best team of all time. As someone who lives near Boston, I can tell you that I'm only being slightly facetious when I say there were people around these parts who literally thought they could go 162-0.

Yeah, not so much. September happened. Chicken and beer happened. Terry Francona was scapegoated by a team that wasn't going to have scapegoats.

And then there's this year, which makes last September seem like the good old days, to the point where management finally surrendered, trading Josh Beckett, Gonzalez, Crawford (and Nick Punto, don't forget Punto!) to the Dodgers.

But my point isn't that the Yankees got it all right and the Red Sox got it all wrong. My point is that the Yankees and Red Sox could be in opposite positions today. What if Gonzalez and Crawford had been what was expected, that Beckett pitched like the ace he was supposed to be, that John Lackey was the guy they thought they had signed? (I always thought Lackey was an overrated phony, but even I never imagined it would be this bad.)

And what if Sabathia wound up regretting going to New York instead of his native California? Or Swisher was a flake who didn't hit? Or Teixeira was more interested in making excuses than winning?

Or if any number of other factors were different for either team?

Simply put, the moves worked out for the Yankees, and they didn't for the Red Sox, even though in both cases, they made a lot of sense at the time.

The 2011 Red Sox possess all the pieces to have a season for the ages. If everything falls into place and the breaks go their way, they could do more than set records and become champions. They could do more than take their place on Immortality Peak and end up being mentioned in the same sentence as legendary clubs of the past: the 1929 A’s, the epic Yankees teams of the ‘30s, the 1970 Orioles, the 1976 Reds. The 2011 Red Sox could accomplish a feat that has never been done. They could unseat the 1927 Yankees as the greatest major league team of all time. That would be something to celebrate.

Read more at: http://www.nesn.com/2011/01/2011-red-sox-will-challenge-1927-yankees-for-title-of-greatest-team-in-major-league-history.html

The 2011 Red Sox possess all the pieces to have a season for the ages. If everything falls into place and the breaks go their way, they could do more than set records and become champions. They could do more than take their place on Immortality Peak and end up being mentioned in the same sentence as legendary clubs of the past: the 1929 A’s, the epic Yankees teams of the ‘30s, the 1970 Orioles, the 1976 Reds. The 2011 Red Sox could accomplish a feat that has never been done. They could unseat the 1927 Yankees as the greatest major league team of all time. That would be something to celebrate.

Read more at: http://www.nesn.com/2011/01/2011-red-sox-will-challenge-1927-yankees-for-title-of-greatest-team-in-major-league-history.html

The 2011 Red Sox possess all the pieces to have a season for the ages. If everything falls into place and the breaks go their way, they could do more than set records and become champions. They could do more than take their place on Immortality Peak and end up being mentioned in the same sentence as legendary clubs of the past: the 1929 A’s, the epic Yankees teams of the ‘30s, the 1970 Orioles, the 1976 Reds. The 2011 Red Sox could accomplish a feat that has never been done. They could unseat the 1927 Yankees as the greatest major league team of all time. That would be something to celebrate.

Read more at: http://www.nesn.com/2011/01/2011-red-sox-will-challenge-1927-yankees-for-title-of-greatest-team-in-major-league-history.html

The 2011 Red Sox possess all the pieces to have a season for the ages. If everything falls into place and the breaks go their way, they could do more than set records and become champions. They could do more than take their place on Immortality Peak and end up being mentioned in the same sentence as legendary clubs of the past: the 1929 A’s, the epic Yankees teams of the ‘30s, the 1970 Orioles, the 1976 Reds. The 2011 Red Sox could accomplish a feat that has never been done. They could unseat the 1927 Yankees as the greatest major league team of all time. That would be something to celebrate.

Read more at: http://www.nesn.com/2011/01/2011-red-sox-will-challenge-1927-yankees-for-title-of-greatest-team-in-major-league-history.html