Relentless '07 Red Sox, underrated champs

BOSTON -- The championship renaissance the Boston Red Sox have experienced in the 21st century is nothing short of remarkable for a franchise that didn’t win a World Series over an 86-year stretch from 1919-2003.

Of the four recent Boston championship squads, three have a distinct storyline.

The 2004 “Idiots” were the first and only MLB team to overcome an 0-3 deficit in the postseason and they did it against the Yankees no less.

The 2013 team was “Boston Strong," lovable underdogs who helped heal a city following a tragedy and exceeded the expectations of everyone.

In ’18, the Red Sox were a classic juggernaut, registering a franchise record of 108 victories under confident rookie manager Alex Cora while steamrolling a talented field (Yankees, Astros, Dodgers) en route to an 11-3 postseason run.

Then there is ’07 -- the steady Eddies of the quartet of recent Sox title teams that for some reason were overshadowed by the three other champs during that glorious 15-season run for Boston.

So this story focuses on that special team, with some remembrances from those who played for it.

“We had a sick-ass team,” Hall of Famer David Ortiz recently said of Boston’s ’07 unit.

If Ortiz and Manny Ramirez got a lot of the accolades for the thunder they provided in the middle of the lineup, the contributions of core players like Mike Lowell (career year), Kevin Youkilis (the ultimate grinder), Dustin Pedroia (Rookie of the Year) and Jason Varitek (the captain) should not be forgotten.

“Sometimes people say 'Thank you,' for '04 and I joke with them and say, 'How about '07?'" said Youkilis, the starting first baseman from that team. "And they say, 'Oh yeah, thanks for that.' Honestly, for us, winning the World Series was great, and I think fans appreciate them all. I think each one has its own great story."

Nearly any champion from that era needed a big-time starting rotation and the Red Sox had one, led by Josh Beckett, who had the most dominant season of his career. Curt Schilling was near the end due to right arm issues, but used his guts and pitching smarts to make up for his diminished velocity.

Daisuke Matsuzaka was the high-priced international acquisition accompanied by the huge hype train. Though he never quite lived up to it, his 15 wins that rookie year were necessary for the team to be a championship contender. Jon Lester was coming off cancer, but he worked relentlessly to be back by July. And don’t forget about the ageless knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, who fluttered his way to 17 of his 200 career wins.

The bullpen made the strong work of the rotation stand up. Jonathan Papelbon was smack in the middle of his prime (1.85 ERA). Lefty Hideki Okajima came over with none of the same hype Matsuzaka did from Japan, but he was just as important and was lights-out as the primary setup man. Local kid Manny Delcarmen and veteran Mike Timlin rounded out the guts of that ‘pen.

"I thought we had a deep bullpen," Lowell said. "We had an offense that could cause a ton of problems to opposing pitchers and opposing defenses. I thought we had a nice mix of young veterans, speed, power. It was really a team that if you constructed it, you kind of wanted a little bit of everything and I think it had it.”

The club was managed by the steady and popular personality of Terry Francona, who had led this team to glory just three seasons earlier. General manager Theo Epstein was the roster builder, and his moves in free agency and player development both paid off in ’07.

So now that we’ve established the key cast members, here are some snippets from one of the best seasons in Red Sox history.

Wire to wire

No team is slump proof, but the ’07 Red Sox came pretty close.

On April 18, the Sox rode Wakefield to a 4-1 victory that put them in first place in American League East. It was a position in the standings they would hold for the final 149 games of the season.

The sheer dominance of that squad was on display four days after they took over first place for good, when the Sox belted four straight homers on Sunday Night baseball against the Yankees.

Their longest winning streak during the regular season was a mere five games, accomplished twice. Their longest losing streak was four games, which they did three times.

The truth is that on many occasions, Francona’s club was ripping off six out of eight, seven out of nine, or 12 out of 18. And they made such stretches look routine.

It added up to a 96-66 finish, and the team’s first division title since 1995.

Mother’s Day Miracle
The game every player and member of Red Sox Nation remembers from this season? The Mother’s Day Miracle.

It was a glorious Sunday afternoon weather-wise, but the home team was down 5-0 entering the bottom of the ninth against the Orioles.

In a furious 10-batter inning, in which Baltimore helped a little with some shoddy defense and wildness on the mound, the Red Sox jolted the Fenway faithful with a glittering 6-5 triumph. It ended in zany fashion, as Julio Lugo beat out an infield single. And when pitcher Chris Ray dropped the feed to first, Varitek and Eric Hinske both scored to end the madness.

“That was part of our story,” Hinske said. “That season was like that. We had that vibe. Everything was great. What a year. I don’t think that team ever had a doubt that we were going to win every game we played that year."

ALCS comeback sequel
The first true sign of adversity for the ’07 Red Sox didn’t come until the AL Championship Series, when they trailed Cleveland, 3-1, after a loss in Game 4.

For most teams, this would be the time to panic. But the Red Sox had several core members still around from the ’04 team that came back from a 3-0 deficit against the Yankees.

Ramirez provided some comic relief in the off-day between Games 4 and 5 when he said, "Why should we panic? We've got a great team. [If] it doesn't happen, so who cares? There's always next year. It's not like it's the end of the world."

If Ramirez’s words humored and relaxed his teammates, Beckett reversed the momentum for good when he outpitched CC Sabathia for the second time in the series in Game 5, taming the rowdy Cleveland faithful in a 7-1 win for the Sox.

Cleveland first baseman Ryan Garko infamously said after his team’s defeat in Game 5 that the champagne would taste just as good in Boston.

He never found out. With J.D. Drew smoking a grand slam in the first inning of Game 6 and Pedroia and Youkilis coming up with game-breaking homers in Game 7, the Sox romped in those two games at Fenway by an aggregate score of 23-4. It was on to the World Series.

"That made it even better when we were down 3-1," said Timlin, on his way to the fourth World Series ring of his career. "We knew what kind of team we had all year long and we hit some adversity, and a couple of guys figured out what adversity is in the playoffs and then turned it on."

Cooling off Colorado
If history reveals the ’07 Colorado Rockies as just another team that had a rare World Series appearance and lost, it is important to remember they were one of the hottest teams to get to a World Series in history.

They had won 20 of 21 games -- including an epic Game No. 163 against the Padres -- when they arrived at Fenway Park for the Fall Classic.

Unfortunately for the Rockies, the Red Sox had become a buzz-saw after their comeback against Cleveland. Fearless rookie Pedroia led off the bottom of the first with a home run against Jeff Francis and Fenway was rocking. Beckett (4-0, 1.20 ERA in four postseason starts) did his thing again as Boston clobbered Colorado, 13-1.

Though Schilling couldn’t get his fastball past 86 or 87 mph in Game 2, the Rockies still had no answers and lost 2-1.

Could the exuberant fans of Colorado get their team back on track when the World Series shifted venues? Things got off to an ominous start when an overzealous security worker initially wouldn’t let Pedroia into the ballpark for the workout day. In typical Pedroia fashion, he said, "Why don’t you ask Jeff [bleeping] Francis who I am?"

Once Game 3 started, leadoff man Jacoby Ellsbury (4-for-5, 3 doubles) and Pedroia (3-for-5) went off from the 1-2 spots of the order.

Ellsbury was a September callup who was vaulted to the position of starting center fielder for the final six games of the playoffs when Coco Crisp went into a slump.

“Once Tito made the decision to play Jacoby, we took over Cleveland, then we went to the World series and won it and the kid was unbelievable,” Ortiz said.

Game 4 was a feel-good story. Lester, who was going through chemotherapy treatments during the ’06 World Series, won the clinching game. Lowell, the World Series MVP, went deep.

It was a clinching 4-3 victory for the Red Sox that never felt that close. Let the record show the '07 Red Sox finished on a seven-game winning streak -- their longest of the season. After waiting 86 years to win their previous championship, this Sox team was on top of the world for the second time in four years.

“Those guys, the leadership on that team, the young and the old mix was one of the best I’ve ever been a part of,” said Hinske. “That team was awesome.”