By Scott Carson, Sportsnet.ca
These certainly are heady times if you are a fan of New England sports teams.
The NFL Patriots look like they very well may be the greatest team in history if their first eight games are any measure.
The NBA Celtics are about to embark on what many think will be a march towards a title after they brought in Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to complement Paul Pierce this off-season.
The NCAA Eagles of Boston College are the second-ranked team in American college football.
And the Red Sox made it two World Series titles in just four years after they forced their ravenous fans to wait 86 years before that.
(Note: I would have mentioned the NHL Bruins, but there’s the fact that they currently sit behind the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Northeast Division standings. Fell free to insert a joke here.)
The more that one watched the 2007 Red Sox, the more there was to like. Starting with their manager Terry (Tito) Francona, this was a team that was very easy to enjoy. They could beat the opposition in many ways, as they showed in picking up the requisite 11 wins that it now takes to win a World Series.
They had a balanced attack that could put up as many runs it takes to win high-scoring games, and had a rotation and bullpen that was more than enough to win the tight ones.
This was a team full of characters, and not the obnoxious, look-at-me types that currently now litter the sporting landscape. Their ace, Josh Beckett, is an old-school throwback firing high-90s fastballs past hitters and then barking at them afterward.
River-dancing closer Jonathan Papelbon is the perfect example of why this team is likeable: intense when he’s supposed to be, looking for fun when the deal is sealed.
Twin sluggers David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, who couldn’t be more different, do share a couple of things in common: they drive in big runs and have infectious smiles in victory.
But this was also an easy team to cheer for thanks to the likes of World Series MVP Mike Lowell and Series-clinching winning pitcher Jon Lester, both cancer survivors and both humbled by their pasts.
So now the question is whether or not this team has become a dynasty? Normally teams have to string at least two championships together to even have that question asked. But in an era where the economics of the game has led to seven teams winning the last eight titles, I think dynasty is a very apt moniker.
Especially when rookies like Lester, Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury stepped in and played such key roles in this post-season and when a young pitcher like Clay Buchholz steps into a September pennant race and throws a no-hitter.
Sure they’ve got some free-agency issues to deal with, specifically third baseman Lowell who led the team with 120 regular-season RBIs and 15 more in the playoffs. Judging by his post-game comments after the World Series clincher, I would be shocked if he is anywhere but manning the hot corner at Fenway Park for the home opener next April.
The 2007 season was one of the rare seasons in the Wild Card era where the best team in the regular season ended up getting fitted for rings when all was said and done. Will they do it all again next year? It’s hard to say, but I wouldn’t bet against it. Not with the Yankees coming apart at the seams and no other team seemingly possessing the character and talent that the Red Sox have.
Or as I heard a jubilant member of the Red Sox Nation bellow out amidst the chaos and rioting around Fenway Park following the win" "I got yer curse, right here!"
CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR
Leave it to super agent Scott Boras to announce to the world during the final game of the World Series that Alex Rodriguez was going to opt out of the final three years of his $252-million contract and test the free-agent waters yet again.
Even though everyone was told to hold off any major announcements until after the series ended, Boras snubbed his nose at Major League Baseball’s edict and released the decision in the middle of the game.
We shouldn’t be shocked by this. After all, it’s always been about A-Rod and the massive ego that he carries around to match his skill level.
Like the contract itself, Rodriguez has always been bigger than the game, even though, despite his impressive stats, he has never won baseball’s biggest prize. The Yankees, who I’m sure had already begun preparing for life after A-Rod, took the high road and wished their former third baseman well and then turned their attention towards the naming of Joe Girardi as Joe Torre’s replacement as manager.
Quietly, they are probably glad to get away from the circus that A-Rod has become.
What’s next for A-Rod? Well, Boras will try and peddle his wares to some deep-pocketed owners. The Red Sox will likely be his first call, but why would they want to bring Rodriguez and his baggage into one of the most cohesive clubhouses in the game? The Dodgers and Angels are also a target, mostly because when it comes to overspending they can’t help themselves. And then there’s always the Tigers, out of whom Boras has extracted big contracts in the past.
Here’s hoping that the owners keep their collective heads and not give Boras what he’s rumoured to be asking for: at least ten years at $30 million per.
And if there were ever a sporting equivalent of "caveat emptor" this is it.
Buyer beware indeed.
