They've Only Just Begun To Lead

Editor’s Note: This is the “Letter From The Editor” as it is scheduled to appear in the special commemorative championship issue of Diehard Magazine. We hope you like the free preview of our magazine content. For more on subscribing to Diehard, please click on “magazine coverage!”

When the Red Sox won the 2004 World Series, it was the end. The end of an 86-year title drought. The end of “1918” chants in the Bronx and elsewhere. The end of the Sox being known as lovable losers and the end of Sox fans being known as eternally tormented suckers.

And, most of all, it was the end of the 2004 Sox as we knew them. No team brings back all 25 players, of course, but with 21 players over the age of 30, several key players destined for free agency and a core that was inherited by Theo Epstein—the general manager who made it no secret he wanted to turn the Sox into a younger and more athletic club that was more reliant on homegrown talent than it was on players acquired from outside the system—a quick and thorough turnover was inevitable regardless of how the Sox fared in the playoffs.

By Opening Day 2005, eight of the 25 players on the World Series roster were elsewhere. By Opening Day 2006, there were just nine players left from the ’04 Series roster.

But now that the Sox are world champions again? This is just the beginning.

Maybe it’s not the beginning of a dynasty. For all the criticism baseball receives for its lack of a salary cap, it was the last sport this decade to have a two-time champ. Other clubs have figured out its better to invest and cultivate young talent than to go for the quick fix in free agency.

Plus, as the Sox learned in 2005, the only thing tougher than winning a championship is repeating it. The after-effects of October’s intensity often linger deep into the next season. And opening 2008 in Japan presents the Sox with another taxing challenge.

But this championship should mark the start of a long run at or near the top of the ladder for the Sox. The quick re-signings of Curt Schilling and Mike Lowell reflect an eagerness to maintain an enviable mix of veterans and youngsters with a common championship experience.

If the 2004 team was a last-ditch stab at glory, the 2007 team represents the implementation of a long-term plan. Of the 24 players who were on all three postseason rosters, nine will be 28 or younger as of Opening Day 2008. The Sox should open the season with four starting pitchers 27 or younger. Closer Jonathan Papelbon is 27 and there are plenty of promising pitchers developing within the system.

Impact position players beyond Jacoby Ellsbury are further away, but veterans such as Lowell, Kevin Youkilis, Jason Varitek, Manny Ramirez and J.D. Drew provide a pretty sturdy bridge to the next wave of homegrown everyday players.

Further foundation for multiple crowns has been laid by a no-stone-left-unturned front office. The Sox have the resources to not only compile every bit of information they can but to process it as well. No one will outwork Theo Epstein and his staff. No one will outwork Sox scouts. No one will outwork Terry Francona and his coaches. Less than two weeks after the Series win, the Sox were already chewing over the possibility of going with an unprecedented six-man rotation next season.

One title in 86 years is proof no one (except maybe the Cubs) can outrun the law of averages. Two titles in four years makes the Sox the standard by which other teams are measured—even the formerly big bad Yankees, whose scattershot off-season—Joe Girardi is a skyscraper-sized step down from Joe Torre, and does anyone really think it’s a good idea to sign a 36-year-old catcher and a 38-year-old closer to long-term deals?—did as much to validate the Sox as the new kings of the AL East as the Sox’ nearly wire-to-wire run atop the division this season.

Of course, with sustained success comes contempt. Sox fans are no longer viewed as cuddly. And you know all that contempt the rest of America has for the Patriots? The Sox will absorb plenty of that as well.

But that’s OK. Sure beats the alternative, right?