"Nostalgia ain't what it used to be."
Come with us on a journey to yesteryear, when the House of Red Stockings burned nearly to the ground before general fire chief Ben Cherington unleashed a torrent of reality on the franchise. Spraying prospects on the gutted structure he rescued Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Nick Punto and Josh Beckett and found housing for them in Chavez Ravine.
That was 11 months ago. Today, the House is fully refurbished and gleaming. It boasts the AL's best record thanks to its MLB-pacing offense. How in the name of the Blue Jays and Angels can a shambles so quickly repair while shedding talent?
Is it management genius or just plain good luck that every single regular is parlaying health and promise fulfilled this year? Oldster David Ortiz is doing his Big Papi dance above the 1,000 OPS line. Free agent signings OF Shane Victorino and 1B Mike Napoli are approximately as advertised. Injury-prone incumbents Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury are setting the table, swiping bases and even providing some pop. And a bit of fairy dust has stuck to catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, OF Daniel Nava and especially to SS Jose Iglesias, who continues to hit .349 past 200 plate appearances.
Only 3B Will Middlebrooks, who's lost 217 points off his rookie OPS thanks to ongoing back spasms, has failed to live up to his billing in 2013.
In other words, who needs Gonzalez and Crawford (now both killing it for the Dodgers) when your big disappointment is OF Johnny Gomes, hitting 21 points below is career OPS but keeping the clubhouse loose?*
*I'm a big fat liar: SS Stephen Drew and his .228 BA is the big disappointment, but . . . Jose Iglesias!
The news hasn't been quite so unwaveringly positive on the mound, where closers Andrew Bailey and Joel Hanrahan succumbed to injuries, as did reliever Andrew Miller, and a parade of fifth starters have left manager John Farrell fearing doubleheaders.
But the Footwear have held their own on this front -- middle of the league -- thanks to their starters Clay Buckholz, Felix Doubront, Jon Lester, and John Lackey, who apparently now eschews fried chicken and card games. The arrival of Ryan Dempster rounds out the staff while recently-appointed closer Koji Uehara continues to baffle AL batters with 13K per nine and a 1.59 ERA.
The team's rebirth dovetails nicely with the slamming windows being heard in the Bronx and Toronto. The conventional wisdom was that the Yankees and Saux were in sufficient disrepair in 2013 for the Blue Jays to make their run. It turns out the thought process was correct but the uniforms were in the wrong order. Unless Baltimore can score a big talent in trade, it really does seem as if Boston has "only" to hold off the Rays to win the division.
If you injected New England brass with truth serum, they would have identified 2015 as the date of their next contention. Most of their fat contracts will have expired or gone to Los Angeles by then and their farm is bursting with potential. But the best laid plans . . . and now their challenge is a familiar one: maintain the momentum while cycling in the new talent.
The irony is that a strength going into the season -- a lack of contractual commitments past next year -- could now mean free agent departures from a winning program. The lockup of Dustin Pedroia addresses a big piece of that issue and it's likely a great baseball stadium, town, region and franchise will be able to keep whoever it wants.
What makes all this especially delicious is how unexpected it is. For a $10 preseason bet in Vegas on a Boston pennant you'd have gotten a good laugh. To wit:
Team Rankings had the Sox in fourth place at 79-83 with a 10% chance of winning the division.
Las Vegas had them opening the season at 30-1 to win the World Series and set the over-under on wins at 79.5.
Bleacher Report listed Boston at 50-1 and named them the 10th worst club in baseball.
Baseball Prospectus generously pegged them at 84 wins, third place and a 17% chance of winning the AL East.
And so on. But baseball is like a box of chocolates. Enjoy unwrapping the next two-and-a-half months.
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