How On Earth...?

Last we saw the Boston Red Sox, they had issued an historic collapse at the end of the 2011 season, fired their popular manager, replaced him with the worst hiring decision this side of Hitler's election, sowed discord in the clubhouse, endured a string of injuries, traded away several of their best players and brought up the rear in the AL East with a dismal 69-93 record.

That's the team, that team, won the 2013 World Series.

And they didn't slink into the postseason like the '06 Cardinals and then get hot for two weeks to win the championship. The 2013 Red Sox dominated baseball's toughest division, won the most games in the Majors and pounded their playoff foes.

Huh? How on Earth...?

To answer this question, only ex post facto explanations need apply. No one saw this coming. How could they?

First we have to recognize, as Boston's front office did, that this was not a 93-loss team. Injuries and throwing in the towel led to last year's results. A contending core remained.

Second, the Injury Fairy moved on. In 2013, the Sox remained unexpectedly healthy. David Ortiz swaggered to the plate 600 times. Dustin Pedroia played a full season despite flinging his body around the field. Jacoby Ellsbury continued his odd-year good health pattern. Among the 14 everyday and pitching starters, only pitcher Clay Bucholz failed to dress for a significant chunk of the season. (Of course, both closers brought in by Boston got stung. Andrew Bailey missed most of May and the entire second half; Joel Hanrahan threw seven innings before Tommy John came calling.)

Third, everyone hit. Big Papi led the way with 30 homers and a .959 OPS, but the rest of the lineup, including ostensible backups Daniel Nava, utility man Mike Carp, and even rookie shortstop Jose Iglesias, posted OPS at least 10% above league average. (GM Ben Cherrington, realizing that Iglesias was a mirage who would soon be replaced by Xander Boegarts, flipped him mid-season for prospects.) Only Will Middlebrooks and his .271 OBP faltered, and even he raised that to .329 upon returning from the Minors in August.

Fourth, a couple of key signings worked out reasonably well. Shane Victorino hit .294, stole 21 of 24 and carried a Gold Glove to rightfield. Between strikeouts, Mike Napoli pounded 23 homers and 40 doubles/triples.

Manager John Farrell brought calm to the storming clubhouse and oversaw the team's norming and performing.

And they scooped up a big heaping wad of luck in the bullpen. After Hanrahan and Bailey flamed, Farrell was forced to hand the ball to sophomore righty Junichi Tazawa, veteran southpaw Craig Breslow and 38-year-old castoff Koji Uehara. The trio put the final three innings off limits for opposing teams, with Uehara twirling 74 frames of exquisite futility. Only 43 baserunners managed to get aboard while 101 fanned against him.

Was this all a grand design by Boston brass? Not mostly. They kept their heads after handing Bobby Valentine his and brought to camp a solid nucleus, some complementary parts and a full sentence of question marks. It didn't hurt that all of Yankee Stadium, including the ball boys and Lou Gerhig's monument, got hurt in 2013, and that the Blue Jay experiment crashed like a sack of potatoes. But the real story of the 2013 World Champs is 1-9 hitting, 1-5 pitching, a shutdown bullpen and good health.

As the Red Sox showed, you can do anything if you have your health.

Don't Count Out the Braves

Went to see the Braves nip the Tribe in an inter-league tumble yesterday. I predicted at the outset that the Native Americans would win. Jenius!

Few outside of the deep South give Atlanta much chance of winning a championship even though the rest of the division conceded back when Egypt had a democracy.

The Braves lack a singular talent, a significant home run threat or an ace. The leading talent in the lineup will be sipping dinner through a straw for a month. Mike Minor and Julio Teheran project as the top of the playoff rotation, scaring exactly as many people as the Bolivian navy.

Look deeper, though, and you will see a formidable opponent with baseball's best record.

1. Little weakness in the lineup.
They get production from shortstop Andrelton Simmons, catcher Brian McCan and second-sacker Dan Uggla, where most teams wobble. Eight batters have ripped 10 or more home runs. Without Heyward, the outfield's got one Upton too many, but even so, the Braves rank second in the NL in scoring.

2. A bench thick with quality.
Evan Gattis has popped 15 homers in half a season and plugs holes at catcher and corner outfield. Lefty Jordan Schafer gets aboard and swipes bags as an outfield fill-in or as Heyward's replacement. Ditto for switch-hitter Joey Terdoslavich who owns outfield and first-baseman mitts. 

3. Solid, not flashy, defense.
Atlanta ranks fifth in the Majors in defensive efficiency and what it lacks in outfield bats it makes up for with the gloves.

4. A middle-heavy rotation.
There's no Verlander-Scherzer or Kershaw-Greinke combo here, but even after Tim Hudson's broken ankle they go six deep with quality. #5 starter Alex Wood, a rookie southpaw, sports a 2.27 ERA since his call-up eight starts ago. They have the fifth-best ERA in the senior circuit.

5. Something called the best bullpen in the world.
Craig Kimbrel and his sub-one ERA would end the argument, but throw in Luis Avilan, David Carpenter and Jordan Walden's combined ERA under 2.00 and good luck scoring after the sixth inning.

6. A bye and home-field.
You already know they won't repeat last year's depressing one-game elimination. And the home crowd gets an extra opportunity if a series goes the distance.

Put it all together and you've got a tough out. The Dodgers have been hotter lately and appear to have more overall talent, but sleeping on the Braves would not be the work of a jenius.