Jimboz Red Sox Page

The Red Sox are one of baseball's great mysteries. How can a team with such a great baseball tradition go nearly 80 years without winning a World Series championship?

At the start of the century, the Boston Pilgrims were a powerhouse of the major leagues. Led by stars Cy Young, Jimmy Collins, and Buck Freeman, they defeated Honus Wagner and the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first World Series played in 1903. They won the American League championship again in 1904, but the World Series was cancelled when John McGraw's New York Giants refused to play against them.

Between 1910 and 1920, the Red Sox showed signs of becoming one of baseball's greatest dynasties. With stars like Tris Speaker, Smoky Joe Wood, Dutch Leonard, Carl Mays, and Babe Ruth, the Red Sox easily won World Series championships in 1912, 1915, 1916, and 1918.

Though the future looked bright, the dynasty was about to come to a sudden end. Red Sox owner Harry Frazee had a heart for the New York Theater, but he had a knack for investing in miserable failures. To deal with the financial bind from his theatrical losses, Frazee sold off the Red Sox best talent to whoever was able to pay for it. After selling Babe Ruth to the Yankees at the end of the 1919 season, the Red Sox headed to the cellar of the American League and stayed there for most of the 1920s.

In 1933, Tom Yawkey bought the club and began investing heavily in the team. By acquiring established stars like Lefty Grove and Jimmie Foxx, and developing young players like Bobby Doerr and Ted Williams, Yawkey had the team battling for the American League pennant by 1938.

Tom Yawkey owned the Red Sox from 1933 until his death in 1976. During that time, he watched his Red Sox win the American League pennant in 1946, 1967, and 1975, but he never got the World Series championship for which he worked so hard.

In 1946, the Red Sox were beaten by Stan Musial's St. Louis Cardinals 4 games to 3. That would be the only World Series in which Ted Williams would play.

In 1967, Carl Yastrzemski, Rico Petrocelli, and George Scott led the Red Sox into the World Series agains the St. Louis Cardinals. In one of the greatest World Series pitching performances of all time, Cardinal ace Bob Gibson won 3 games while giving up only 3 runs in 27 innings of work, and the Cardinals again bested the Red Sox 4 games to 3.

In 1975, Carl Yastrzemski, Dwight Evans, Fred Lynn, and Carlton Fisk led the Red Sox into the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds' "Big Red Machine". Cincinnati entered Game Six with a 3 game to 2 edge, but Carlton Fisk's dramatic 12th inning homerun gave them a 7-6 victory and evened the Series. The game is regarded by many as the greatest World Series game ever played. Alas, Cincinnati came back to win Game 7 by a score of 4-3 to claim the championship.

After Yawkey's death, the Red Sox faced the New York Mets in the 1986 World Series. With a 3 game to 2 edge and a 2 run lead with 2 outs in the bottom of the 10th inning, it looked like the Red Sox would finally end their World Series drought. But it was not to be. The Mets rallied to score 3 runs (the last on Bill Buckner's infamous ground ball miscue) to win the game, and they went on to win the Series 4 games to 3.

Though they have gone so long without a World Series championship, there are many notable Red Sox accomplishments. Among the biggest are Ted Williams' .406 batting average in 1941 (marking the last time a major leaguer has hit over .400 for an entire season), Carl Yastrzemski's triple crown season of 1967 (when he led the American League in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in), and Roger Clemens' striking out 20 Seattle Mariners in a game on April 29, 1986.

Team History:

Boston Somersets: 1901-1902
Boston Pilgrims: 1903-1906
Boston Red Sox: 1907-present

Home Ballparks:

Huntington Avenue Grounds, Boston, MA: 1901-1911
Fenway Park, Boston, MA: 1912-present

World Series Championships:

1918: Boston Red Sox defeated Chicago Cubs 4-2
1916: Boston Red Sox defeated Brooklyn Dodgers 4-1
1915: Boston Red Sox defeated Philadelphia Phillies 4-1
1912: Boston Red Sox defeated New York Giants 4-1
1903: Boston Red Sox defeated Pittsburgh Pirates 5-3

World Series Losses:

1986: Boston Red Sox defeated by New York Mets 4-3
1975: Boston Red Sox defeated by Cincinnati Reds 4-3
1967: Boston Red Sox defeated by St. Louis Cardinals 4-3
1946: Boston Red Sox defeated by St. Louis Cardinals 4-3

Current Stars:

Nomar Garciaparra
Pedro Martinez

Stars of the Past:

Wade Boggs
Roger Clemens
Tony Conigliaro
Dwight Evans
Carlton Fisk
Jimmy Foxx
Fred Lynn
Rico Petrocelli
Jim Rice
Babe Ruth
Tris Speaker
Mo Vaughn
Ted Williams
Smoky Joe Wood
Carl Yastrzemski
Cy Young