BOSTON — Turns out we might not have known this Red Sox team as well as we thought.
Anyone could see the expected strong collection of talent on the field. Postgame comments from players were professional and somewhat reserved, right in line with what is generally heard in clubhouses and locker rooms these days.
But underneath simmered a certain brand of resentment that boiled over once the calendar flipped to October. Boston took [...]
BOSTON — Turns out we might not have known this Red Sox team as well as we thought.
Anyone could see the expected strong collection of talent on the field. Postgame comments from players were professional and somewhat reserved, right in line with what is generally heard in clubhouses and locker rooms these days.
But underneath simmered a certain brand of resentment that boiled over once the calendar flipped to October. Boston took no prisoners while steamrolling its way through the playoffs, and its ninth World Series championship in franchise history was celebrated with a vindicating rolling rally through the city on Wednesday.
The combined 1-6 record in the past two American League Division Series appearances and resulting criticism appears to have had a galvanizing effect. Emotions came out in dribs and drabs once it was clear these Red Sox were a cut above some of their most recent predecessors. Vanquishing the 100-win Yankees, 100-win Astros and two-time National League champion Dodgers was a gauntlet Boston ran through all too easily.
“It’s a tribute to all of these guys,” Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said Sunday night in Los Angeles, a clinching 5-1 victory in Game 5 already secured. “You don’t get to that point unless you’re talented, but you grind. You really work through things. You bounce back, you’re resilient and you’re tough. And that’s this group.”
Was it really? These couldn’t have been the same Red Sox who bowed so meekly to Cleveland and Houston in each of the past two seasons. Aside from firing manager John Farrell, hiring manager Alex Cora and signing free-agent slugger J.D. Martinez, this wasn’t a starkly different group from the one that fell to the eventual champion Astros in four games last season.
Until it was. Until this roster steamrolled to a franchise-record 108 wins in the regular season. Until this group rebuffed a multi-pronged assault from skeptical fans and media alike, with Boston’s overall character questioned as much as its performance on the field.
“It’s hard to put into words, but I finally realize what the grind is,” said pitcher Chris Sale, who recorded the final three outs of the season. “This is a grind.”
What was Aaron Judge thinking? The Yankees stole home field advantage from the Red Sox in the American League Division Series thanks to a 6-2 victory in Game 2, and Judge strolled out of Fenway Park with ‘New York, New York’ playing from a sound system perched on his shoulder. That same song was heard three nights later in the visiting clubhouse at Yankee Stadium when Boston clinched the best-of-5 series win, including a 16-1 thumping in Game 3.
“The sky was falling,” Cora said at Wednesday’s rally. “We lost Game 2, and it was panic here. Everybody was like, ‘Whoa, it’s over!’
“Then we scored 16 [runs] at Yankee Stadium. Suck on it.”
What was Alex Bregman thinking? Trying to troll Nathan Eovaldi on Instagram over some home runs he allowed with Tampa Bay against Houston in June seemed a bit out of touch. This was a different pitcher who roared into the American League Championship Series, one who notched an 8-2 victory in Game 3 and came out of the bullpen for 1 1/3 scoreless innings to help lock down the clinching Game 5.
“I feel I’m a completely different pitcher,” Eovaldi said prior to Game 3, foreshadowing his pair of strong outings. “I’m attacking it a lot differently.”
What was Manny Machado thinking? He loafed down the line on one particular single off the wall in left field, failed to beat out a grounder to a sprawling Rafael Devers at deep third and buried his cleats into the heel of his good friend Steve Pearce at first base. At best Machado was flaky, at worst petulant and weak-minded — two things the Red Sox were certainly not against the Dodgers.
“We grind together,” said Pearce, who was named the series Most Valuable Player thanks to his three home runs. “And I think that’s one of the best things that probably sum up our season. We’re together.”
That’s how Boston’s fourth championship club of this century will be remembered. There was a certain amount of dirt under their fingernails, a lunch-pail gang at heart masterfully directed by Cora through seven months of brilliant baseball. Perhaps we all should have seen this coming in the first place.
-- bkoch@providencejournal.com
On Twitter: @BillKoch25