Those who followed the Red Sox before 2004 obviously could never have anticipated what was about to come. With four championships in 15 years, the Red Sox have been the most successful franchise in baseball over the last two decades.
If anyone has taken that success for granted, though, it wouldn’t be the team’s longtime followers, who endured decades of heartbreak. Some loyalists never even saw their team celebrate glory on the baseball diamond. That’s what happens when you go 86 years between championships.
That means there were a lot of options for the final stop in our series, this one on the greatest Red Sox teams to not win a World Series, but few in sports history can compare to the kind of agony that these teams endured.
5. 2003
The Red Sox entered something of a new era in 2003 when they promoted Theo Epstein to be their general manager, who immediately put his stamp on the team with the acquisitions of David Ortiz and Kevin Millar. But despite so much promise from this group, it ended in familiar fashion.
The Sox produced the best offense in baseball in 2003. Bill Mueller and Manny Ramirez led a group of four .300 hitters, the team set a new record with a .491 slugging percentage and led baseball with 961 runs scored. That powered them to 95 wins, still six games back of the Yankees.
After coming back to win their ALDS series over the Athletics, the Red Sox faced their rivals in a memorable ALCS, where they forced a Game 7 that they and their fans would rather forget. The Red Sox led in the eighth inning when Grady Little famously left Pedro Martinez in the game, the Yankees stormed back to tie it, and Aaron Boone dragged the Sox’ misery on another year with a walk-off homer in the 11th inning.
4. 1975
A year after suffering a collapse and missing the playoffs, the Red Sox came back in 1975 with low expectations but plenty of talent. Rookies Fred Lynn and Jim Rice invigorated the lineup, with Lynn winning American League MVP, Rookie of the Year and a Gold Glove. Though Carlton Fisk missed a significant part of the season with a broken arm, the Red Sox surpassed expectations by winning 95 games and their first AL East title since 1967.
The Red Sox swept the A’s in the ALCS to advance to their first World Series since that ’67 season, but again it wasn’t meant to be. Fisk’s iconic home run in Game 6 forced Game 7, but the Sox fell short in a 4-3 loss at Fenway Park.
3. 1978
Three years later, the Red Sox had the talent to get over the hump but couldn’t hold on. Led by Rice, who ultimately won AL MVP with a .315 average, 46 homers and 139 RBI, and Dennis Eckersley, who won 20 games with a 2.99 ERA, the Sox opened up as big as a 14-game lead in the division. But the Yankees chipped away, and helped by the “Boston Massacre” in September, when the Yanks swept a four-game series at Fenway. The two teams finished the season tied atop the division, which set up a one-game playoff.
The rest is history. Bucky Dent’s famous home run was the difference as the Yankees won, 5-4. And to put salt in the Red Sox’ wounds, they went on to win the World Series in six games over the Dodgers.
2. 1986
Because of the harrowing way this season ended, it can be easy to overlook the immense talent the 1986 Red Sox had. Roger Clemens won his first Cy Young at age 23 by going 24-4 with a 2.48 ERA, Wade Boggs was the AL batting champion with a .357 average, and Rice, Don Baylor and Dwight Evans helped round out an explosive lineup. The Red Sox won 95 games and their first division title since 1975.
We all know what happened next. After ousting the Angels in the ALCS, a championship was within the Red Sox’ grasp in Game 6 of the World Series when a ground ball went through Bill Buckner’s legs. The Mets won it in seven, and the Red Sox didn’t make it to the World Series again until 2004.
1. 1946
The Red Sox had not made the World Series since winning it in 1918 when Ted Williams returned from missing three seasons due to serving in the military in 1946. He didn’t miss a beat. Williams batted .342 with 38 homers and 123 RBI to win AL MVP, leading the Red Sox to his only pennant. The Red Sox won 104 games and won the AL by 12 games with a 61-16 record at Fenway.
Williams, though, wasn’t himself in the World Series against the Cardinals. He hurt his elbow prior to the Series and went 5-for-25 over the seven games, and Enos Slaughter’s “mad dash” to home in Game 7 lifted the Cardinals to a championship.
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Ranking the best Red Sox teams that didn’t win World Series - Boston Herald
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