It's baffling to me that folks keep bringing up the 2004 team as a model of clubhouse verve, but forget (conveniently) that it was a loaded team and staffed with players who were acquired for their under-appreciated abilities -- a philosophy espoused by the "statistics minded." Ortiz, Mueller, Millar, Bellhorn...Double edit: also, how quickly they forget. Down 3-2 in the ALCS to Cleveland, season on the line, about to squander a bases loaded, no out opportunity, JD hits the grand slam. It's a shame he wasn't one of the "idiots", then he might have popped up on the first pitch or something awesome like that.
And it was these same idiots that blew the series (thanks in large part to Grady Little completely ignoring the statistical analysis given to him by the club) the year before, and the same idiots who lost the first three games of the 2004 ALCS. If Dave Roberts had been thrown out, you know these same people would be talking about the idiots' (lack of) character responsible for the two chokes...