This is the best Red Sox team...ever.

[InstaFace]

and I mean, weakest relative to what? What's the interleague record? The AL has won interleague play every year since 2004, often by large margins. MLB keeps setting higher standards in the extent to which they evangelize the game abroad and identify the best talent (not too many Arubans prior to Xander, were there? Just Ponson and dreck.) The training, preparation, conditioning and injury-prevention of baseball teams have never been better, and games lost to injury keeps going down, so we're keeping talent around. At some point, claims about supposed "weakness" of a current generation of play or players become a tautology - something that can't be disproven, advanced via circular reasoning, that old cranks can throw around to claim things were better in the good ol' days.

They weren't.

 

[Cesar Crespo]

and I mean, weakest relative to what? What's the interleague record? The AL has won interleague play every year since 2004, often by large margins. MLB keeps setting higher standards in the extent to which they evangelize the game abroad and identify the best talent (not too many Arubans prior to Xander, were there? Just Ponson and dreck.) The training, preparation, conditioning and injury-prevention of baseball teams have never been better, and games lost to injury keeps going down, so we're keeping talent around. At some point, claims about supposed "weakness" of a current generation of play or players become a tautology - something that can't be disproven, advanced via circular reasoning, that old cranks can throw around to claim things were better in the good ol' days.

They weren't.

NL leads 119-102 with a +41 Run margin.

 

[Savin Hillbilly]

and I mean, weakest relative to what?

Bingo. Or to put it another way, how would one go about proving that this is the "weakest AL in 40 years"?

 

[Adrian's Dome]

Bingo. Or to put it another way, how would one go about proving that this is the "weakest AL in 40 years"?

Negative nellies who just can't fathom the idea that the Sox are really this fucking good. That's all that talk is.

See, also:

"The lineup can't produce sans Mookie/JDM who will get pitched around"

"The bullpen isn't good enough and we didn't make any moves to bolster it"

"Why is Swihart on this team"/"OMG Swihart is hurt what are we gonna do"

"We can't possibly weather Devers' inconsistency/defense all year"

"Projection systems say we're only the 3rd best team in the AL"

"We can't rely on starters like Price/Porcello/ERod in the playoffs"

Or any other amount of stupid shit on this board to attempt to justify the opinion that this team is somehow heavily flawed or flukish as the sample size of dominance keeps getting bigger and bigger, even in the face of slumps and injuries.

 

[Bergs]

Negative nellies who just can't fathom the idea that the Sox are really this fucking good. That's all that talk is.

See, also:

"The lineup can't produce sans Mookie/JDM who will get pitched around"

"The bullpen isn't good enough and we didn't make any moves to bolster it"

"Why is Swihart on this team"/"OMG Swihart is hurt what are we gonna do"

"We can't possibly weather Devers' inconsistency/defense all year"

"Projection systems say we're only the 3rd best team in the AL"

"We can't rely on starters like Price/Porcello/ERod in the playoffs"

Or any other amount of stupid shit on this board to attempt to justify the opinion that this team is somehow heavily flawed or flukish as the sample size of dominance keeps getting bigger and bigger, even in the face of slumps and injuries.

Maybe I'd buy it if we'd played any good teams.

 

[Oppo]

31-17 against AL teams and 6-2 against NL teams that are currently at .500 or above

 

[Bergs]

31-17 against AL teams and 6-2 against NL teams that are currently at .500 or above

Yeah. It was a joke. It's one of the line's Adrian's Dome could have included.

 

[Oppo]

Yeah. It was a joke. It's one of the line's Adrian's Dome could have included.

I was typing that without seeing your post

 

[Bergs]

I was typing that without seeing your post

Well then. Nevermind!

 

[Mr. Wednesday]

After 115 games, the Run Diff is +199.

After 117, it's +203. They beat 1912 by two games.

 

[Sam Ray Not]

They beat 1912 by two games.

And marked the occasion by winning 19-12.

 

[Mr. Wednesday]

And marked the occasion by winning 19-12.

That is a pretty crazy coincidence.

 

[Savin Hillbilly]

Here's another meaningless-but-fun data slice for you all: The 2018 Yankees are on a pace for 102 wins, which would tie them with the 1936 and 1937 teams (Gehrig, DiMaggio, Dickey, etc.) for the 12th most wins in the history of the franchise.

And we're 9.5 games ahead of them.

 

[uncannymanny]

Here's another meaningless-but-fun data slice for you all: The 2018 Yankees are on a pace for 102 wins, which would tie them with the 1936 and 1937 teams (Gehrig, DiMaggio, Dickey, etc.) for the 12th most wins in the history of the franchise.

And we're 9.5 games ahead of them.

The Yankees have the second best record in baseball and are twice as far back as the West’s 3rd place team. It’s remarkable.

 

[Hank Scorpio]

9.5 up on the 2nd best team in baseball... 15.5 up on the best team in the NL.

 

[uncannymanny]

6/29-7/1 @ NYY was the last series this team lost.

 

[Curtis Pride]

So far the Red Sox have won 27 series (including the current one in Baltimore), lost 7, and split 4. If you count the 5-0 makeup game toward its originally scheduled series, their record becomes 28-7-3.

Losses:
2 to Oakland
2 to the MFY @ Stade Fasciste
1 at Tampa Bay
1 at Minnesota
1 vs Chicago White Sox

Splits:
2-2 at Houston
2-2 at Seattle
1-1 at Baltimore (rain-shortened)
1-1 vs Philadelphia

They have swept 11 series, 12 if they win today.

 

[Soxfan in Fla]

50 games over .500. FIFTY!!!!! Has a Red Sox team ever been 50 games over before?

 

[chilidawg]

On pace for 115 wins. What was their Over/Under coming in? Is there a record for most wins over it?

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

50 games over .500. FIFTY!!!!! Has a Red Sox team ever been 50 games over before?

1946 the team finished 54 games over.

 

[Jerry’s Curl]

This team is unbelievable right now!

 

[AlNipper49]

JD Martinez has more homers than they have losses

 

[uncannymanny]

JD Martinez has more homers than they have losses

Whoa.

 

[Soxfan in Fla]

JD Martinez has more homers than they have losses

Holy cow. That’s insane.

 

[AlNipper49]

If we lost the rest of our games and the Orioles win their remaining games we’d still finish ahead of them.

 

[bigq]

Chris Sale has allowed a grand total of one earned run since June 24.

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

If we lost the rest of our games and the Orioles win their remaining games we’d still finish ahead of them.

They've been mathematically eliminated from winning the division since Friday night's game.

 

[Cesar Crespo]

They have more road wins than the Orioles, Royals and Whitesox have wins.

 

[uncannymanny]

They need to go 21-21 to break the franchise win record. Yes, .500 over the last >25% of the season is all it will take.

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

JD Martinez has more homers than they have losses

Delete. I misunderstood the concept

 

[ItOnceWasMyLife]

They could lose the next 7 games and still have a better than .667 winning percentage.

 

[Hank Scorpio]

You know what sucks about this team?

Think how miserable we’re going to be from now on when the Sox field a typical 92-95 win team.

 

[bosockboy]

Playing at 110 win pace, solely in road games.

That one jumps out at me the most.

 

[Rasputin]

You know what sucks about this team?

Think how miserable we’re going to be from now on when the Sox field a typical 92-95 win team.

If we win 117, I think we're going to be okay with only winning 95 next year, so long as the Yankees win 94.

 

[Adrian's Dome]

You know what sucks about this team?

Think how miserable we’re going to be from now on when the Sox field a typical 92-95 win team.

You ever hook up with a 10, then get upset about bagging a 7 the next year?

Me neither.

Let's just enjoy the ride before we fully realize just how crazy it is.

 

[Savin Hillbilly]

JD Martinez has more homers than they have losses

As far as I can tell, the only people ever to do this are Ruth (1921, 1927, 1928), Gehrig (1927), Maris (1961) and Albert Belle (1995). Sammy Sosa in 1999 came within 3 dingers of having more HR than his team had wins, which is somehow kind of the late 90s in a nutshell.

 

[Hank Scorpio]

JD Martinez has more homers than they have losses

JD Martinez has more homers than the Orioles have wins

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

You know what sucks about this team?

Think how miserable we’re going to be from now on when the Sox field a typical 92-95 win team.

Forget that, imagine the misery if this GFIN, push the chips to the middle of the table magical season brings on the inevitable comedown of a rebuild and the team struggles to win 80-85 games in 2-3 years.

I'm thinking it will be worth it.

 

[Saints Rest]

JD Martinez has more homers than they have losses

When Bonds hit 73, the Giants lost 72.
When Maris hit 61, the Yankees lost 53.
I didn’t keep looking, but I bet it’s a pretty rare feat.

 

[Ale Xander]

They have more road wins than the Orioles, Royals and Whitesox have wins.

Additionally, they're not based in 2 of the 4 murder capitals of the US, or Glass country.

 

[koufax32]

You ever hook up with a 10, then get upset about bagging a 7 the next year?

Me neither.

Let's just enjoy the ride before we fully realize just how crazy it is.

Well this is SoSH so...

 

[BaseballJones]

You know what sucks about this team?

Think how miserable we’re going to be from now on when the Sox field a typical 92-95 win team.

What's actually going to suck is if the Sox don't win the World Series after winning 112+ regular season games. We'll hear from douchebags like CHB and others, and probably many people here, about what a choke job the Sox put up. This is an historically great season for them, and of course it would be glorious to cap it off with a WS title. But we all know just how incredibly hard it is to win a championship in any sport, baseball included. The Sox will likely have to go through two 100+ win teams in their own league just to make the World Series. That alone would be very very difficult and improbable, and quite a feat in it of itself.

After the 2007 Pats' season ended the way it did, it taught me to enjoy the journey so much more than having all my chips in on the final destination. This has been one of the most incredible Red Sox seasons in all my 48 years. Winning it all would just be icing on the cake. But it wouldn't "ruin" the season at all for me if they didn't win it all. It would suck, yes, but mainly because of all the complaints we'd hear.

 

[Rasputin]

The Ringer's pre-season top six teams, and their current games behind the Red Sox:

1. HOU -11.5
2. NYY -9.5
3. LAD -20.5
4. CLE -17.5
5. WAS -23.5
6. CHI -16

You know what wouldn't suck?

The Athletics passing the Astros and setting up a Houston/New York wild card game.

 

[Ale Xander]

You know what wouldn't suck?

The Athletics passing the Astros and setting up a Houston/New York wild card game.

Seattle and Oakland (and Houston) all passing the Yankees wouldn't suck either.

 

[teddywingman]

You know what sucks about this team?

Think how miserable we’re going to be from now on when the Sox field a typical 92-95 win team.

That, and this team has no compelling personalities.

 

[sheamonu]

With 85 wins this team is now assured of a record that would have won a division and secured a postseason berth on several occasions in the past.


On the 12th of August...

 

[teddywingman]

Someone in the gamethread said that this team is a wagon. That's a good word for this team. It's like they can lose a wheel-- Mookie for two weeks, Bogaerts for near a month, Devers, Eddie R, Vazquez, Sale for starts-- I'm leaving plenty out. But there's an extra wheel hanging around somewhere that will get us to the next town. And on the way to that town we'll keep having fun. This team is a wagon.

 

[jon abbey]

What's actually going to suck is if the Sox don't win the World Series after winning 112+ regular season games. We'll hear from douchebags like CHB and others, and probably many people here, about what a choke job the Sox put up. This is an historically great season for them, and of course it would be glorious to cap it off with a WS title. But we all know just how incredibly hard it is to win a championship in any sport, baseball included. The Sox will likely have to go through two 100+ win teams in their own league just to make the World Series. That alone would be very very difficult and improbable, and quite a feat in it of itself.

After the 2007 Pats' season ended the way it did, it taught me to enjoy the journey so much more than having all my chips in on the final destination. This has been one of the most incredible Red Sox seasons in all my 48 years. Winning it all would just be icing on the cake. But it wouldn't "ruin" the season at all for me if they didn't win it all. It would suck, yes, but mainly because of all the complaints we'd hear.

This is exactly why I remember the 2001 Yankee team more fondly than the 1999 and 2000 teams that won it all, no one has ever faced three teams that good in the postseason and NY were just an inning away from beating all three. Oakland had the best post-ASB record ever, Seattle won 116 games, and Arizona had probably the best 1/2 SP postseason combo ever in Schilling/Johnson, 5 starts between them plus Johnson in relief on zero days rest in game 7 after 104 pitches in game 6.

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

When Bonds hit 73, the Giants lost 72.
When Maris hit 61, the Yankees lost 53.
I didn’t keep looking, but I bet it’s a pretty rare feat.

Rare it is.



I couldn't find anyone with more HR than his team's wins, though.

Sosa hit 63 in 1999 on a 66 win team, might be the closest

 

[teddywingman]

This is exactly why I remember the 2001 Yankee team more fondly than the 1999 and 2000 teams that won it all, no one has ever faced three teams that good in the postseason and NY were just an inning away from beating all three. Oakland had the best post-ASB record ever, Seattle won 116 games, and Arizona had probably the best 1/2 SP postseason combo ever in Schilling/Johnson, 5 starts between them plus Johnson in relief on zero days rest in game 7 after 104 pitches in game 6.

I've heard this opinion before, but this is the first time I really thought about it.