LOS ANGELES — For more than eight decades, Red Sox fans knew nothing but frustration and heartbreak on baseball’s biggest stage. Boston reached the World Series only four times from 1919 to 2003, and all four times they lost in the most painful way possible.
They lost all four times in Game 7. It was brutal, truly.
None of that takes into account the slew of other early postseason exits and near misses that dotted their history over the years. In sum, they were the American League’s most tortured franchise, rivaled only in the sport by the National League’s Chicago Cubs.
In a span of 14 years, though, the Red Sox have completely rewritten their history. Boston’s win in Game 5 of the 2018 World Series on Sunday night wrapped up the club’s fourth championship since 2004. No other MLB team has as many in that stretch.
MORE: For Dodgers, Kershaw, one question remains: Where to go from here
“There have been a lot of good clubs, and you have to tip your cap to the people who have been part of it,” president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said after the trophy presentation ceremony at Dodger Stadium. “They really have performed well. It’s hard to believe, four world championships in the last 14 years. That’s phenomenal.”
The long-time Boston narrative — that Red Sox fans are uniquely tortured souls — no longer matches the reality. For this generation, at least, it's just not true.
Here’s something you might not know, especially if you grew up reading about the Curse of the Bambino every summer: The Red Sox actually have the best World Series winning percentage for any franchise with at least nine trips to the Fall Classic.
No, really. They’ve been 13 times, and they’ve won nine championships.
That’s a .692 winning percentage, which puts them ahead of the Yankees (27 of 40, .675) and Athletics (nine of 14, .643) and Cardinals (11 of 19, .579).
The Dodgers and Giants have 20 World Series appearances each, second in MLB history, but their track records in the biggest series aren’t great. The Dodgers are 6-for-20 (.300) and the Giants are 8-for-20 (.400).
The Red Sox now have more World Series titles in the past 14 years — four, in 2004, 2007, 2013 and 2018 — than 22 other MLB franchises have total.
The Orioles trace their lineage back to 1901, with only three titles dotting the timeline. The Cubs have 11 trips to the World Series but only three championships. The Braves have reached the final round nine times, but they’ve fallen short of their goal on six occasions.
MORE: Three takeaways from Boston's World Series-clinching win
Jason Varitek was the captain of the 2004 Red Sox team, the one that finally broke through with the franchise’s first World Series title since 1918. He was the catcher for the 2007 champs, too, and he’s still part of the team as a special assistant. There’s a sense of pride, knowing the success didn’t end when he and his teammates finished their playing days.
“Each one’s a different mountain to climb. They had a mountain to climb over the past few years, and they finally put themselves in position, with great leadership from the top down,” Varitek told SN Sunday night on the Dodger Stadium field. “Part of our tradition of this organization is, ‘Leave it better than you had it while you were there.’ ”
There have been a few hiccups along the way — surprising last-place finishes in the AL East in 2012, 2014 and 2015 — but overall the needle is still emphatically pointing up.
“I think you really have to start with ownership,” Dombrowski told SN. “They’re the ones, the continuity. For them, they bring in the people involved in the organization. There’s been a lot of different players, there’s been different people who have run the organization. It’s really a tribute to the ownership that they’ve been able to do that, and of course the support that you have from the fans and everybody. It’s phenomenal for a city and an organization, and I hope nobody takes it for granted because it’s really hard.”
It’s hard, but the Red Sox have made it look easy.
In those four World Series trips starting in 2004, the Red Sox have a 16-3 record against the best teams the National League has had to offer. That’s kind of insane. For context, the 108-win Red Sox this year went 16-3 against the 115-loss Orioles. So, yeah, to beat up on the other team in the World Series to that level is kind of crazy.
“You don’t want to meet up with us if you’re a National League team in the World Series,” team owner John Henry said after the win.
MORE: Game 5 as it happened, blow by blow
Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa, who's a vice president with the Red Sox and a special assistant to Dombrowski, knows a thing or two about winning in October.
“If you get into the World Series from the National League, you’d prefer not to play Boston because, I think, they have so much attention and pressure on them, even in spring training,” he said. “The guys get used to the moment, and they just play the game. They’re used to coming through.”
They did just that in Game 5. After 108 wins in the regular season, the Red Sox knocked off the Yankees in the ALDS, the Astros in the ALCS and the Dodgers in the World Series. Along the way, they lost only one game in each series, for an 11-3 record this postseason. Don’t let that record fool you, Varitek warned.
“By no means is it easy. They earned it,” Varitek said. “They played 18 innings of one of the best baseball games I’ve ever seen in Game 3 to the hugest comeback in that type of setting last night to really taking command and control of the game today.”
Just like they've taken control of their franchise's image, making the transition from tortured losers to unflinching winners.
