Column:

Red Sox are the new Yankees

By Craig Lackey, Sports Columnist

Published Nov. 2, 2007

I must congratulate the Boston Red Sox on their recent World Series victory. That's two championships in just four years, and I think everyone associated with such a fine organization should be proud of a terrific accomplishment. But the Red Sox and their fans must have forgotten the old saying: "Be careful what you wish for, because you might just get it." Well Boston, it's time to celebrate, because you have officially become the cream of the crop in Major League Baseball. You are the new Yankees.

As hard as it is to comprehend, Boston has made the ultimate Faustian deal. The team and its loyal followers have sold their souls in the ultimate attempt to finally overcome their age-old Bronx adversaries. What's the price the Red Sox had to pay for such lofty ambitions? In a cruel twist of irony, the Fenway faithful became what they had hated for so long. The team that won the hearts of the nation with their improbable run to the 2004 World Series morphed into arrogant, overpaid millionaires with eerie similarities to the Yankees of the late 1990s.

The first Red Sox championship team in 86 years consisted of a few key stars, great pitchers and players who knew their defined roles. But before the clubhouse was dry from the champagne, general manager Theo Epstein began a three-year purge of the players who had become New England heroes. He began spending money like he was in a Monopoly game. The Red Sox went from outplaying their opponents to just outspending them.

High-priced sluggers powered the 2007 squad. There were mega-deals for Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz and J.D. Drew. When an enigma like Drew is the second-highest paid player on the roster, it's time for your team to start closing the checkbook. And this is all without mentioning the hired guns Boston rode to glory. Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett and Daisuke Matsuzaka all played integral roles on the squad. Last winter Boston paid $50 million just to talk to Matsuzaka about a contract.

But the Red Sox have a young core of players who helped the team win. Boston fans will point out that without Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia and closer Jonathan Papelbon, the Red Sox never would have beaten the Cleveland Indians. There used to be another team from the 1990s with a similar situation: the New York Yankees. Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and company were young stars in their primes during the Yankee mini-dynasty at about the same time the Bronx Bombers began their sellout.

It all adds up to a World Series that was over in the first inning of game one. The poor Colorado Rockies looked overmatched in every aspect by a bigger and meaner American League squad. Two weeks ago I wrote that small market clubs can win with smart management, but, wow, does money help make everything easier.

As the Red Sox plowed through the Rockies, I noticed a lack of energy that was so prominent during the 2004 season. Much of this involved the broken "curse," but I feel that maybe another piece was Red Sox management slowly embracing the dark side.

Boston becomes New York and New York becomes Boston. What a fitting beginning to a new chapter in this timeless rivalry.

crln69@mizzou.edu