go sox
As an elite franchise in MLB, the greatest Red Sox team ever MUST be one that brings home the rings. So, if the Red Sox win the WS this year, will they be the best team ever. Let's look at the evidence in defense of this argument.
1. Pitching. Beckett, Schilling, Matsuzaka, Wakefield, Okajima, Gagne, and Papelbon. No real need to comment here. The overall experience and excellence is manifest. This staff is MLB's best this year and AT LEAST as great as any Sox staff ever.
2. Hitting. The Sox are in first place by 6 games and are yet to have a solid two-week stretch of dominating offense. Three of our "non-stars"--Youk, Lowell, and Pedroia--are all hitting over .300; Manny and Papi are around .300; at least one of these four will burn up the bases down the stretch: Tek, Lugo, Crisp, Drew.
3. Speed. This is the fastest Sox team I can remember. Lugo, Drew, and Crisp are all fast, put pressure on opposing pitchers, and will get us into scoring position in the playoffs.
4. Defense. Clearly not as great as 2004 in the infield, therefore not the best ever. The 2007 defense, however, is really good. Crisp, Lowell and Tek are gold glovers. Youk, Pedroia and Drew are silver glovers. Manny and Lugo are bronze glovers.
5. Coaching. Francona is a WS champion coach. I don't know much about the science of hitting or pitching, but Magadan and Farrell seem to be top tier quality.
