Papi, Manny, and the 2003 Red Sox

Red Sox GM Dan Duquette had a choice to make prior to the 2001 season; to sign free agent Pitcher Mike Mussina or free agent Outfielder Manny Ramirez. With only Pedro Martinez as a reliable Starting Pitcher for the Red Sox, fans rooted for the five-time All-Star Mussina to team with Pedro to form a powerful one-two punch in the rotation. In 2000, the Red Sox had journeymen and washed-up stars Ramon Martinez, Jeff Fassero, Pete Schourek, and Rolando Arrojo in the rotation. Pedro won his third Cy Young Award that year, but his brother Ramon was the only other starter to reach ten Wins, and each of the other four starters had an ERA over 4.75. Because of Pedro and Closer Derek Lowe, the Red Sox pitching staff had the best numbers in the league, leading the AL in ERA and finishing second in Strikeouts. The offense was lacking that season as the team finished in the bottom three in the league in Runs, Home Runs, and Average. The decision to sign Ramirez was an easy one, however Duquette offered Ramirez a ridiculous eight year, $20 million contract, for some reason outbidding every other team by tens of millions of dollars.

Mussina signed with the Yankees for six years and $87 million, nearly half the price of Ramirez. He went on to win 92 games during the six years of his initial contract. To quell the wrath of Red Sox Nation, Duquette signed Hideo Nomo, a pitcher who won 26 games over the previous three seasons with an ERA over 4.75, for one year and $1 million. The Red Sox allowed Nomo, who won 13 games in his one season, to leave as a free agent and turned Closer Derek Lowe into a Starter. Lowe had an excellent season in the rotation in 2002, followed by two years that were progressively worse before he was allowed to leave as a free agent following the 2004 season. In 2003, Tim Wakefield made his return to the rotation full-time, with two decent seasons mixed in with some mediocre years. (Imagine a 2003 Red Sox rotation of Martinez, Mussina, Lowe, Wakefield, and Nomo)

The Red Sox would falter in Ramirez's first year with the team in 2001, winning just 82 games as injuries took games away from Pedro, Nomar Garciaparra, Carl Everett, Troy O'Leary, and Jason Varitek. Everett and O'Leary would leave at the season's end and Duquette would make his last free agent signing for the Red Sox, Johnny Damon. The 2002 Red Sox offense would improve dramatically with everyone healthy and Damon in the leadoff spot, finishing second in the AL in Runs and Average.

John Henry and friends bought the Red Sox in 2002 and hired young phenom Theo Epstein as their GM. Theo immediately went about fixing the ails of the team by reworking the Bullpen and the line-up. He added Mike Timlin, Brandon Lyon, and Ramiro Mendoza to the 'pen to begin the 2003 season, then traded All-Star Third Baseman Shea Hillenbrand in May to the Diamondbacks for Closer Byun-Hung Kim. The offense was overhauled drastically as Theo traded prospects to the Cubs for Second Baseman Todd Walker, purchased First Baseman Kevin Millar in a strange transaction involving the Marlins and a Japanese team, signed free agent Third Baseman Bill Mueller, and signed Designated Hitter David Ortiz who had been released by the Twins.

The 2003 Red Sox started the season with Ortiz on the bench. Hillenbrand split his time between First and Third, while Millar played at First and in the Outfield. Jeremy Giambi was the DH to start of the year, and failed miserably. His poor performance plus the trade of Hillenbrand, who the new owners appeared to dislike, opened the door for Ortiz to start regularly at DH. He surprised everyone with his power display, hitting 27 Home Runs from July 1st to the end of the season, finishing the year with 31 homers and 101 RBI. With the Twins, Ortiz never hit more than 20 homers or drove in more than 75 runs in a season.

While it is easy to look back at the performance of Ortiz in 2003 and attribute it to steroids use, as his name was leaked as one of the players who failed a drug test from the Spring of that year, the rest of the team put up record numbers. The offense set MLB records of 649 Extra Base Hits, 2832 Total Bases, and a .491 Slugging Pct, surpassing the 1927 Yankees' Murderer's Row. The team had the MLB records of eight players with 30+ Doubles, eight players with 80+ RBI, and nine players with 100+ Hits. The Red Sox set team records with 238 Home Runs, six players with 20+ Home Runs, and nine players with 10+ Home Runs. Ortiz and Ramirez both tested positive for steroids before the season, but how many of their teammates took steroids as well?

The four new players in 2003 all had great years, led by Ortiz. Millar had equally good seasons in years past, but in 2003 had his best power year with 25 Home Runs and 96 RBI. Walker had a career best 85 RBI, while maintaining his decent overall numbers. The biggest surprise was little Bill Mueller, who nearly doubled his previous career-highs when he hit 19 Home Runs with 85 RBI. Mueller won the batting title with a .326 Average and slugged .540, nearly 100 points above his previous best. He also became the first player to hit a grand slam from each side of the plate in the same game.

Two of the veterans also set personal bests in 2003. Catcher Jason Varitek set career-highs with 25 Home Runs, 85 RBI, a .273 Average, and a .512 Slugging Percentage, all while batting ninth in the line-up. Fellow birthday boy Trot Nixon had 28 Home Runs while batting .306 with a .578 Slugging Percentage which were all career bests for him. Manny (37/104/.325), Nomar (28/105/.301), and Damon (12/67/.273) all had terrific but typical years.

With the historic offense of the 2003 Red Sox, would anyone be surprised if more players from the team also failed the drug test administered that Spring? The 2004 team that won the first World Series for Boston since 1918 scored nearly as many Runs as the 2003 team, even with Garciaparra injured for most of the first half. Ortiz increased his offense to match Manny, and Damon had career-high power numbers, while the rest of the hitters returned to their normal production. Hmmm?