Will the team with the best ex-Red Sox win the Series?By Yours Truly
http://throneberryfields.com/2016/10/25/will-the-team-with-the-best-ex-red-sox-win-the-series/That was then: The team with the most ex-Cubs lost. This could be now: The team with the best ex-Red Sox wins.
The Cubs’ ex-Red Sox: Theo Epstein (president of baseball operations), Jon Lester (the Cubs’ World Series Game One starting pitcher),
and John Lackey. The Indians’ ex-Red Sox: Terry Francona (manager), Mike Napoli (first baseman/designated hitter), and Andrew
Miller (extraterrestrial relief pitcher).
Factors to consider:
* Epstein help finish the building of the 2004 Red Sox who smashed the actual or alleged Curse of the Bambino. Then he built
the Red Sox’s 2007 World Series winner, and had much of the hand in fortifying what became the Red Sox’s 2013 Series winner
—even though he bolted the Red Sox following the 2011 collapse to sign on with the Cubs.
* Francona managed the 2004 and 2007 Red Sox Series winners. It wasn’t entirely his fault the 2011 Red Sox collapsed, though
being addled by both painkillers (his knees) and divorce didn’t help him down that sad September stretch when his team, enough
of them, essentially quit on the best manager the Red Sox ever had. He quit before he could be executed, took a year off to
broadcast with ESPN, then signed up to manage the Indians . . . and began winning.
* Lester won two Series rings, with the 2007 and 2013 Red Sox. He was deadly in those two World Series, winning three games,
losing none, with a 0.43 ERA and a 0.76 walks.hits per inning pitched rate in the two classics. His overall postseason record is 8-6
but a 2.50 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP.
* Lackey joined the Red Sox for 2011, pitched with what proved a shredded elbow that season, spent the next season recovering
from Tommy John surgery, then recovered, rejuvenated, and won the clinching Game Six of the 2013 Series. By the way, Lackey
previously won the clinching Game Seven of the 2002 Series—as a rookie with the Angels.
* Miller was converted to relief pitching in 2012 with the Red Sox, one of the very few moves that season’s manager Bobby Valentine
made that made any sense with a team he’d lost in spring training. Future tours with the Orioles and the Yankees solidified his bullpen
strength. And he was probably one of the biggest reasons the Indians plowed their way to this Series.
* Napoli played in the 2011 World Series with the Rangers and won a ring with the 2013 Red Sox. He hasn’t hit terribly well in
postseason play overall but his hits manage to count big enough when they come, and he has eight home runs and 29 runs batted
in in postseason play overall.
In case you were wondering, the Indians have no ex-Cubs on their postseason roster, to the best of anyone’s knowledge. The Cubs,
of course, won the National League pennant this year because they had the fewest ex-Cubs on the roster.
The best book ever written about the Cubs? George F. Will,
A Nice Little Place on the North Side: Wrigley Field at One Hundred. The
best book ever written about the Indians? What else? Terry Pluto,
The Curse of Rocky Colavito.
The best song ever written about the Indians? “Go, Joe Charboneau.” (At the height of Rookie of the Year Super Joe Charboneau’s fame
—before his sophomore season produced the back injury that curtailed his career in its crib.) The best song ever written about the Cubs?
What else?
Steve Goodman, “Go, Cubs, Go.”The best joke ever told about the Cubs before 2016? “Q: What does a mama bear on birth control have in common with the
World Series? A: No Cubs.” The best joke ever told about the Cleveland Indians: “What do the Indians have in common with a
possum? They play dead at home and get killed on the road.”
So . . .
will the team with the best ex-Red Sox win the Series?
