www abdopublishing com Published by Abdo Publishing a division of ABDO PO Box 398166 Minneapolis Minnesota 55439 Copyright 2015 by Abdo Consulting Group Inc International copyrights reserved in all countries No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher SportsZone is a trademark and logo of Abdo Publishing Printed in the United States of America North Mankato Minnesota 052014 092014 Editor Chrös McDougall Copy Editor Nicholas Cafarelli Interior Design and Production Carol Castro Cover Design Kazuko Collins Photo Credits Mary Schwalm AP Images cover Paul Benoit AP Images 1 Julie Jacobson AP Images 4 Elise Amendola AP Images 7 Mark Humphrey AP Images 9 43 middle George Grantham Bain Library of Congress 10 42 top Harris Ewing Library of Congress 12 AP Images 14 17 42 middle 18 21 29 31 37 Green AP Images 22 AP Images 24 42 bottom Frank C Curtin AP Images 26 Harry Cabluck AP Images 32 43 top Peter Southwick AP Images 34 Charles Krupa AP Images 38 Darren Calabrese The Canadian Press AP Images 41 43 bottom Ted Mathias AP Images 44 Robert Cohen St Louis Post-Dispatch AP Images 47 Library of Congress Control Number 2014932912 Cataloging-in-Publication Data Freedman Lew Boston Red Sox by Lew Freedman p cm Inside MLB Includes bibliographical references and index ISBN 978-1-62403-463-3 1 Boston Red Sox Baseball team History Juvenile Literature I Title GV875 B62F725 2015 796 357’640974461 dc23 2014932912
TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1 Champs at Last 4 Chapter 2 The Babe in Boston 10 Chapter 3 Big Stars in Lean Years 18 Chapter 4 The Impossible Dream 26 Chapter 5 Boston Strong 34 Timeline 42 Quick Stats 44 Quotes and Anecdotes 45 Glossary 46 For More Information 47 Index 48 About the Author 48
CHAPTER 1 CHAMPS AT LAST
I t was never going to happen Most Boston Red Sox fans had accepted it by 2004 The Red Sox had won five World Series titles between 1903 and 1918 Then they sold slugger Babe The Bambino Ruth to the rival New York Yankees in 1920 They had not won a World Series since As for the hated Yankees They won 26 titles from 1920 through 2004 It was called the Curse of the Bambino The curse was in full effect for the 2003 American League AL playoffs After each won in the AL Division Series ALDS the Red Sox and the Yankees met in the AL Championship Series ALCS to determine who went to the World Series It was a back-and-forth series Every game except one was decided by three runs or less After six games the Red Sox and Yankees had each won three It would all come down to the decisive seventh game at Yankee Stadium in New York Manny Ramirez left and David Ortiz celebrate after Ortiz hit a two-run Manny Ramirez left and David Ortiz celebrate after Ortiz hit a two-run homer against the New York Yankees in the 2004 ALCS homer against the New York Yankees in the 2004 ALCS t CHAMPS AT LAST 5
