6 R e d S o x SETTLING IN NEW ENGLAND n 1630 a group of devoutly religious men and women called Puritans left their homes near the town of Boston in eastern England and sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to start new lives in New England They settled on a hilly peninsula fed by a freshwater spring and called the town Boston after their old home The Puritans believed strongly in education and they built America’s first public schools libraries and college which was named after Puritan minister John Harvard Even today Boston remains a center of education and culture in the United States Boston is also a major hub for professional sports in America and New Englanders fiercely root for basketball’s Celtics football’s Patriots and hockey’s Bruins But the club that receives their greatest devotion is the Boston Red Sox a member of Major League Baseball’s American League AL since 1901 The team actually began as the Pilgrims and wore blue socks Then before the 1908 season owner John Taylor decided to liven things up by changing the stockings to bright red leading local newspapers to dub the team the Red Sox I
Between pro baseball basketball and football sports fans in Boston and throughout New England celebrated six world championships from 2001 to 2008
ALL-TIME RED SOX R e d S o x 8 Boston Red Sox (cid:39)(cid:32)(cid:43)(cid:26)(cid:31)(cid:28)(cid:41)(cid:1)(cid:76)(cid:1)CY YOUNG Early in the career of Denton True Young his fastball blew by so many hitters that fans and teammates began to call him Cyclone Over time the nickname was shortened to Cy During his 22-year career 8 years of which were spent with the Red Sox Young started more than 800 games and pitched more than 7,000 innings without suffering a serious injury His major-league record of 511 career victories is nearly 100 more than the second-best total His total of 316 losses is also a longstanding record Today baseball annually honors the best pitcher in each league with the Cy Young Award STATS Red Sox seasons 1901 08 Height 6-foot-2 Weight 210 (cid:115)(cid:0)(cid:21)(cid:0)(cid:83)(cid:69)(cid:65)(cid:83)(cid:79)(cid:78)(cid:83)(cid:0)(cid:79)(cid:70)(cid:0)(cid:19)(cid:16)(cid:0)(cid:79)(cid:82)(cid:0)(cid:77)(cid:79)(cid:82)(cid:69)(cid:0)(cid:87)(cid:73)(cid:78)(cid:83) (cid:115)(cid:0)(cid:23)(cid:20)(cid:25)(cid:0)(cid:67)(cid:79)(cid:77)(cid:80)(cid:76)(cid:69)(cid:84)(cid:69)(cid:0)(cid:71)(cid:65)(cid:77)(cid:69)(cid:83)(cid:0)(cid:8)(cid:77)(cid:79)(cid:83)(cid:84)(cid:0)(cid:65)(cid:76)(cid:76)(cid:13) (cid:84)(cid:73)(cid:77)(cid:69)(cid:9) (cid:115)(cid:0)(cid:18)(cid:12)(cid:24)(cid:16)(cid:19)(cid:0)(cid:67)(cid:65)(cid:82)(cid:69)(cid:69)(cid:82)(cid:0)(cid:83)(cid:84)(cid:82)(cid:73)(cid:75)(cid:69)(cid:79)(cid:85)(cid:84)(cid:83) (cid:115)(cid:0)(cid:34)(cid:65)(cid:83)(cid:69)(cid:66)(cid:65)(cid:76)(cid:76)(cid:0)(cid:40)(cid:65)(cid:76)(cid:76)(cid:0)(cid:79)(cid:70)(cid:0)(cid:38)(cid:65)(cid:77)(cid:69)(cid:0)(cid:73)(cid:78)(cid:68)(cid:85)(cid:67)(cid:84)(cid:69)(cid:69)(cid:0) (cid:8)(cid:17)(cid:25)(cid:19)(cid:23)(cid:9) Cy young Pitcher
BILL DINNEEN R e d S o x 9 The Boston franchise rose quickly to the top of the AL winning pennants in both 1903 and 1904 The club featured outstanding pitching highlighted by Denton Cy Young baseball’s all-time winningest pitcher and stocky right-hander Bill Dinneen The top hitting star was outfielder Buck Freeman whose 13 home runs and 104 runs batted in RBI in 1903 were both league bests The 1903 club earned a special place in baseball history After winning the AL title it took on the National League NL champion Pittsburgh Pirates in a best-of-nine World Series The Pilgrims lost three of the first four contests then won the next four games to claim baseball’s first world championship Some observers said the key to the Pilgrims victory was not a hitter or pitcher but a song sung over and over by some of Boston’s loudest fans The lyrics made fun of several Pirates and seemed to rattle them It sort of got on your nerves after a while said one Pittsburgh player The Pilgrims won the AL pennant again in 1904 but didn’t play in a World Series that year because the NL’s New York Giants refused to take on any team of inferior American Leaguers Over the next few years Taylor initiated many changes within his
