2003-10-16 - 9:19 a.m. Boston's Relentless Attack I know--I know. I promised that I wouldn't do it, but I have to. As far as it goes this freaking team is like my life blood right now. It's pretty crazy here in Boston, and my hope upon hopes is for a win tonight. Please, I beg of you, cheer for the Red Sox, the underdogs, the dirt dogs, the hometown heros. They have proven relentless. Artical From www.redsox.com NEW YORK -- Relentless. It's the word Boston GM Theo Epstein used back in November when he was hired to mold the Red Sox into a championship club, specifically the word he used to describe the type of lineup he wanted to field. Relentless. It's a perfect word for a franchise that hasn't won a World Series in 85 years but always seems to believe it's possible, and for a 2003 club that stares elimination in the face and smiles confidently. Relentless. Check your dictionary. The 2003 Boston Red Sox team photo is alongside the definition. That's why we're heading to Game 7 of the American League Championship Series, and why a stunned Yankee Stadium crowd had to watch its team carry a lead to within nine outs of another World Series before being caught and passed by the R-Train from Boston in Game 6. That lineup Epstein defined and then designed snapped out of an October slumber and raised the Red Sox into Game 7 with the kind of offensive output that was emblematic of the best offense in the Majors, across the board. In pounding out 16 hits Wednesday night in their 9-6 victory, the Red Sox saw the return to form of Nomar Garciaparra and AL batting champ Bill Mueller. They combined for eight hits in this game after they'd combined for four in the previous five games, and in typical Red Sox fashion all nine hitters got in a knock before it was done, capped by Trot Nixon's two-run monster shot after three strikeouts. With this club, it was only a matter of time. And you know by now the adjective that tells their tale. The R-word doesn't only apply to the lineup. It applies to a bullpen that has been the focus of consternation all year long -- but now qualifies as a collective hero, reaching its peak with 5 1/3 innings of one-run relief Wednesday. It applies to the team in general, for its ability to stave off elimination in the postseason four times now. After clinching the Division Series in Oakland with three true must-wins, the Red Sox now have the chance to up the ante on that a million times over. They have ace Pedro Martinez, aka Bronx's Public Enemy No. 1, on the mound against former Red Sox ace and future Hall of Famer Roger Clemens -- consider it the Game 3 matchup with the volume turned up to 11 this time. Getting there took one more push from an offense that pushed this team right into the playoffs to begin with. Once there, through their Division Series conquest of Oakland and their first five games against the Yankees, the Red Sox offense wasn't its normal self. It sure wasn't living up to the word it had come to define. "It wasn't too relentless the last eight or nine games," Epstein said. "That's just the mature approach this team has as a whole. They understand the nature of the game. Not every one game or even eight- or nine-game stretch is going to be representative of what you're capable of. "Over 162 games, that bears itself out. If you're lucky, it bears itself out over a seven-game series as well, and we saw a little bit of that here tonight." You saw a whole lot of it all season long in Boston. Epstein's vision of the relentless lineup took perfect shape during the regular season, setting Major League records along the way. Why a relentless lineup? Why not other approaches to molding a winner in Boston? "I hate sitting through games when your team can't score runs -- it's frustrating," Epstein said. Naturally, the rationale extended beyond Epstein's enjoyment of watching Red Sox baseball. Knowing what pitching he had and what he could get, and knowing what hitters he had and what he could get, picking up puzzle pieces like Mueller, Todd Walker, David Ortiz and Kevin Millar was the route that made the most sense. "Given the dynamic of our club as it stood last Nov. 25, I saw it as the most surefire way of having a strong contending club," Epstein said. "We had our 3-4 already set (with Garciaparra and Manny Ramirez), and we just thought if we rounded it out it would make those guys batter and we'd have a chance to score another 150 runs or so." What emerged was a team that broke the Major League record for slugging percentage with a .491 mark, had eight players drive in 80 runs or more, and had six players hit 25 homers or more. And now that relentless lineup has pushed the Red Sox to the brink of the World Series. Hey, the relentless approach to offense worked for the Angels last year, and the Red Sox are taking it to a new level. The Sox have more sock than the Angels did, from top to bottom, and they share that certain magic about them when the odds are against them. That's the very meaning of relentless, and this Red Sox team is the living, breathing definition of the word. John Schlegel is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. | |||||||||||
