Boston Red Sox (Hairy Woodchuck's Scenario)

The MLB in the 20th century was dominated by the New York Yankees. Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, and many other baseball greats helped to cement what was long thought to be an unbeatable legacy for them. However, the Red Sox slowly began to overtake that legacy throughout the 21st century. From 2004 onward, it seemed that Lady Luck had some sort of backroom deal with the Boston Red Sox. Down 3 games to none in game 4 of the NLCS, the Red Sox miraculously won 4 games in a row to defeat the Yankees. Nothing like that had ever happened in MLB history. The Red Sox won the World series that year. They also won in 2007, 2013, and 2018- although there were some rough seasons in between then. Still- the Yankees still had 18 more World Series wins than them. The Red Sox shattered several records in the late 2010's and the 2020's- they went 120-42 in 2021, 125-37 in 2024, and 123-39 in 2025. No team in MLB history had ever achieved 120 wins before- the closest was Seattle in 2001 with 116 wins. In 2029, J.D. Martinez broke Barry Bonds's all time home run record with a walk-off grand-slam to defeat the Yankees on August 25th. Martinez would finish his career with 786 home runs. The Sox won five more World Series during this span: 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025, and 2029. The Red Sox also won over 300 games via walk-offs during this decade; their aggregate team batting average from the 8th inning onward was .347. 26 times they erased 5 run deficits in the 9th, 12 times they erased 6 run deficits, 5 times they overcame a 7 run deficit, and one time in 2022 they were trailing 9-1 to the Astros in the 9th but rallied to earn the win.
Their good fortunes continued in the 2030's. Mookie Betts broke Pete Rose's all time hit record in 2034. The Red Sox would win the World Series again that year, as well as 2035, 2037, and 2038. The Yankees had only won 1 World series since 2018. As such, the Red Sox were only 9 World Series wins away from tying them.
In 2040, Fenway Park was torn down due to increasing maintenance costs and old age, although the green monster was left standing for obvious symbolic reasons.
The Red Sox won the World series in 2041, 2043, 2047, 2048. 2054, 2059, and 2066. The Yankees were in the midst of a very prolonged slump and had again only won 1 world series since 2038. Thus the Red Sox were only 3 wins away from tying the Yankees. Those 3 wins came in 2072, 2078, and 2081. The Yankees failed to win any World Series during this period. In 2084, the Red Sox beat what was long thought to be an unbeatable record after defeating the Colorado Rockies to win World series number 30.
Obviously, most baseball historians concur that the 21st century represented a major paradigm shift in baseball. By 2080, there were far more Red Sox fans then Yankee fans. Many, though, still argue that the Red Sox would never live up to the old glory of the 20th century Yankees.
Category:Sports
Category:Hairy Woodchuck's Scenario