As good as that team that Dan Duquette built before the 28-year-old Epstein took over, though, it was simply not good enough to win a World Series.
Thanks to some of the wheeling and dealing the youngest GM in baseball did soon after taking over, the Sox came within one game of winning an AL pennant in 2003. Again, they were good, but there was something missing.
Then, Epstein changed the franchise forever with two moves in the fall and winter of 2003-04.
Epstein made a number of good moves in his Boston tenure which ended officially ended Friday night. The two that should stand out above the rest have to be the acquisition of both Curt Schilling and Keith Foulke.
That 2003 team crushed a long-suffering fan base in the arguably the worst way yet thanks in large part to Grady Little. But even so, the Sox were still a piece or two short, particularly when it came to pitching.
Epstein and Co. set out to make things right after getting oh-so-close in 2003, and they did so with a vengeance that offseason, starting with the now famed Thanksgiving meeting with Schilling. The Sox did all they could to convince the big right-hander to join the Sox, and in the end, Schilling decided Boston was to be his new home.
Epstein was able to pull off a trade to bring Schilling to Boston, and the ace was everything you could want in a pitcher and more. Sure, the Sox had Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe, but Schilling gave the Sox a stopper and more importantly, a pitcher who truly knew how to win. Schilling’s greatest attribute was his affinity for pitching on the biggest stage, something he would display all season and postseason in his first season in Boston.
Heck, you could even argue that Schilling helped pave the way for the man that some have called the greatest manager in Red Sox history, Terry Francona. Schilling played under Francona in Philadelphia, and he continues to speak highly of the ex-Sox skipper today. A week after Schilling was acquired, the Sox hired Francona to replace the scorned Little.
Then, in January, Epstein made another splash to bolster his pitching staff. Epstein signed Foulke to a deal just a week into the new year. The signing of Foulke was important in part because of his talent. He was coming off a 43-save season the year before in Oakland and, at the time, was one of the game’s better closers.
Like Schilling did as a bona fide ace at the top of the rotation, Foulke represented something greater. A year after the bullben by committee largely failed for much of the season, Foulke represented stability at the back end of the pen.
The two performed admirably in ’04. Schilling was simply incredible, winning 21 games for the Sox, fitting in alongside other veteran arms that formed one of the best staffs in baseball. Foulke was just as good, locking things down with 32 saves in 39 chances with a WHIP under 1.00.
But the two really turned things on when it mattered most: in the postseason.
Foulke pitched in 11 games that fall, and the Red Sox won nine of them. He allowed just seven hits in 14 innings, and more impressively, surrendered just one single run. Opposing batters hit just .140 against him. He was also an absolute horse. Four times Foulke pitched on back-to-back days, including a three-night run in the ALCS when he pitched five innings and gave up just one hit, playing as big a part as any in the greatest comeback in baseball history.
Of course, Foulke’s heroics often get overlooked because of the drama that came with Schilling’s performance. Anybody who even remotely considers themself a Red Sox fan knows the story of the bloody sock. Schilling took the mound in a pivotal Game 6 of the ALCS on just one foot. He took the ball five days later in Game 2 of the World Series. He delivered in both. With an ankle tendon sewn up, Schilling pitched 13 innings. The damage? One single run.
There isn’t much evidence that proves the adage “pitching wins championships” better than the moves Epstein made within the course of the 03-04 offseason. The GM saw a deficiency in his team, and he addressed them. In the end, he delivered something that Red Sox fans hadn’t seen in 86 years — a World Series win.
The two world championships will almost certainly be Epstein’s lasting legacy. He couldn’t have done it alone and trying to limit his best moves to just one or two deals is almost impossible.
But a couple of shrewd moves prior to the 2004 season helped set the tone for a historical and franchise-changing season and it defines the Theo Epstein era in Boston.
