How 2004 Red Sox Established Culture For Next Generation

BOSTON — The Red Sox restored a championship culture during the 21st century, winning four titles since the turn of the millennium.

That all started with the historic 2004 team that made history by overcoming a 3-0 series deficit to win the American League pennant over the New York Yankees before sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.

Sometimes, a title can come and go without building on winning momentum. The veterans of the 2004 club refused to let that happen, instilling a winning culture with an emerging young core for the Red Sox.

Dustin Pedroia and Jonathan Papelbon came up to the majors after 2004 and immediately impacted another championship in 2007. Both players credited champions such as Trot Nixon, who joined the duo as Red Sox Hall of Fame inductees in 2024, for creating a lineage of winning in Boston.

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“My whole thing was earning the respect of the ’04 team,” Papelbon told reporters on Wednesday at Fenway Park before the Red Sox Hall of Fame ceremony. “These guys started this culture, right? … That was because of them. The only way that I get in with this ballclub is if I accept that, know that and go into it like these guys live and die for each other on a whole other level.”

“I think the cool thing about the ’04 team is with the younger guys, they were trying to make sure it continued,” Pedroia told reporters on Wednesday at Fenway Park before the Red Sox Hall of Fame ceremony. “They passed the torch to the younger guys. That’s how you have a winning franchise. They kind of have a legacy here.”

Pedroia continued: “That’s what Trot did and all those guys did. If you look at the ’04 team, they treated me like I was on the team and I just got drafted. That’s why they were so special. That’s why they won after 86 years. They were just different, man. I think that carried over to the next generation of players that came up after them.”

The Red Sox have another young core coming up with a talented farm system only getting stronger. Those values will be the key to the next era of Red Sox contention.