As World Series stars shine, Red Sox need to remember what made them great

As World Series stars shine, Red Sox need to remember what made them great originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Superstars don’t just win World Series titles. They make October unforgettable.

The Red Sox used to know this better than anybody. The four World Series they’ve won over the last 20 years owe in part to the brilliant management of Theo Epstein, Ben Cherington, and Dave Dombrowski, who had a knack for finding just the right pieces to put the team over the top.

But let’s not pretend those teams were built on the margins. As we spend this month reminiscing about the 2004 Idiots who Cowboy-Upped their way to immortality, it’s staggering how much pure star power fueled that roster.

Johnny Damon and his flowing hair. Curt Schilling and his bloody sock. Pedro Martinez and his proud defiance. Manny Ramirez and his savant-like approach at the plate. And of course, the incomparable David Ortiz, who became an eternal icon.

When they won it all again three years later, there were new leaders like Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell, and Dustin Pedroia. The 2013 club introduced us to Xander Bogaerts and made a hero out of Jon Lester. Five years later, Mookie Betts took his turn raising the trophy.

As the Yankees and Dodgers return to New York for Game 3 of a World Series that will end one of the most entertaining postseasons in years, it’s worth noting exactly why ratings haven’t been this high since 2017.

It’s not just the presence of our two biggest media markets. It’s about the stars.

When former MVP Freddie Freeman won Game 1 with a walkoff grand slam — which came after former MVP Shohei Ohtani had helped tie it, which came after former MVP Giancarlo Stanton had given the Yankees the lead with a mammoth home run — the moment credibly evoked Kirk Gibson’s legendary walkoff 37 years earlier.

Nothing against the Rangers or Diamondbacks, but you probably don’t remember that Game 1 last year ended with a walkoff in extra innings, too, by Texas slugger Adolis Garcia. No need to evoke Vin Scully and Jack Buck for that one.

As the Red Sox embark on the offseason they insist will be different, it’s worth nothing just how far behind they’ve fallen in the race for real talent. The Yankees boast Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Stanton, and defending Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole. The Dodgers counter with Ohtani, who might be the most famous athlete in the world, as well as Freeman and old friend Mookie Betts.

Stars give fans a reason to watch even if their team isn’t playing. They connect one season to another in ways that the constant churn of the Tampa model simply cannot.

The late Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino knew this. It led to some battles with Epstein over the concept of “feeding the monster,” but the Red Sox were always relevant on his watch, and over the last five years, they have simply lost their way.

Too often, the message from ownership is that winning will cure everything. Leaving aside for a moment that outside of the outlier 2021 season, winning has been hard to come by, that approach ignores the way superstars strengthen the bond with a team’s fans.

Tampa may simply be a terrible baseball market, but it’s also true that the Rays routinely rank near the bottom in attendance despite fielding 90-win teams pretty much annually. The fans can never get attached to anyone, because the pieces are constantly changing.

With their considerable resources, the Red Sox should be ashamed of the way they’ve built the roster over the last five years, costing themselves not just victories, but eyeballs. Building from within at the exclusion of signing marketable talent is a road to irrelevance, especially in Boston.

As Freeman raised his bat aloft on Friday night, a superstar delivering an unforgettable moment, let’s hope John Henry and Co. were paying attention.