The power of nine: with productive hitters from top to bottom, the Red Sox's lineup is taking aim on the record book—and on a place in the postseason

Sporting News, The, Sept 8, 2003 by Dennis Tuttle

By now you must be shaking your noggin over the Red Sox. Their lineup does little to invoke the legend of the '27 Yankees or the '76 Reds, but some way, somehow, the Sox are putting up numbers that are every bit as impressive.

In fact, if a record-breaking offense guaranteed a spot in the playoffs, Red Sox Nation already would be waving its pennants. With a month to go, Boston is one of four teams--along with the Yankees, A's and Mariners--chasing three playoff spots. The Red Sox are the sole contending team on pace to set a handful of single-season American League records, including highest slugging percentage, most total bases, most doubles, most players with at least 100 hits and most players with at least 20 homers.

When informed of this encroachment on history, Orioles manager Mike Hargrove, who managed the 1999 Indians' offensive juggernaut that was the first in half a century to score 1,000 runs, raises a quizzical brow and asks, "Really?"

Seriously.

With apologies to shortstop Nomar Garciaparra and left fielder Manny Ramirez, the Red Sox's batting order doesn't include any certain Hall of Famers.

"You see that Boston lineup on the board, you go over your scouting report, and you decide here's how we're going to go after them" Devil Rays pitching coach Chris Bosio says. "You say, 'Be careful with their big hitters, pitch aggressively to their bottom guys, stay away from the walk and just believe in yourself.'"

And still you get hit, "They have a lot of sock on that club," Bosio says.

Though All-Stars Garciaparra and Ramirez are producing typical-for-them numbers, there are other reasons behind the team's offensive success:

* Boston has a balanced attack that is nearly as productive in the bottom third as it is in the top third and the middle third.

* The club has adopted the increasingly popular work-the-count approach. This new patience has resulted in more walks (3.8 per game compared with 3.6 in 2002) and a healthy increase in the team's on-base percentage (.362 to .345).

* The Sox love hitting at Fenway Park. Their batting average at home (.324) is better than even their on-base percentage on the road (.322).

Put all that together, and you have a club that leads the A.L. in every significant offensive category except home runs and walks, and they're second in those. These guys produce off the bench, they are resilient, and they don't have a single weak link in the batting order.

"When you put teams together, you need a few grunts, and I love the Red Sox's lineup," Blue lays general manager J.P. Ricciardi says. "It was a great job by the G.M. and a great job by the manager to fit players into roles and have them adapt."

Last winter, Then Epstein, the rookie general manager, and Grady Little, the weathered manager, went about rebuilding a lineup that won 93 games in 2002 and finished near the top of the A.L. in most key offensive categories. But there were problems: The Red Sox did not hit as well in run-scoffing and situational opportunities; they struck out too much and walked too little, and they were 13-23 in 1-run games.

Basically, it was a typical Boston team--good enough to come up just a bit short.

In putting his imprint on the club, Epstein first junked the long-standing Red Sox tradition of grabbing expensive free agents to fill holes. "You don't have to have a lineup of superstars to play effective baseball," he says,

Certainly, none of the four newcomers Epstein added to the lineup qualifies as a star:

* Third baseman Bill Mueller has put together some good seasons but never one like this; he has hung around the top three in the A.L. batting race much of the season.

* First baseman/DH Kevin Millar long has been appreciated by baseball insiders, but his hitting went mostly unnoticed while he toiled for the Marlins.

* David Ortiz was a solid DH for the Twins last year, but they didn't make much of an effort to resign him.

* Second baseman Todd Walker, once a first-round draft pick, hit .299 with the Reds last year, but the Red Sox became his fourth team in four years.

Two other acquisitions, Damian Jackson and Gabe Kapler, also have contributed in spot duty. In fact, of the position players brought to Boston by Epstein, only Jeremy Giambi could be labeled a disappointment, and his effectiveness was curtailed by a shoulder injury that prematurely ended his season. Though Epstein's decision to go with a bullpen-by-committee approach was scrapped, the way he reshaped the club's offense has put him in line for executive of the year consideration.

"We wanted a starting lineup with on-base skills, enough pop to be threats and especially hitters who go the other way," Epstein says. "The one area that we weren't going to be flexible was the emphasis on on-base skills. We want you to get into a hitter's count, to put yourself into position for a quality at-bat."

It's working. "Some of these guys don't have quite the track record of Manny and Garciaparra," Orioles pitching coach Mark Wiley says, "but if a pitcher tries to take a breath, those guys will hurt you."