All or... Something?

[5GoldGloves:OF,75]

This may be blasphemy on this board, but I am curious: do most posters on talksox consider a season successful only if your team wins the World Series?

Anyone who grew up last century knows that Red Sox years in the 70s, 80s and 90s didn't just end, but often imploded amid utter ridicule and internal scarring. This century overall has been great, even with some last place finishes and the worst ending ever in '03 (followed by redemption in ’04).

Old Yankee fans grew up expecting to win titles, and I know many who still won't accept anything less than a ring as a good season. Ironically, modern Yankee fans under the age of 10 don't view championships as a birthright, since they've yet to experience one. Meanwhile, the script has flipped for young Sox fans.

Obviously, only one team ever wins the final game of any sports season. But champions celebrate on our screens all year, every year. Technically, all other teams are losers… but that doesn't make them all failures.

The attitude of “win it all or it’s all for naught” can set folks up for a lifetime of disappointment and bitterness. As a spectator, I want the season to be worth watching and following -- with hope -- from the beginning to almost the ending. I want to watch the best Red Sox team possible to have a chance to win in every season. How about you?

[Slasher9]

i expect a $240MM team to win the division. anything less then that is a disappointing season.
having a parade every 4 years helps ease the pain of the occasional year where we miss the postseason.

[moonslav59]

I'd love to see us win every year, even if we only win a ring every now and then, but IMO, I'd rather see a championship surrounded by 3 last place finishes than 4 -90 win seasons with no WS wins or appearances (or maybe just one appearance).

[oldtimer]

i expect a $240MM team to win the division. anything less then that is a disappointing season.
having a parade every 4 years helps ease the pain of the occasional year where we miss the postseason.

A $240MM team may well have to beat a $230 MM team to win the championship. Alas, its a lot to ask for a team to win the division. Bad luck, injuries, etc. all can make for tough sledding. I would like to team to reset this year, move in the right direction and at least be somewhat competitive. Its a lot to ask but with Bloom I believe we have a chance of doing just that. I am nt worried as some on the site are that Bloom hasn't made big moves as yet. He has been given a complex job and I would rather see him make one or two good deals than a flurry of poor deals. We have seen too much of them in the past.

[Bellhorn04]

It's pretty much all gravy for me now. From 1969 to 2003 I saw no titles. Now I've seen 4. Since Henry bought the team it's been a fantastic ride.

[moonslav59]

It's pretty much all gravy for me now. From 1969 to 2003 I saw no titles. Now I've seen 4. Since Henry bought the team it's been a fantastic ride.

I feel the same, but I sure like the rings a lot more than close/almost seasons.

[vegasbob]

It's pretty much all gravy for me now. From 1969 to 2003 I saw no titles. Now I've seen 4. Since Henry bought the team it's been a fantastic ride.

Fully agree, going back to being cognizant of the Sox and being taken by my father to Fenway since the early 1950's. You don't know frustration and Yankee disdain without that history up through 2003. The 7 game WS losses and the 1 game shootouts were even worse . Just watched something on the RS MLB site showing David Ortiz memorable HR, one each from 2003 through 2016. All I could think about watching the balls fly out was that they won it all 3 time with Ortiz and many others and once after. Get ready for the next one even if it takes a few years to reorganize this team. In the interim be consistently competitive which was probably the biggest complaint in 2018.

[Bellhorn04]

I feel the same, but I sure like the rings a lot more than close/almost seasons.

I'm not sure people realize how fortunate we have been to win 4 rings in 16 years.

[5GoldGloves:OF,75]

'03 was rock-bottom as the culmination of all previous collapses leading up to that moment on that stage vs. that opponent, with what was at stake, in the postseason and for the franchise. The day after Game Seven in the '03 ALCS, I had Yankee fans laughing at me at work because I was a Sox fan. Some were just front-runners, people I never heard discuss sports before. To them it was somehow fun to give crap to someone whose team never won it all during our lifetimes. Only one Yankee fan -- an actual ballplayer and teammate of mine -- sincerely said he felt sorry for me.

'04 was the absolute right-side up reciprocal... and this century we've been living in an alternate universe.

[Kimmi]

I like to see the team be competitive year in and year out. I don't consider it a failure if the team makes the postseason but doesn't win the World Series. It's heartbreaking to be eliminated from the postseason, but it doesn't make the year a failure.

[5GoldGloves:OF,75]

I like to see the team be competitive year in and year out. I don't consider it a failure if the team makes the postseason but doesn't win the World Series. It's heartbreaking to be eliminated from the postseason, but it doesn't make the year a failure.

Glad to hear you say that, Kimmi.

As a baseball fan, all I want is for my favorite team to be a contender -- and make the moves in the winter and spring, and win the games during the summer -- that put them in a position to qualify for the postseason.

[moonslav59]

I'm not sure people realize how fortunate we have been to win 4 rings in 16 years.

Agreed. I'm not saying I need another ring in the next 4-8 years to be happy, and I certainly enjoy watching us compete much more than sucking, but ultimately I'm fine with having a few down years as long as there's a ring among the painful seasons. I'd rather have these 16 years, which included several last place finishes, than placing 16 seasons in a row like the best 16 seasons before Henry (from 1970-2001):

1970 (87 wins, 3rd place- no playoffs)
1972 (finished 1/2 GB Detroit & missed the playoffs)
1973 (89 wins finished 8 GB)
1975 (95 wins, 1st, Lost in gm 7 of WS after winning 95 games)
1977 (97 wins and 2.5 GB playoffs)
1978 (99 wins- 2nd, Bucky Fucking Dent)
1979 (91 wins- 3rd place & no playoffs)
1982 (89 wins- 3rd place & no playoffs)
1984 (86 wins- 4th place & no playoffs)
1986 (95 wins 1st, lost WS in 7 games)
1988 (89 wins 1st, lost ALCS 4-0)
1990 (88 wins 1st, lost ALCS 4-0)
1995 (86 wins 1st, lost LDS 3-0)
1998 (92 wins 2nd, lost LDS 3-1)
1999 (94 wins 2nd, lost ALCS 4-1)
2000 (85 wins- 2nd place, no playoffs)

I'll take 2004 to 2019 over the best 16 years of my being a Sox fan since 1970.

Those were some exciting seasons and great memories, but the heartbreaks and "oh-so-close" seasons tilt the balance, in my opinion, to the last 16 year period- last place finishes and all.

[notin]

I just want them to be competitive.

Nothing I hate more than watching the Sox play games in September knowing they’re hopelessly out of it (Yet I still watch.). Give me a reason to be excited through September, and I’ll crown it a successful season....

[moonslav59]

I just want them to be competitive.

Nothing I hate more than watching the Sox play games in September knowing they’re hopelessly out of it (Yet I still watch.). Give me a reason to be excited through September, and I’ll crown it a successful season....

If you had to choose:

16 straight competitive seasons with no rings, no third, 4th or 5th place finishes, 10 playoffs seasons and 2 WS losses.

vs

16 seasons with 3 last place finishes, 3 third place finishes, no WS losses and 4 WS victories.

[notin]

If you had to choose:

16 straight competitive seasons with no rings, no third, 4th or 5th place finishes, 10 playoffs seasons and 2 WS losses.

vs

16 seasons with 3 last place finishes, 3 third place finishes, no WS losses and 4 WS victories.

If you asked me that in 2003, I take the latter. But asking me now, I might consider the former. It’s close...