The Boston Red Sox are the only team in the 21st century to have won four different World Series Championships. Four different rosters without a lot of carryover between each one could realistically have enough players to make two of these teams. These are the top performers at each position from the 2004, 2007, 2013, and 2018 World Series teams.
Starting Pitcher: Jon Lester (2013)
Jon Lester beat out Pedro Martinez and Josh Beckett to be the starter on this roster. What put him over the top was the fact that he had two starts as opposed to Martinez and Beckett’s one — through no fault of their own. Lester threw 7.2 shutout innings in game one of the 2013 World Series while striking out eight. Lester came back in game five to post a similar 7.2 innings giving up one run and striking out seven.
Relief Pitcher: Nathan Eovaldi (2018)
Although Nathan Eovaldi is a starting pitcher, he was featured primarily out of the bullpen in the 2018 World Series. Eovaldi appeared in each of the first three games of the series. He completed two successful eighth inning holds to help secure a 2-0 Boston Red Sox lead before heading to Los Angeles for game three. Eovaldi came in to pitch in the 12th inning of game three and pitched six full innings giving up just three hits and one earned run.
Catcher: Jason Varitek (2007)
In a four-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies in 2007 Jason Varitek slashed .333/.333/.400. The captain went 5-for-15 with a double and five RBI in the series. Compared to his .154 average in 2004, .188 from David Ross in 2013, and a cool .200 from Christian Vazquez in 2018, ’07 Varitek takes the cake here.
First Base: Steve Pearce (2018)
Steve Pearce collected four hits in 13 at-bats while drawing four walks in the 2018 World Series. Pearce’s three home runs and eight RBI earned him the World Series MVP. Kevin Millar only hit .125 in 2004, Kevin Youkilis hit .222 with two doubles against the Rockies in ’07, and Mike Napoli wasn’t too hot either in 2013 only tallying two hits and batting .154.
Second Base: Mark Bellhorn (2004)
While Dustin Pedroia might seem like the easy answer here, Pedey has only hit a combined .243 in the World Series. In 2004 Mark Bellhorn totaled a 1.263 OPS in the four-game series. He hit .300 while hitting a home run, collecting four RBI, and drawing five walks.
Third Base: Mike Lowell (2007)
Mike Lowell led the team with a 1.300 OPS in the 2007 World Series on his way to winning the World Series MVP. He was second to Jacoby Ellsbury in average at .400. Lowell scored six times, drove in four runs, drew three walks, and hit three doubles in the series. He just beat out Bill Mueller of the ’04 Boston Red Sox who hit .429 but wasn’t as productive in other categories.
Shortstop: Julio Lugo (2007)
Julio Lugo went 5-for-13 in the 2007 World Series batting .385. Lugo didn’t have a ton of competition at this spot as Orlando Cabrera in 2004 had the next highest average and OPS with .235 and .675. Stephen Drew hit just .158 with seven strikeouts and Xander Bogaerts was the worst of the bunch at .136.
Outfield: Jacoby Ellsbury (2007), Manny Ramirez (2004), Trot Nixon (2004)
Jacoby Ellsbury was second on the ’07 champs in OPS at 1.188 while batting .438. He collected four doubles, drove in three runs, and only struck out twice in 16 at-bats. Ellsbury was just a rookie at the time only playing 33 regular-season games before the playoffs.
Manny Ramirez slashed .412/.500/.588 en route to the 2004 World Series MVP. Manny hit one homer while driving in four runs and walking three times in the four-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Trot Nixon earned the final spot over guys like Andrew Benintendi, Johnny Damon, and J.D. Drew. Nixon slashed .357/.400/.571 in 2004. His three doubles and .971 OPS ultimately gave him the nod on this roster over Drew.
Designated Hitter: David Ortiz (2013)
David Ortiz‘s 2013 World Series reigns supreme as the best performance on this roster. Ortiz accounted for more than 25 percent of the team’s hits in the six-game series. Big Papi slashed .668/.760/1.188 for a cool 1.948 OPS. The next highest average on the team was Ellsbury at .250. Ortiz scored seven times with 11 hits including two doubles and a pair of homers. Not to mention he was walked eight times; nobody else on the team was walked more than three times.
Batting Order
- CF-Jacoby Ellsbury (2007)
- 3B-Mike Lowell (2007)
- DH-David Ortiz (2013)
- LF-Manny Ramirez (2004)
- 1B-Steve Pearce (2018)
- RF-Trot Nixon (2004)
- 2B-Mark Bellhorn (2004)
- C-Jason Varitek (2007)
- SS-Julio Lugo (2007)
Starting Rotation
- LHP-Jon Lester (2013)
- RHP-Pedro Martinez (2004)
- RHP-Josh Beckett (2007)
Bullpen
- RHP-Nathan Eovaldi (2018)
- RHP-Joe Kelly (2018)
- RHP-Koji Uehara (2013)
Main Image
Embed from Getty Images
