Let’s talk Red Sox history, shall we? (USATSI)
Let’s talk Red Sox history, shall we? (USATSI)

Over the course of the next month, we'll venture through the history of each of the 30 Major League Baseball franchises, discussing some of the best and worst moments, players, teams, etc. It's more a fun snapshot for discussion purposes than a be-all, end-all declaration. We continue today with the Boston Red Sox.

The Boston Red Sox! They were long-suffering until they were not! The story arc, specifically, is that the Sox were great until they sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees, at which point they endured an 86-year title drought, at which point, they won three of the next 10 World Series. Let's dig in, shall we?

Best team: 1912

Somewhat fittingly, the year Fenway Park opened also yielded the greatest Red Sox team of all. The '12 team went 105-47 in the regular season, backed it up with a run differential of +255 and bested John McGraw's Giants in the World Series. The team was helmed by legendary center fielder Tris Speaker (he batted .383/.464/.567 that season with 53 doubles and 52 stolen bases), player-manager-first baseman Jake Stahl and ace Smoky Joe Wood, who went, oh, 34-5 in 1912.

That year, the Sox began a run that would see them win four of seven World Series, aided along the way by, yes, Babe Ruth. Speaker would be traded after the 1915 season, and Ruth of course would be sold to the Yankees in late 1919. Good things did not ensue. 

Worst team: 1932

The '32 Sox ran a winning percentage of .279, which made for a record of 43-111. As for the damnable specifics, each of the team's top seven relievers posted ERAs north of 5.00. In matters related, the Sox finished a rather remarkable 64 games out of first place (behind, let it be  noted, the Yankees). Need more? The Sox that year went 16-61 on the road and 5-23 in June.

The consoling news is that the 1932 season marked a low point for Harry Frazee's ownership. In 1933, he sold the club to Tom Yawkey, who oversaw much better fortunes (although no championships), in large part because he actually cared about winning. Jimmie Foxx, Lefty Grove and Joe Cronin would soon enough be on their way to Boston.  

Best Ted Williams photo

There are many fetching images of the Splendid Splinter, but I'll take this one, which was snapped at a ghostly-looking Comiskey Park late in Williams' career ... 

(Image: 90 Feet of Perfection)

It seems Mr. Williams was always studying the craft he had already mastered. 

Best Ted Willliams season: 1941

I see no reason to depart from conventional wisdom. As a 22-year-old in 1941, Williams batted .406 (famously, the last time anyone has batted .400), authored an unthinkable OBP of .553 and slugged .735 for good measure. That's good for an OPS+ of 235. Oh, that year Williams also had more home runs (37) than strikeouts (27). 

Worst Ted Williams season: 1959

Even though he didn't log a qualifying number of plate appearances, I'll go with his '59 campaign in which he batted .254/.372/.419 in 103 games. That's still good for an OBP-heavy OPS+ of 114. Oh, and Williams was 40 years old that year. Oh, and the next season he would hit .316/.451/.645 with 29 homers.

Note: When the subject is Ted Williams, "worst" is not tantamount to "bad." What an inexpressibly brilliant career. 

Best trade: Pedro Martinez

On Nov. 18, 1997, GM Dan Duquette sent right-handers Carl Pavano and Tony Armas Jr. to the Expos in exchange for 26-year-old ace Pedro Martinez. Pavano and Armas would amount to little of consequence (although Pavano would net one of the worst free-agent contracts ever from the Yankees), while Martinez would author one of the great peaks in the history of pitching. 

In seven seasons with Boston, Pedro went 117-37, pitched to an ERA of 2.52 (good for a ridiculous ERA+ of 190), logged more than five times as many strikeouts as walks and claimed two of his three Cy Young awards. From 1999-2000, Pedro was, without exaggeration, as good as any pitcher has ever been. 

1999 Strat-O-Matic card forthcoming ... 

He was even better in 2000. 

Worst trade: Jeff Bagwell

Note: We're not considering the transfer of Babe Ruth to the Yankees as a trade, since that was really a sale. Obviously, though, that was the most damaging "exchange of goods" in baseball history. 

Anyhow, in August 1990 GM Lou Gorman, seeking to bolster his bullpen for a likely playoff run, acquired veteran right-hander Larry Andersen from the Astros in exchange for ... Mr. Bagwell. Andersen was highly effective in his 22 innings for the '90 Sox. However, the Sox got swept by the Athletics in the ALCS, and after the season Andersen departed via free agency. Bagwell went on to thump 449 homers in 15 seasons for Houston. He'll likely one day make the Hall of Fame. 

Worst trade that almost was

Here's a visual clue ... 

Yes, baseball lore has it that in 1947 Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey and Yankees owner Dan Topping -- while drinking, natch -- reached a handshake agreement on a blockbuster buster-of-blocks that would've sent Ted Williams to the Yankees and Joe DiMaggio to the Red Sox. The next day, however, Yawkey thought better of it and demanded that Topping sweeten the pot. Topping declined. 

Sure, on a baseball level perhaps this made some sense -- the lefty Williams taking advantage of the inviting right field porch at Yankee and the righty DiMaggio banging balls off of and over the Green Monster. On a human level, though, there's much to dislike about Williams in pinstripes and DiMaggio in something other than pinstripes. Perish the thought!

Best LCS homer: Dave Henderson

It's the '86 ALCS, and the Angels are one pitch away from victory ... 

Next plane to Boston, indeed. 

Best World Series homer: Carlton Fisk

Game 6, 1975 World Series against the Reds. Here comes one of the most iconic moments in baseball and sports television history ... 

Worst regular-season homer: Bucky Expletivin' Dent

New Englanders, summon up thine Calvinist miseries ... 

That's the 1978 AL East tiebreaker between the Sox and Yanks. The Yanks of course won the game and then the World Series. Adding to the indignity of it all is that the Sox had a 10-game lead over the Yankees as late as July 8 and a nine-game lead as late as Aug. 13. Not a pleasant conclusion, as least from the Boston standpoint. 

Worst LCS homer: Aaron Boone

It's the 2003 ALCS, Game 7, 11th inning ... 

Worst World Series moment: 1986

You knew this was coming. Game 6, 1986 World Series against the Mets ... 

The Sox, of course, would go on to blow a lead in Game 7 and let the title slip away. 

Worst on-field moment: Tony Conigliaro's beaning

Massachusetts native "Tony C" hit 24 homers as a 19-year-old rookie and led the AL with 32 bombs as a 20-year-old. Needless to say, he seemed bound headlong for greatness. However, on Aug. 18, 1967, against the Angels, Conigliaro was struck in the face by a Jack Hamilton fastball ... 

(Image: Total Pro Sports)

The result was a broken cheekbone, a dislocated jaw and major damage to his left eye. He would miss the rest of the 1967 season and all of 1968. While more brilliant moments were ahead -- he hit 36 home runs in 1970 -- he was in essence out of baseball by age 26. Conigliaro died at the age of 45. He had been in a coma for eight years after suffering a heart attack and stroke in 1982. 

Best miracle: 2004 ALCS

No team in baseball history had ever come back from down 3-0 in a best-of-7 series until the '04 Red Sox, en route to their first World Series title since 1918, dry-gulched the hated Yankees ... 

Best Don Orsillo-Jerry Remy response to fan behavior

With an assist from a hands-on young bro ... 

Whoops!

Best inning: June 18, 1953, seventh innings, vs. Tigers

Courtesy of Baseball-Reference, here's the blow-by-blow account of said seventh inning of the Sox's game against the Tigers in June 18, 1953 ... 

That's 17 runs in an inning, and that still stands as an American League record. 

Best use of a naughty word in the service of civic uplift: David Ortiz

Yes, in the wake of the 2013 Boston Marathon terrorist bombings, Big Papi, Red Sox warrior-poet, proclaimed on the mic and before a full house and plenty of watchful television cameras that, "This is our f***ing city." 

Heck, even the FCC was cool with it ... 

Dispensation granted. Take that, schoolmarms. 

Up Next: On Saturday, we'll look at the best and worst moments for the Orioles.

>> Want more franchise bests/worsts? CHC | MIL | STL | CIN | PIT | CLE | DET | MIN | CHW | KAN | NYY