I'm hoping that the 2011 Reds make the 2011 Red Sox look like the 1975 Red Sox. That would be sweet.

2011 Red Sox Line-up:

Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Carl Crawford, LF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Kevin Youkilis, 3B
David Ortiz, DH
J.D. Drew, RF
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Marco Scutaro/Jed Lowrie, SS

!927 NY Yankees

Earle Combs OF
Mark Koenig SS
Babe Ruth OF
Lou Gehrig 1B
Bob Meusel OF
Tony Lazzeri 2B
Joe Dugan 3B
Pat Collins C

Yep, the kool-aid must be very strong this time of year in Boston

Hey! Don't jinx the team a-hole

/article was weak
//Buckholtz will have a great year.

I'd like to have a good season.. win it all again.. but I am weary of the pitching.. and rightly so.

The 27 Yankees are overrated, at least in that they aren't the best team of all time.

The Yankees in 1939 were better. Also, the 1970 Orioles.

gridlocksammy: 2011 Red Sox Line-up:

Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Carl Crawford, LF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Kevin Youkilis, 3B
David Ortiz, DH
J.D. Drew, RF
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Marco Scutaro/Jed Lowrie, SS

!927 NY Yankees

Earle Combs OF
Mark Koenig SS
Babe Ruth OF
Lou Gehrig 1B
Bob Meusel OF
Tony Lazzeri 2B
Joe Dugan 3B
Pat Collins C

Yep, the kool-aid must be very strong this time of year in Boston

Belichick is the one making it this time of year.

I love how somehow Yankee supporters are known as the most pretentious in baseball. Gonzalez will be a beast as usual, and I am glad people will get to see him play more often, but I'm even happier that people here in San Diego now see that the Sox are an evil empire as well, just one that isn't as successful. The article should read 2nd highest payroll means you are champs on paper, but that's why you play the game.

From a sad Padre's fan.

This article is so ghey...

gridlocksammy: 2011 Red Sox Line-up:

Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Carl Crawford, LF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Kevin Youkilis, 3B
David Ortiz, DH
J.D. Drew, RF
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Marco Scutaro/Jed Lowrie, SS

!927 NY Yankees

Earle Combs OF
Mark Koenig SS
Babe Ruth OF
Lou Gehrig 1B
Bob Meusel OF
Tony Lazzeri 2B
Joe Dugan 3B
Pat Collins C

Yep, the kool-aid must be very strong this time of year in Boston

It's all about the pitching. The 05 Yankees had this sick lineup

Derek Jeter ss
Alex Rodriguez 3rd
Jason Giambi 1st
Gary Sheffield of
Hideki Matsui of
Ruben Sierra dh
Jorge Posada c
Bernie Williams of
Robinson Cano 2nd

Plus Tino Martinez rotated in at 1st and Giambi at DH with Sierra sitting

We all know how far that got them

That pitching lineup is a house of cards resting upon just a few injuries waiting to happen, so I'm hopeful but being realistic.

/that being said, go Sox!

torch: Apparently the New Year's booze hasn't worn off yet.

Oh, I don't think it's booze....

Red Sox fans make Green Bay Packers fans look good.

It's over. Book it. Done.

Since 1886 there have been 14 teams with winning percentages above .700. 10 of those teams won 100 games or more. Of those 10, the Yankees are listed 3 times, 1927, 1939 and 1998. Didn't see the Sox on the list anywhere.

hbk72777:
It's all about the pitching. The 05 Yankees had this sick lineup

Derek Jeter ss
Alex Rodriguez 3rd
Jason Giambi 1st
Gary Sheffield of
Hideki Matsui of
Ruben Sierra dh
Jorge Posada c
Bernie Williams of
Robinson Cano 2nd

Plus Tino Martinez rotated in at 1st and Giambi at DH with Sierra sitting

We all know how far that got them

Hehehe, looking at these lineups in retrospect is fun. The heart of the order are known dopers, and I wouldn't put Sierra or Posada on my "clean guys" list either.

I hate these stupid articles this time of year that compare teams that haven't even taken the field yet to lineups from > 50 years ago that have 2-3 **HALL OF FAMERS** in them (4 for the '27 Yankees). There is a better way to drum-up interest in a team during the post-Winter Meeting doldrums than using far-fetched hyperbole.

Red Sox fans didn't write the article, so wishful thinking, whiny Farkers. The one thing that I hope for is at minimum this year's Red Sox are at least interesting to watch. Last year's team was a bore, they were just there.

Dafatone: The Yankees in 1939 were better. Also, the 1970 Orioles.

Hell, the 1969 Orioles were pretty damn good, too. Too bad they couldn't close the deal.

ThatGuyGreg: Or House Party 3!

/STFU

I lol'ed

ThatGuyGreg: Or House Party 3!

Came here for this.

BlameBush: Since 1886 there have been 14 teams with winning percentages above .700. 10 of those teams won 100 games or more. Of those 10, the Yankees are listed 3 times, 1927, 1939 and 1998. Didn't see the Sox on the list anywhere.

Not sure what your point is here, you don't disagree with anything TFA has to say...

/It's Detroit's year anyway... 93 wins + World Series victory!

I had no idea the Red Sox haven't had a 100 win season since 1946.

For the hundredth time, I swear sports commentators and columnists are paid by their editors to deliberately spew nonsense that will amuse, outrage or make the listener/reader feel smug about being smarter than the idiot mouthing off. And no, it's not like the "personalities" are cleverly playing mind games with us. Rather, their bosses just find people who like sports and can speak/write coherently but can't form a single rational thought when they're talking about their favorite teams. You know, morons.

It's like comedy, except laughter isn't an explicitly desired result. As long they get some sort of reaction out of you, the column did its job. Literally, it's professional trolling.

69ronpaul420: THERE IS A KEY DIFFERENCE...THE RED SOX HAVE NEVER BOUGHT CHAMPIONSHIPS OR USED STEROIDS TO GET THEIR TITLES. THEY ARE AMERICA'S TEAM

Nefarious: I would say you're trolling but there are certainly Red Sox fans who actually believe this. There was a comment I saw when the Sox signed Crawford. When the Yankees do that it's greedy. When the Sox do it it's gritty.

Well, duh. The Yankees make their money by breaking into your house, raping your wife and stealing her jewelry.

The Red Sox are paying Crawford with money they find in couch cushions and make by redeeming empty soda cans for the deposit.

Remember when Detroit was going to score 1000 runs...

Jacoby Ellsbury, CF - good until he gets injured
Dustin Pedroia, 2B - good until he gets injured
Carl Crawford, LF - very good
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B - very good
Kevin Youkilis, 3B - good until he gets injured or busted for roids
David Ortiz, DH - good only if he is back on the juice
J.D. Drew, RF - lol
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C - lol
Marco Scutaro/Jed Lowrie, SS - lol

Even without the juicers and injuries, I think the 1927 Yankees are plenty safe.

I'm a Sox fan, but NESN's Pravda/FoxNews approach makes me sick. Author seems to be a goofball too: Getting Adrian Gonzales a nickname is enough for two separate columns?

http://www.nesn.com/eric-ortiz/

Aw, crap. Not more of this.

Look, I heard this comparison once before in 2003. That year the Red Sox had 6 out of their starting 9 hitting 20 or more HR. Bill Mueller had 19, and the other 2 guys (Johnny Damon and Todd Walker) had 12 and 13 respectively. The bench combined for another 20. They also put together a .290 team batting average. Like them or not, those are offensive numbers that can be compared to the '27 Yanks. But it got them nowhere because their ERA as a team was 4.40 and their closer sucked (4.00+ ERA in save situations... ring any bells?)

If you think this line up will come anywhere near that type of production you're crazy. They'll be good, for sure, but they better have a better team ERA than last year's 4.20 or the result will be the same.

I'm a Boston fan (having lived through the mid-eighties in Boston). But NESN stroking itself like that on the first of January is a bit over the top.

...and a ground ball, trickling, its a fair ball..gets by Buckner!! Rounding third, Knight! The Mets will win the ball game! The Mets win! They win! Unbelievable, the Red Sox in stunned disbelief!

I am *so* bookmarking this article to throw back in their face come October when the Red Sox finish the season 90-72.

dragonchild: For the hundredth time, I swear sports commentators and columnists are paid by their editors to deliberately spew nonsense that will amuse, outrage or make the listener/reader feel smug about being smarter than the idiot mouthing off. And no, it's not like the "personalities" are cleverly playing mind games with us. Rather, their bosses just find people who like sports and can speak/write coherently but can't form a single rational thought when they're talking about their favorite teams. You know, morons.

It's like comedy, except laughter isn't an explicitly desired result. As long they get some sort of reaction out of you, the column did its job. Literally, it's professional trolling.

No. It's that the Redsox viewership has decline 50% since 2007. Apparently people like watching the redsox win...not come in third in the division with a starting line-up compiled from the PawSox/SeaDogs.

The Sox and (by default) NESN realize they need to get peopled excited about the season. Trading/Signing Gonzalez and getting Crawford...along with the Yankees not getting Lee or Grienke...it's like quadruple Christmas for Bostonians...

It doesn't mean anything in the long run...but it's nice little off season victory considering 99.9% of people (myself included) assumed that Yankees were going to get Lee and Crawford and the sox were/are lettnig martinez and beltre walk.

The Red Sox now have solid line-up from 1-7 and one of the best starting rotations in the game. They need some help in the bullpen, (and yes Papelbon struggled a bit) but Papelbon is still one of top 5 closers in the game.

mrtoadswildride: No. It's that the Redsox viewership has decline 50% since 2007. Apparently people like watching the redsox win...not come in third in the division with a starting line-up compiled from the PawSox/SeaDogs.

B...bu...but Red Sawx Nation is maw loyal than yaw fanbases! Nobody denies this!

mrtoadswildride: but Papelbon is still one of top 5 closers in the game

...which is why the idea of a "closer" is foolish.

The Yankees represent all that is soulless, unholy, and just plain WRONG with baseball. The Yankees set the precedent, SPEND, SPEND, SPEND, and why wouldn't they, with no salary cap in baseball what's to stop them from taking advantage?

I see the Red Sox as simply doing what they have to in order to defeat the evil that is the Yankees.

/I'm Marlins Fan
//Go FISH!

coeyagi: Vegas Bookmaker odds: 9-2 Boston, 7-2 Phillies.

So, let's ignore the NATIONAL favorites and start stroking our regional team as the GREATEST ever. Dude, are you retarded, Vegas doesn't even think you're the best THIS YEAR.

EPIC FAIL.

I don't bet on sports, but I do look at the odds from time to time. I wonder how you would do betting against Philly every time in everything (except basketball because no one gives a shiat about the 76ers). It seems like Philly homer betters really push the lines around a lot more than the teams justify.