The 2004 Champion Sox

[Crash Course]

Kevin Millar at first, Mark Bellhorn at second, Orlando Cabrera at short, Bill Mueller at third, Manny Ramirez-Johnny Damon-Trot Nixon in the outfield, Jason Varitek behind the plate, David Ortiz as the designated hitter.

They played every 2004 post-seasopn game against the Angels and Yankees. Varitek missed one World Series start because Tim Wakefield pitched Game 1 and had Doug Mirabelli as his catcher. Millar missed two starts in St. Louis because no designated hitter is allowed in National League parks, so Ortiz was moved to first base.

Basically, though, the "starting nine" of the Red Sox delivered magnificently in the postseason, bringing home a World Series championship that had been sought since that well-known year, 1918.

How many games did those nine players appeared together in the regular season?

[YankeeLinks]

Wag 11

[RedSeat]

How many games did those nine players appeared together in the regular season?
Appeared together or started? I think Nixon pinch hit a few times after coming off the DL in Sept.

Either way, it will be a pretty low number, because Cabrera was acquired at the deadline (50 or 55 games total?), and Nixon missed a lot of those games. I think he was in fewer than 50 games himself, and some of those were in June and July.

I'll guess 20.

[hmrsf]

I bet not too many.

Less than 10 more than 4.

[Crash Course]

It was four!
And, in those games, the Sox went 1-3. Go figure.

[Crash Course]

The source: http://www.masslive.com/sports/republican/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/110102721979930.xml

In the postseason, we got to know them as the "everyday players" for the Boston Red Sox. As the team swept Anaheim, came back dramatically against New York, then swept St. Louis, the position players became very familiar, as follows:

Kevin Millar at first, Mark Bellhorn at second, Orlando Cabrera at short, Bill Mueller at third, Manny Ramirez-Johnny Damon-Trot Nixon in the outfield, Jason Varitek behind the plate, David Ortiz as the designated hitter.

They played every game against the Angels and Yankees. Varitek missed one World Series start because Tim Wakefield pitched Game 1 and had Doug Mirabelli as his catcher. Millar missed two starts in St. Louis because no designated hitter is allowed in National League parks, so Ortiz was moved to first base.

Basically, though, the "starting nine" of the Red Sox delivered magnificently in the postseason, bringing home a World Series championship that had been sought since that well-known year, 1918.

Would it surprise you, then, to know that those nine players appeared together in only four games during the regular season? And would it further surprise you to know that the Red Sox went 1-3 in those games?

This revelation was first posed on the SonsofSamHorn Web site as a trivia question. Mark Rogoff, one of the statistical experts employed in the Red Sox media relations department, verified the "1-3" question as being right on target.

The lineup which we came to know so well played together Sept. 19 at New York, Sept. 22 vs. Baltimore at Fenway Park, Sept. 24 vs. New York at Fenway, and Oct. 3 at Baltimore. The only victory came in the Sept. 22 game against Baltimore, 7-6 in 12 innings.

By the way, in the Oct. 3 season finale, the lineup was together, but with Varitek leading off, Damon hitting seventh and Bellhorn ninth. Just for the heck of it, apparently.

[hmrsf]

I knew I had heard that not too long ago.


:homer: It was in last Sunday's paper!



BTW, Brown is a great writer. The beat writers in this part of Mass are so much better than a lot of the hacks in Boston.

[RedSeat]

That number seemed low to me, so I checked into it.

Nixon was on the DL when Cabrera was acquired, so those 9 players were not on the active roster together until September 7. Just for kicks, I looked at that game. All 9 appeared (Nixon pinch-hit).

Would it surprise you, then, to know that those nine players appeared together in only four games during the regular season? ...Sept. 19 ...Sept. 22...Sept. 24...Oct. 3...
Yes, because it isn't true. Change "appeared" to "started" and you have a pretty good trivia question. Or change the answer. My rough count is 9.

[Crash Course]

Good research! :thumb: