With all indications that the Boston Red Sox will hit the field in 2008 with the exact same lineup as they did last October, I thought I'd take a look at that 2007 team and see just what the package consisted of.
It was, first of all, a team with a .287 batting average. Ortiz led the pack with his .332 average, which tied him with three others in the major leagues for 7th place. Lowell checked in with a .324 average (14th, overall) and the rookie, Pedroia, rounded out the starting lineup's members of the .300 (or more) club by batting .317 (20th, overall). Those three batters boosted the team average up about 20 points, since the remaining batters averaged out at .269. If the entire team were thought of as a single player in the batting average department, they'd rank 74th in MLB.
The starting nine scored 723 of the 867 runs that the Sox scored last year, averaging about 80 RBI each. Lowell led the pack with 120. Ortiz drove in 117. Between them, they accounted for one-third of the starting nine's RBI totals. Here again, two players - Lowell and Ortiz - elevated the team RBI average about 20 points. The remaining seven averaged about 60 each. Just a little side note here: Julio Lugo was in the middle of this RBI pack (four above him, four below) with a total of 73 RBI. This placed him in a tie with Derek Jeter for 94th in MLB last year. Thinking of them as a single player, the Red Sox would rank 90th in MLB.
Figuring 30 teams with a 40-man roster equalling 1,200 players, being ranked 74th in batting average and 90th in RBI sounds pretty good. Easily qualifies them among the Top Ten 'players' when you look at the team as a single entity
I wrote earlier that I'd try to steer away from an over-dependence on the 'stats' of everything, and while I have every intention of keeping that promise as the season opens and progresses, here a couple of weeks ahead of spring training, there isn't all that much to talk about, so I end up fiddling with numbers, looking for different ways to look at the season past and ahead to the season yet to come.
Keep those cards and letters comin' in. . .
Keywords: Boston Red Sox, David Ortiz, Derek Jeter, Dustin Pedroia, Julio Lugo, Manny Ramirez, Mike Lowell
Comments
Hi Skip,
My apologies if this is the wrong place but i saw you may be looking to play some Eurogames in Wilmington, NC. We have a few players who meet once or twice a week for most all types of euros. If youre interested check out our yahoo group which is wilmingtonbg. Also i think one of my buddies sent you a email on boardgamegeek.
keith