Sea Dogs Win World Series

Rather, a bunch of former Portland Sea Dogs players helped lead the Boston Red Sox to their second World Championship in four years. In a somewhat stark contrast to the 2004 championship squad that featured only two home-grown players (if you exclude Curt Schilling, who took an extended hiatus from the organization and made his name elsewhere), the '07 Champs featured a core of six players who toiled in Portland in recent years. The list includes center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury, who called Portland home as recently as five months ago.

This is even better than Portland, guys!

As a fan who first started following these guys during their AA service, perhaps the most exciting thing is knowing that I will be able to follow them for several years and, perhaps, several more championships.

Certainly Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia will combine at the top of the order cause fits for opposing pitchers for some time now. Pedroia has received considerable press in this blog, despite the fact that he was in Portland for less than three months back in 2005. After a slow start that saw him hitting below .200 and sharing time with Alex Cora, Pedroia got hot and stayed that way, finishing at 317/280/442-8-50 in 139 games and the front runner for AL Rookie of the Year. He batted leadoff for much of the second half of the season, but slid easily behind the super speedy Ellsbury for the last couple games of the World Series. Ellsbury got in a couple of games during the summer, then became a fixture in the lineup following a September callup. All he did was hit 353/394/5093-18 with nine steals in 33 games, and set up expectations that he will be the 2008 ROY.

I think Pedroia will be a .300 hitter for years to come, but let me say this right now Red Sox fans. Ellsbury is a great player, and will have a terrific career. But he's not going to hit .350 in the major leagues.

A third former Sea Dog was another fixture in the lineup. Kevin Youkilis, whose Portland tenure predates this blog, played flawless defense at first base and was a solid bat. Famously dubbed "the Greek God of Walks" by Billy Beane, Youk was part of a relentless on-base attack with a final line of 288/390/453-16-83.

Three other ex-Dogs were integral parts of the staff. Two established themselves in the second half of the season. Manny Delcarmen was brought up for good in mid-June and finally settled in as a major league pitcher and provided a solid setup arm. In 44 games, Manny D had a 2.05 ERA and 1.04 WHIP while striking out nearly a batter an inning. Jon Lester's career was derailed in 2006 by a cancer diagnosis. Lester thankfully beat the disease and made a quick comeback this season. The results were mixed on both the major league and minor league level, but in the end he started 11 games for Boston and posted a 4-0 record with a 4.57 ERA and 1.46 WHIP. He made real progress during the year, culminating with a terrific 5.2 IP, zero runs performance in gaining the win in the World Series clincher.

The third former Dog on the staff was the anchor of the bullpen. Jonathan Papelbon had one of the most dominant seasons by any major league pitcher in 2006, but ended the season with an arm injury. The Sox at first planned to make him a starter for this season, then changed their minds when nobody else could establish himself as the closer during Spring Training. Pap was back with a new training regime and careful handling by manager Terry Francona and pitching coach John Farrell. The result was another terrific season: 1-3, 37 saves in 40 tries, 1.85 ERA, 0.77 WHIP and a phenomenal 84 strikeouts in 58.3 innings. Papelbon earned three saves in the World Series and had a legitimate claim on the Series MVP award that was presented to Mike Lowell.

In addition to these six players, many other ex-Sea Dogs made at least token appearances with the eventual champions. Kason Gabbard made several starts before he and David Murphy were traded to Texas. Clay Buchholz made the most of a spot start by no-hitting the Orioles. Brandon Moss, Jeff Bailey and Devern Hansack also saw some action during the season.

Of course there was one other former Sea Dog who played a part in Boston's success this season, but he's not a home-grown guy. Josh Beckett was 8-1 in 13 starts for Portland back in 2001 when the Dogs were affiliated with the Florida Marlins. All he did for the 2007 Red Sox was win 20 games with a 3.27 ERA and establish himself as perhaps the front runner for the Cy Young Award. In the postseason, Beckett won all four of his starts by allowing only four runs in 30 IP (1.20 ERA), striking out 35 and walking only two in the process. Unbelievable.

So Portland celebrates Boston's latest Championship today, one that is even sweeter because of all the guys who played at Hadlock Field over the years.