Culture may be the most overlooked component in sports. While the word is frequently uttered, its true magnitude is often underestimated.
Pedro Martinez was one player who truly grasped the importance of culture. As did the rest of the early 2000 Red Sox roster – David Ortiz, Kevin Millar, Jason Varitek, and the late-great Tim Wakefield, to name a few.
While the championship banners stand as proud symbols of success, the legacy of those early 2000 Red Sox teams extends far beyond tangible trophies and banners. Their mark is stitched into the fabric of those Red Sox uniforms — the enduring values that leave a lasting impact on the culture of the Red Sox organization.
“I was talking to David [Ortiz] yesterday and talking to Tek [Jason Varitek]... And I said, ‘I think, looking back on it, we left the culture of winning.’ We left kind of a sense of a different character. Different attitudes, but all winning attitudes,” Martinez said when reflecting on his time in Boston with Ken Laird and Chris Curtis on WEEI.
Before the 2000s, winning wasn’t the norm for the Red Sox. However, it was this core that ended an 86-year championship drought by sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals in 2004. The 2004 victory set a new precedent for the team and paved the way for subsequent success. Since the turn of the century, the Red Sox have clinched four World Series titles, the most in Major League Baseball.
“2004, that was the team that finally got it for Boston,” Martinez said. “In 2007, there were a lot of the players from 2004. In 2013, there were still players coming up. Not only homegrown but also with the same attitude we had. We didn’t like the Yankees, we didn’t like anybody. We just thought we could win, and that filtered all the way up to 2018. Once all of us left, it seems like a little bit of the culture has been missing.”
In sports, culture tends to shift over time – it’s inevitable – and the Red Sox are no exception. Different coaches and players bring different philosophies, and in the case of the Red Sox, the constant turnover in their roster within a short span certainly doesn’t help.
With Chris Sale being traded to the Atlanta Braves this offseason, Rafael Devers remains the lone player from the roster that brought Boston their World Series championship in 2018 – just five years ago.
“Management changed, GMs changed, and the things that we did kinda have been sliding away from what we had in our minds and our hearts,” Martinez said.
As the Red Sox look to rebuild and restore that winning culture they have steered away from in recent years, Martinez believes it all begins with finding and growing players who want to be in Boston and embrace the pressures that come with playing for one of the most decorated franchises in baseball – much like he did when he arrived in 1998.
“We have to, first of all, go and get players – and grow players that want to be in Boston. That love Boston. That understand that accountability is going to be a day-to-day request. From the fans, from yourself,” the Hall of Famer said.
“First of all, it has to be from yourself. You have to love Boston the way Boston is. Boston is demanding. They understand their game. They know exactly what they expect. And that’s what you got to do. Put on that uniform and say, ‘Jump on my back.’ But it has to be every day. It has to be consistent.”
As the Red Sox continue their rebuild, talent should obviously be front of mind. However, those who embrace Boston’s ethos should also be on the radar.
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