How do you win the World Series twice in a row? Don't ask the Florida Marlins or Arizona Diamondbacks.

 

Those recent winners of baseball's greatest prize have shown us how quickly a team can plunge from the heights to the depths.

 

Consider the Diamondbacks. They went 92-70 to win the National League West in 2001. Then they shocked the baseball world by beating Mariano Rivera and the New York Yankees in Game 7 of the World Series. It was a remarkable season for an expansion franchise.

 

Three years later, where were the Diamondbacks? Dead last at 51-111 - the worst record in baseball.

 

Arizona's 2004 season marked a a 41-game swing from what its record was in 2001. That constitutes a total collapse, brought about by poor management. Some of it was by design - a concerted effort to cut payroll. Some of it was poor judgment, which, by the way, included a decision to trade West Springfield's Chris Capuano, the best left-handed pitching prospect in the Arizona organization.

 

The Marlins offer another study in post-World Series depression. They won in 1997, then were dismantled by ownership, much the way Connie Mack used to do it with his Philadelphia A's of old. The Marlins won again in 2003, then became an also-ran last season. They went a mere 83-79 and couldn't even come close to the wild card playoff spot.

 

What happened to the Diamondbacks and Marlins should serve as a chilling example for the Boston Red Sox. The Diamondbacks shed some of their stars, including pitching powerhouse Curt Schilling. The Marlins of 2004 faded mainly because they allowed their spiritual leader, Ivan Rodriguez, to leave as a free agent instead of making a concerted effort to keep him.

 

So what can our beloved Red Sox do as they attempt to build another roster capable of winning the World Series again?

 

Well, they can look at baseball history. It not only shows the bad things that can happen when teams allow themselves to fall apart, as we see from 21st century examples. It also shows the good things that can happen when teams are basically kept together.

 

The Yankees of 1949-53 won a record five World Series in a row. How did they do it? Simply by assembling a core of outstanding players and staying with them. It was easier to do in those days, when free agency did not exist, but it still took good management to know which players should be acquired and retained, and which ones should be traded or released.

 

Ditto for the Oakland A's of 1972-74. They won three World Series in a row, then were broken up by owner Charlie Finley, who hated to see the arrival of free agency.

 

How about those Yankees of 1998-2000? They had a seven-player core - Tino Martinez, Derek Jeter, Chuck Knoblauch, Scott Brosius, Jorge Posada, Bernie Williams, and Paul O'Neill - to go with solid pitching. By the way, some say the Yankees haven't been the same since O'Neill retired, which shows how important certain players can be to team chemistry.

 

Given all of that, Red Sox fans can only hope that management will go all out to keep Jason Varitek, Pedro Martinez and Orlando Cabrera - maybe even Derek Lowe, who appears to be a "goner." The Sox of 2004 were so good, it would be a shame to see them suffer the kind of breakup that has devastated other championship clubs.

 

Management certainly should listen to Schilling, who has said several times that it's "incredibly important" for the Sox to resign Varitek. Schilling also sounded off regarding Martinez. When the Boston Globe asked him if he could envision Pedro in Yankee pinstripes, he said, "No. God, no. Not after this year. No way."

 

By Christmas time, we should have a pretty good idea of where the Red Sox are going in their pursuit of free agents. If general manager Theo Epstein is as sharp a student of baseball history as he appears to be, he will keep his team together. If he doesn't? Well, remember the Diamondbacks.

 

KENNY'S NINTH: Some things you can count on, like Kenny Lofton changing teams every winter. It happened again Friday, when the Yankees traded their disgruntled outfielder to the Philadelphia Phillies, the ninth organization he has played for in his 13-plus major league seasons.

 

The Phillies will give Lofton the chance to be their everyday centerfielder, a job he could not hold with the Yankees because Bernie Williams is still the man.

 

Obviously, the Phillies don't know about "the curse of Kenny," which was uncovered recently by David Bontempo, a baseball superfan from West Springfield. As Bontempo points out, no team with Lofton on its roster has been able to win a World Series.

 

Quite a record, considering that he has been to the playoffs in nine of the last 10 seasons, missing only in 2000 with Cleveland.

 

He has made it to the World Series twice, losing with Cleveland in 1995 and with San Francisco in 2002.

 

In 1997, he played for Atlanta in its NLCS loss to Florida. In 1998, he was back with Cleveland, which lost to the Yankees on their way to a world championship. In 2003, he was with the Chicago Cubs as they blew the NLCS to Atlanta. In 2004, the "curse" continued as he rode the bench while the Yankees were falling to the relentless Red Sox in the ALCS.

 

Lofton also played for Division Series losers with Cleveland in 1996, 1999 and 2001. Hmmm ...

 

DIAMOND DUST: The Montreal Expos have become the Washington Nationals, but the name isn't new. "Nationals" actually was the name of the first Washington franchise. The name then became reduced to "Nats" and eventually changed to "Senators" because Washington newspapers liked it that way. When Springfield was a Washington farm club in the Eastern League (1939-41), the team was known as the Springfield Nationals ... Jason Giambi's steroids testimony before a grand jury might make Red Sox fans recall Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS, when his two solo homers began the unraveling of Martinez ... The Yankees retooled their bullpen by bringing back Mike Stanton, once their go-to lefty in the late innings. They figure he'll be an improvement over Felix Heredia, a lefty manager Joe Torre just couldn't trust ... Al Leiter going back to the Marlins as a free agent? That's the latest rumor, and the New York Mets don't like to hear it.

 

http://www.masslive.com/sports/republican/...36456170551.xml

Doesn't hurt that the Sox have one of the highest payrolls in baseball.

If we had $100million to work with we'd be a contender year in, year out.

Doesn't hurt that the Sox have one of the highest payrolls in baseball.

If we had $100million to work with we'd be a contender year in, year out.

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so would anyone

 

well, except the mets

Any comparison between the $60 million 2003 Marlins and a team with a payroll double that is flawed from the get go doesn't deserve consideration.

Doesn't hurt that the Sox have one of the highest payrolls in baseball.

If we had $100million to work with we'd be a contender year in, year out.

627454[/snapback]

so would anyone

 

well, except the mets

627455[/snapback]

And the Orioles.

 

Can almost throw the Phillies in there too.

I think you can throw in the Dodgers to the mix as well..

They win from time to time, maybe not all the way but they challenge.

 

They've also been held back by a one man team for a while (don't ruin this thread too, please).

Why don't they mention Anaheim in that article?

Maybe the D-backs, Marlins and Red Sox should have followed the Angels' example. Re-sign everyone and finish under .500

the Marlins have hardly "fallen to the depths" anyway. After winning a world series they led their division into June and were right in the wild card hunt until they faded in the final weeks, no thanks to mother nature and an inflamed A.J. elbow. Still had a winning record too (though not a successful season by anyone's measure). To call that "falling to the depths" is stupid. Plus as 2003 mentioned, the Red Sox don't have the payroll issues the Marlins do.

It is simple: Reating in baseball is very hard for any team. Look at the Yankees and their payroll- they don't win it every year.

It's a fair article and I tend to agree. I just hope we follow the Angels path rather than Dbacks.

I just hope we follow the Angels path rather than Dbacks.

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Loria does not equal one Art Merano (spelling?).

I think people don't realize how much of an impact the hurricanes had on the Marlins, forcing them to play 30 games in 27 days. And not only because it was physically challenging on the players. People don't realize it forced us to go with guys like Logan Kensing to start games, who would otherwise never have even worn a Major League uniform this past year.... That was brutal..