Which 2004 Boston Red Sox Player Could Save the 2022 Season?

The 2004 Major League Baseball season was unlike any other in my lifetime. The World Series was pure magic, legendary. It's the stuff that baseball dreams are made of.

Not only was the 2004 season historic in that it was the first time that the Boston Red Sox won the World Series since they defeated the Chicago Cubs four games to two in the 1918 World Series 86 years before, but it was also the 100th edition of the World Series.

A colorful cast of "idiots" would "Cowboy Up" in 2004, completely unaccepting of the common Fenway Park phrase "We'll get em' next year," and did the unthinkable: they won a World Series and broke the Curse of the Bambino in the process.

The American League Championship Series (ALCS) against the Yankees in 2004 was better than the World Series. The Red Sox dug themselves out of a three-games-to-none deficit to win the seven-game series against their rivals. It was the first and last time that has happened in the postseason.

Boston went on to sweep the St. Louis Cardinals in four games to win the World Series. It was anti-climatic after the Yankees series.

There were many heroes that contributed to the ALCS and World Series wins in 2004, among them David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, Curt Schilling, Pedro Martinez, Derek Lowe, Johnny Damon, Kevin Millar, Tim Wakefield, Dave Roberts, Jason Varitek, Bill Mueller, Mark Bellhorn, and many others, some who started the season in Boston but finished elsewhere.

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Boston won the World Series again in 2007, 2013, and 2018 but nothing could compare to 2004.

The Red Sox have had a rough time since their last World Series win. In 2019, the team finished 19 games back in third place. In 2020, the team finished last, 16 games back. Last season, Boston ended the season eight games out in second place. As of this writing, they are 12 games behind the Yankees in second place for the 2022 season.

The Boston Red Sox could benefit from one of those "idiots" from 2004 right about now. If you were able to bring one player from that 2004 championship team to Fenway today to straighten things out, who would it be?