In 2003, the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox had fantastic seasons. Chicago had come out of nowhere to win the NL Central and make it all the way to the NLCS, and the Red Sox had remained competitive with the Yankees, taking them the full seven games in the ALCS. It looked as if one of these two teams would break their so-called “curse” and win it all. The baseball world seemed to be headed towards a Cubs vs. Red Sox World Series.
In Game 6 of the NLCS, the Cubs came within five outs of the World Series, but a late-inning collapse cost them the game and pushed the series to Game 7, where they would ultimately lose and be eliminated from the postseason. In New York, the Red Sox had forced Game 7 on the Yankees, and in that game, Boston had chased Roger Clemens early and were five outs away from the World Series themselves thanks to the dominance of Pedro Martinez. However, they too would collapse as the Yankees won the pennant on Aaron Boone’s walk-off home run.
But what if both teams had held on to their leads and made it to the Fall Classic? What if we got that Cubs vs. Red Sox World Series?
For this What if, instead of crafting an alternate story, we’re going to compare both teams and see how they’d stack up against each other in a seven-game series.
Chicago Cubs
The Cubs had a powerful lineup consisting of Sammy Sosa, Moises Alou, Mark Grudzielanek, Alex Gonzalez, and Kenny Lofton. They also had Eric Karros, who was aging, but still an effective player, and Damian Miller was their catcher.
On the bench they had guys like Mark Bellhorn, Tony Womack, and Corey Patterson. There was also utility man Ramon Martinez.
They finished ninth in the NL in runs scored, with Sosa leading the team in RBI’s with a 103. Alou led the club with 22 home runs.
The Cubs also had an extremely stacked starting rotation, with young studs like Carlos Zambrano, Mark Prior, and Kerry Wood, who was the Major League leader in strikeouts in ‘03. As such, the Cubs led the National League in pitcher strikeouts as a team with 1,404. The bullpen was pretty solid too, with Joe Borowski as the closer, who saved 33 games. The Cubs also had Kyle Farnsworth, Mike Remlinger, and Mark Guthrie, each of whom posted ERA’s under four.
Boston Red Sox
The Red Sox had a stacked lineup in their own right. They already had Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, but they also had Jason Varitek, Johnny Damon, Nomar Garciaparra, and Bill Mueller, who won the AL Batting title in ‘03 with a .326 average, barely edging out Ramirez. On the bench, they had Doug Mirabelli as their backup catcher, but also had guys such as utility man Damian Jackson, outfielder Gabe Kapler, and first baseman Shea Hillenbrand, who would go on to be an All-Star with the Toronto Blue Jays years later. Boston led the AL in RBI’s runs scored, average, slugging percentage, hits, and OPS
On paper, the starting rotation was great, consisting of guys such as Pedro Martinez, Tim Wakefield, and Derek Lowe. But only Martinez finished with an ERA below four. Wakefield put together a solid season, going 11-7 with a 4.09 ERA. Derek Lowe also won 17 games, but had a 4.47 ERA. The latter two starters, John Burkett and Casey Fossum, each had ERA’s north of five. The bullpen was also quite suspect at times, as they didn’t really have a set closer. It was more of a closer by committee type situation. Byung-Hyun Kim led the team in saves and posted a 3.18 ERA. Mike Timlin was also solid that year, going 6-4 with a 3.55 ERA. Scott Williamson had a tough regular season, but emerged as the team’s regular closer in the postseason. They also had Alan Embree as a lefty option. Despite all of its shortcomings, Boston’s pitching staff did lead the American League in strikeouts.
Verdict
This would have been a fun series. Both teams were great, but also won their games in different ways. Boston won almost exclusively with its stacked lineup, whereas the Cubs had other ways they could beat you.
Boston had the edge with its lineup, but the Cubs had better pitching, so something would have to give. Boston’s starting rotation wasn’t bad though. It really stiffened up in time for the postseason and was a key factor in their run to the ALCS. The thing about the Red Sox that year is that they could beat even the best pitching staffs in baseball, and while the Cubs shut down some nasty lineups in ‘03, such as the Cardinals “MV3” consisting of Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen, and Jim Edmonds, no lineup compared to that of Boston.
I think the series would have gone seven games. But only one team can emerge victorious, and had it been the Cubs vs. the Red Sox in the World Series in 2003, I believe the Red Sox would have won.
