Boston has plenty of championship memories from the last two decades, but Lou Merloni says there’s still one team that pulls the city in like no other when it gets rolling: the Red Sox.
The former Red Sox infielder, now a broadcaster, made that case Monday on “Yahoo Sports Daily” while talking about Boston’s sudden surge back into the playoff picture.
“It’s still a baseball town,” Merloni said. “There’s no team that captivates this city like a good, winning Red Sox team.”
That’s a strong line in a city that has lived through the Patriots’ dynasty years, watched the Celtics remain one of the league’s marquee franchises and followed the Bruins with their usual fierce loyalty. But right now, the Red Sox are the team changing the mood around town.
Boston enters Monday’s series opener against the Toronto Blue Jays at 64-53, sitting third in the AL East and only 1 1/2 games behind the New York Yankees for the top AL Wild Card spot. That’s a remarkable place to be considering where the club stood earlier this season.
The Red Sox were 10 games under .500 before beginning one of the most stunning turnarounds in recent team history. They have won 27 of their last 32 games, put together both nine-game and 10-game winning streaks, swept the Chicago White Sox while putting up 30 runs in three games and, before that, swept the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.
The run finally hit a bump over the weekend, when Boston dropped two straight and lost a series to the Athletics. Even so, the bigger picture has not changed much. Fenway Park feels alive again, and every night seems to come with playoff stakes attached.
That’s the backdrop for Merloni’s point. Baseball, with its everyday rhythm, has a way of taking over the city when the Red Sox are relevant. A winning team becomes part of the conversation all summer long.
What makes the turnaround even more impressive is how Boston has done it. The Red Sox fired manager Alex Cora in April and handed the job to Chad Tracy on an interim basis. Tracy has since put himself in the mix as a legitimate AL Manager of the Year candidate.
And the club has managed this surge without two major pieces. Garrett Crochet has been out since landing on the injured list with left shoulder inflammation in late April.
Roman Anthony has been sidelined since early May with a partially torn tendon in his finger. Boston kept winning anyway.
Willson Contreras has paced the offense, leading the team with a .285 batting average, 23 home runs and 70 RBIs. The front office also made a deadline move, landing All-Star catcher Adley Rutschman from the Baltimore Orioles. Rutschman traveled with the team to Toronto and could debut for Boston during the four-game set.
Now the Red Sox get a chance to keep proving Merloni right. After the Blue Jays series, they head to Pittsburgh for three games against the Pirates. The immediate task is simple: keep building on the cushion in the Wild Card race and create more distance from Toronto, which entered Monday at 56-63.
A postseason berth is still not locked in. The Yankees are still ahead, and other American League clubs remain in the hunt for the final Wild Card spots.
But the story around the Red Sox has flipped. What once looked like another wasted season has turned into one of baseball’s most compelling runs, and Boston is responding the way Boston always does when the team is winning.
Merloni knows the city and the franchise well, having played for the Red Sox across parts of nine seasons. His take will not go unchallenged by fans of the Patriots, Celtics or Bruins. Still, the energy around this Red Sox run says plenty.
When the Red Sox are winning, Boston feels different.
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