The Boston Red Sox are having a heck of a year. They finished the 2018 regular season with 108 wins, and, on route to that end point, breached the century mark before any other team claimed 90. They ranked first for hits, RBIs, and runs. Their pitching staff had the most wins in the league and were top-10 in ERA. And so, not surprisingly, the Sox became favourites to win the World Series by August.
The postseason got off to a good start for the Sox as they beat their most hated rivals – the New York Yankees – in four games, outscoring the Bombers 27 to 14 in the process. As of this writing Boston is leading Houston in the American League Championship Series two games to one. Each club has won one away game and the Sox will try to make it two at "the Juice Box," Houston's Minute Maid Park.
If you look back at the baseball history books it becomes clear that, for some reason, the Sox are most successful at the beginning of each new century. They won the World Series in 1903, 1912, 1916, and 1918, then waited 86 long years before winning it all again in 2004, followed by 2007 and 2013. There must be something about the big calendar change that magically fills each Sox player and coach with a certain joie de vivre. And it looks like the club could match their 20th century championship total by winning it all in 2018, just as they did 100 years ago.
Here at The SPORT Gallery we're celebrating the Sox and their great season with a very specific call back: the 1908 stocking logo. At the beginning of their franchise history the Sox went by a different name, the Boston Americans. They were the Americans for six seasons, from 1901 to 1907, before taking their current title. To announce this change the franchise donned a large red stocking on their chests, a bold move that had their top looking like a hockey sweater. This bold sartorial choice was in fact the first time the Boston franchise officially announced their "Red Sox" nickname. The jersey lasted just that one season, but the name stuck around, of course.
