Why the Red Sox Will Be Just Fine This Season

The 2011 Red Sox got off to a tough start, losing their first six games of the year and starting the season 2-10. But they have rebounded adequately and as of Wednesday morning May 4th, had a won-loss record of 14-15. Before tonight’s game they were in 3rd place in the AL East, and were only 4 games behind the first place Yankees.

The Red Sox are going to be just fine this season. How do I know this? History says so. 

The Red Sox have had a regular season won-loss record above .500 for the past 13 seasons, that’s every year since 1998. They have only had a regular season won-loss record below .500 6 times since 1967, occurring in 1983, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1994, and 1997.  They had 16 consecutive winning seasons, a season with a regular season won-loss record above .500, from 1967-1982.

Boston has played for 110 seasons and had a winning season 73 times. That’s 66% of the time. Only two teams have a higher percentage of winning seasons compared to total seasons played, the Yankees at 80%, and the Giants at 70%. So history says that the Red Sox are typically an above average team.

Now, are the Red Sox going to climb enough in the standings to make the playoffs? That I don’t know. Like I said, they are only 4 games behind New York, which is not an insurmountable amount of games to overcome. But they certainly did dig themselves in a small hole that they have to climb out of. They are not out of it yet, but they are going to be close enough to be in contention the rest of the season. How do I know this? History says so.

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