Bay Area Baseball

This tip of the cap in the World Series might be the last image we see of Schilling in a uniform thanks to the toll of the 2007 playoffs.  Photo: Getty Images

This years Boston Red Sox return a myriad of stars that carried their 2007 World Series championship team. The team certainly has the experience that squads positioning for a repeat love to have. This experience, expected to be a boon to the team, has challenged them perhaps more than any opponent they have faced this year. The team’s run to the championship has proven taxing on many of the key cogs in the team’s machine.

Players have gotten injured, struggled and dealt with various challenges to their performance and the performance of the team.

Josh Beckett has taken a big step back, falling to 11-9 with a 4.34 after being shelled Sunday against Toronto. Curt Schilling has missed the entire season so far with no return on the horizon. Hideki Okajima has been mortal, his WHIP has increased 35% and he has allowed a load of inherited runners to score. David Ortiz and Mike Lowell, key parts in the offense, have missed months of action. Jacoby Ellsbury has hit only .268 after hitting over .350 in the regular season and playoffs last year. Manny Ramirez famously became disillusioned with the team and forced a trade.

The common factor in all of these events is the fact that these players all played on the team last year. Why could winning a World Series adversely affect a baseball team? Take this into account. The Red Sox, en route to the championship, played 14 pressure filled playoff games. Ask anyone who has played in a playoff game of any sort at any level and they will tell you that each game takes more out of you than perhaps an entire series of regular season games.

The toll on the pitchers has been the most dramatic; Beckett threw 30 dominant innings, winning all four of his starts including a complete game shutout. Schilling threw 24 innings and Okajima pitched eight times in 14 games. Beckett, whose previous career high for innings pitched was 204 in 2006, threw 230 innings in 2007 if you include the playoffs. The innings have definitely impacted his command and movement, which have both been spotty this season. Schilling suffered so much wear that he may never play again.

The 2008 Red Sox certainly have an excellent chance of again making the postseason, thanks to strong step-up contributions from Jon Lester, Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis and Daisuke Matsuzaka. However, they will have be especially careful with the guys they rode hard on their road to the promised land last year, as those horses have already shown great fatigue to this point in the season.

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