Krause: And now … it’s time to play ‘Rate the Championship’

BOSTON – Red Sox fans who grew old and died without ever seeing anything other than season after season of futility would be aghast and astonished that there would be enough championships for us to even rate.And even now, with three of them in nine years, it seems presumptuous to give them any ranking at all. As so many athletes will tell you, any championship is precious, and they?re all unique in their own way.However, David Ortiz opened that door after the Red Sox won No. 3 of the 21st century Thursday night with a 6-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.?This might be the most special out of all the World Series that I?ve been a part of, to be honest with you.”Without him expounding (though he later did) it?s easy to understand what he meant.The Red Sox won titles in 2004 and 2007 ? both coming at times when there wasn?t a tougher ticket in town. They were working on a sellout streak dating back to the middle of 2003. They were trendy. There were those pink hats ? “Sweet Caroline,” and a Fenway Park renaissance under the direction of architect Janet Marie Smith. The Red Sox even labeled it “America?s Most Beloved Ballpark.”It was easy to take it all for granted ? just as the song says, the good times never seemed so good.The 2004 and 2007 championships were almost expected. The Red Sox almost made the World Series in 2003 (losing a shot when they blew a 5-2 lead to the Yankees in Game 7 of the ALCS), and even though they staged a comeback for the ages in ?04, the team was built to win.Ditto 2007. There were still plenty of players around from that 2004 team, along with some new ones, and between the two factions, they efficiently (some might even say joylessly) went about their business and won.This was so not the case in 2013. This was a team in disgrace. It had collapsed in September 2011 after leading by nine games in the wild card race. There were all the reports about chicken and beer in the clubhouse. One of the most visible reminders of that team was John Lackey, whose mound histrionics and surly demeanor did not endear him to the fans.Then, there was the Bobby Valentine fiasco ? the palace revolt ? the salary-dumping trade in August of 2012 that left the Red Sox looking like a Triple-A team. There was the poor, poor response by the players to the death of one of the team?s endearing legends, Johnny Pesky.It was evident that too many of those players simply did not want to be there.So they cleaned house. First they got rid of Valentine and hired John Farrell, a tough, no-nonsense guy who played it down the middle and made it clear he was only interesting in winning.?A body can?t function without having a good head,” said series MVP David Ortiz. “And our manager is outstanding He showed all of us from Day One that he was the master piece we needed to get to this level.”Then, d general manager Ben Cherington began the process of importing “character” guys into the mix to rid the team of the stench of too much entitlement and too little success.?Ben made it clear to the people he interviewed that there were some unique challenges here,” said Farrell. “And he tried to find the right personalities that would embrace all of that.”The all contributed ? both during the season and in the playoffs. Mike Napoli hit key home runs in the ALCS against the Detroit Tigers. Jonny Gomes? clutch 3-run homer won Game 4 of the World Series. David Ross, a backup catcher, hit a key run-scoring double that brought the go-ahead run home in Game 5. And Shane Victorino?s grand slam won Game 6 of the ALCS and his three-run wall double proved to big the big hit in Game 6 of the series.Stephen Drew played exemplary shortstop. Koji Uehara became the closer the Red Sox haven?t had since Jonathan Papelbon in 2007. Janechi Tazawa ? despite some struggles ? was stout in the post-season.These guy joined Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Clay Buchholz, Jon Lester and, yes, Lackey to form the core of a team that just kept playing through it all.If there was