The road to 10,000 Red Sox victories, Part 3: 8,000 to 10K (and beyond)

Welcome back to this century wherein we conclude our journey through the thousands After covering the Red Sox s first-ever mastery and wins No through in Part and through in Part we arrive in the current millennium for the home stretch No May - at Oakland A s Red Sox manager Grady Little President of the United States George W Bush Time is a flat circle Matthew McConaughey s character Rust Cohle opines like a modern-day Friedrich Nietzsche in the TV show True Detective The A s being such a recurring part of this saga feels like more than mere happenstance but sports seasons are also inherently repetitive this was especially true in the pre-expansion decades when the Red Sox and A s were two of only eight original American League charter clubs Coincidence or not the Red Sox achieved their first thousandth win of the st century the same way they revealed their arrival in the th century with a road accomplishment over the Athletics Further highlighting the long and intertwined history between the two clubs longtime A s star Rickey Henderson was batting leadoff for the Red Sox Johnny Damon who d played for the A s the year before was batting second Manager Grady Little s starting nine also included Nomar Garciaparra Manny Ramirez batting cleanup and DH ing Red Sox Hall of Fame inductee Trot Nixon in right and future captain and current coach Jason Varitek behind the dish Despite giving up three earned runs including a pair of homers right-hander John Burkett went six innings and improved to - on the season David Ortiz left and Manny Ramirez after Ramirez was honored before a June MLB meeting against the Detroit Tigers at Fenway Park Staff Photo By Matt Stone MediaNews Group Boston Herald Leading off for the A s was Jeremy Giambi who was less than two weeks away from being traded to the Phillies Philadelphia flipped him to the Red Sox during the offseason Originally projected to be Boston s primary DH Giambi soon lost that job to fellow newcomer David Ortiz Scott Hatteberg Miguel Tejada and Carlos Pe a who went on to play for the Red Sox were also in the Moneyball era A s lineup that night Compared to the association they beat that night the Red Sox were the picture of consistency The Athletics Philadelphia and Kansas City days were decades in the rear view mirror by then Oakland and the Coliseum had been their home since Columbia Park the site of that first-ever Boston Americans win in was long gone So was Shibe Park Connie Mack Stadium where the Red Sox had won their th championship In fact the only ballpark on this list that was still standing at the turn of the millennium was that little emerald cathedral in Boston But there were a great number of critical changes in the Red Sox universe between their th and th victories too Fenway wasn t the only brand-new ballpark opening its doors for the first time on April they d shared that birthday with Tiger Stadium and as other ballparks around the majors rose and fell throughout the th century the two AL clubs stood the test of time Until Sept when the Tigers played their final contest at Tiger Stadium and the Red Sox entered the new millennium in sole possession of the oldest ballpark in Major League Baseball At the time it looked like Fenway would soon meet the same fate But on Jan Major League Baseball owners approved the sale of the Red Sox owned by Tom Yawkey his wife Jean or the trust bearing her initials since to what is now Fenway Sports Group And rather than demolish the Boston ballpark the John Henry-led ownership opted to save and spent lavishly to repair and upgrade Fenway Less than two months after the Red Sox won their th competition the franchise mourned the loss of its greatest player Theodore Samuel Williams the Splendid Splinter the greatest hitter to ever don a Boston uniform passed away on July It was in another odd coincidence the st anniversary of the Red Sox s th win though Williams did not play And years to the day of Teddy Ballgame s passing the Red Sox would complete their th No May - Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park Red Sox manager John Farrell President of the United States Barack Obama It is a mark of how dominant the Red Sox were for majority of the s and s that they reached their th win years and two days after their th the shortest amount of time on this list That s what happens when you have guys like Pedro Martinez David Ortiz Manny Ramirez and Dustin Pedroia on your teams And Jon Lester who was the star of this particular achievement and so a great number of others Red Sox Hall of Famer Dustin Pedroia left sits with manager Alex Cora in the dugout before a May event Photo By Matt Stone Boston Herald On a Fenway Friday in May the homegrown ace tossed a complete-game shutout a dazzling display as close to a perfect contest as can be five perfect innings and only one hit in the remaining four Lester had been here before Almost exactly two years prior and less than a year after returning to the tournament after lymphoma rehabilitation cost him months he d no-hit the Kansas City Royals at Fenway on May The Red Sox entered May in first place though it was a three-way tie with the Yankees and Orioles Even so attendance was several thousand below night-game limit Fenway Park s streak of consecutive regular-season sellouts dating all the way back to May had ended on April Chalk that up at least partially to the club s appalling campaign a - finish under one-and-done manager Bobby Valentine The Boston Marathon Bombing the month before had galvanized the club but it was still too early to tell on that day in May where they were headed Red Sox star David Ortiz addresses the crowd at Fenway Park in Boston on April The Red Sox paid tribute to the casualties of the Boston Marathon bombing Photo by Faith Ninivaggi Herald Sparse could have predicted that just over five months later the Boston Strong Red Sox would clinch their first championship at Fenway in years to complete a worst-to-first campaign that was so much bigger than baseball a love letter to a city that had loved its group through decades disasters delights and everything in between Win No July - at Washington Nationals Red Sox manager Alex Cora President of the United States Donald Trump This one just happened Do you really need a refresher already The road ahead With the National League being a quarter of a century older than the American League five teams the San Francisco Giants Los Angeles Dodgers Chicago Cubs St Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves have already surpassed wins The Cincinnati Reds entered Saturday with regular-season wins with the Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Yankees not too far behind The Philadelphia Phillies baseball s oldest continuous franchise same city and name since are the only other club ahead of Boston A total of years two months and five days separated the Red Sox s first-ever and th victories They averaged days or just under years between each thousandth win Thus we can extrapolate that they will reach around What might the world look like then Or Major League Baseball May we all be so fortunate as to find out