The first part of the story is well-known in New England.
It’s about last summer, when most teams were seeing sky-high home run numbers that brought back memories of corked bats and artificially inflated biceps, but the Red Sox were on their way to ranking last in the American League.
They finished the season with an unusually low .736 OPS. Not since 1976 had the Red Sox, they of hitter-friendly Fenway Park, finished with an OPS that poor and still posted a winning record. And it wasn’t just a winning record — they were 93-69, good enough to win the American League East.