Boston's 10 Greatest Teams
Unlike with the 10 Greatest Athletes, I'm not going to separate them into cheaters and non-cheaters (or "Dishonorable Mentions"). Besides, with some of these teams, we can only suspect.
Honorable Mention to the 1872-78 Boston Red Stockings. Forerunners of not the Red Sox, but the team now known as the Atlanta Braves, they took the "Red Stockings" name because they had 4 of the players from the 1869-70 Cincinnati Red Stockings. More importantly, they had a young pitcher named Al Spalding, who later formed a sporting goods empire.
They won 4 Pennants in the National Association, the 1st professional league, and so dominated that league that fans lost interest, and it was one of the reasons the National League was formed. They won 2 more Pennants, making it 6 Pennants in 7 years. They added another Pennant in 1883, by which time they and the unfortunate name of the Boston Beaneaters.
But I can't include them in the Top 10. Nor can I include...
Honorable Mention to the 1891-98 Boston Beaneaters. They won 5 Pennants in 8 years, despite having to battle the original, National League, version of the Baltimore Orioles, who won the other 3 Pennants.
But I can't include this team either, because of the big change of 1893: Moving the pitcher's mound back from 50 feet from home plate to the current distance of 60 feet, 6 inches. Additional rule changes after the restructuring of 1901-03 made what we would now call Major League Baseball a very different game.
Honorable Mention to the 1903-04 Boston Americans. The name "Red Sox," a shortening of "Red Stockings," wasn't used until 1907. They won back-to-back Pennants, and the New York Giants' refusal to play them denied them the chance to win the 1st 2 World Series. They couldn't take it any further, though.
Honorable Mention to the 1914 Boston Braves. This was the 13th and last World Championship that the team would win in Boston. But, except for a 2nd place finish in 1916, they never followed it up.
Honorable Mention to the 1926-30 Boston Bruins. 4 seasons, 3 trips to the Stanley Cup Finals, and the 1929 Stanley Cup.
Honorable Mention to the 1936 Boston Redskins. The team started using the Boston Braves' name and stadium in 1932. For 1933, they moved from Braves Field to Fenway Park, and owner George Preston Marshall wanted to avoid further confusion. So, just as George Halas used "Cubs" as the basis for "Bears," Marshall renamed his team "Redskins" -- and the team is still being criticized for that to this day.
In 1936, they won the NFL Eastern Division title, but drew so poorly that, as hosts of the NFL Championship Game (then rotated between the Eastern and Western Division Champions' home fields), they petitioned the League for permission to move the game. They got it, and played the Green Bay Packers at the Polo Grounds in New York. They lost, but made more money that day than in any home game day in Boston. Marshall then moved them to Washington, and the rest is history.
Honorable Mention to the 1936 Boston Shamrocks. Playing mostly at Braves Field, they won the title in the 1930s' version of the American Football League, and were a big reason why the Redskins didn't draw well in Boston. Had the 'Skins just held out through 1 more year, they would have seen this AFL collapse, and would have had New England all to themselves from 1938 onward, and the history of pro football might be very different.
Honorable Mention to the 1946-51 Boston Red Sox. The Sox won the American League Pennant going away in 1946, but lost the World Series in 7 games. They lost a Playoff for the 1948 Pennant, and, needing to win just 1 of the last 2 games against the Yankees in 1949, lost them both. They stayed close for another couple of years, and then got old.
Honorable Mention to the 1948 Boston Braves. This was not followed up, either, and they moved to Milwaukee just before the start of the 1953 season, and to Atlanta for 1966.
Honorable Mention to the 1963 Boston Patriots. They won the AFL Eastern Division, but got clobbered by the San Diego Chargers in the AFL Championship Game, and didn't reach another AFL or AFC Championship Game for 22 years. (Then playing at Fenway, they changed their name to "New England" upon moving to Foxboro in 1971.)
Honorable Mention to the 1967 Boston Red Sox. "The Impossible Dream" turned out to be, well, impossible. They only won 92 games, but it was enough to win the Pennant. They lost the World Series in 7 games, and didn't follow it up.
Honorable Mention to the 1971-76 Boston Celtics. 5 straight Atlantic Division titles, at least the Eastern Conference Finals all 5 times, and the NBA Championship in 1974 and 1976.
Honorable Mention to the 1972-73 New England Whalers, 1st winners of the World Hockey Association title, the Avco Cup. They never got close to the Stanley Cup.
Honorable Mention to the 1972-78 Boston Red Sox. They blew it in 1972, blew it again in 1974, won the Pennant but lost the World Series in 7 games in 1975, blew it again in 1977, and really blew it in 1978. In 1977 and 1978 combined, they won 196 games, but, with no Wild Card available, didn't even make the Playoffs either time. Remember, the '67 Sox won just 92 games.
Honorable Mention to the 1976-78 New England Patriots. Pats fans still believe that, despite only getting a Wild Card in 1976, the Pats were screwed out of a Playoff win against the Oakland Raiders by referee Ben Dreith.
They also believe that the Raiders were not sufficiently punished in 1978, when Jack Tatum paralyzed Darryl Stingley with a hit, preventing the Patriots from reaching the Super Bowl, ignoring the fact that the Patriots would have to get past the Pittsburgh Steelers.
These fans believe that their victory over the Raiders in "the Tuck Rule Game" in the 2001-02 Playoffs was revenge. Whether it was sufficient Revenge, only they know for sure.
Honorable Mention to the 1976-79 Boston Bruins. This team, nicknamed "the Lunch Pail Athletic Club," reached the Stanley Cup Semifinals 4 straight seasons, and reached the Finals in 1977 and 1978, but smacked into the Montreal Canadiens dynasty and could not get the Cup.
Honorable Mention to the 1986-90 Boston Red Sox. Perhaps not as talented as the 1946-51 or 1972-78 versions, they were a little more accomplished. They won the Pennant in 1986, but lost the World Series in 7 games -- or, rather, they really lost it in Game 6. The won the American League Eastern Division in 1988 and 1990, and nearly won it in 1989, but didn't win any more Pennants. Some of their players were still around when they won the Division in 1995.
Honorable Mention to the 1988-90 Boston Bruins. If not for the Edmonton Oiler dynasty, they could well have won the Cup in 1988 or 1990, or both.
Honorable Mention to the 1994-98 New England Patriots. A run that began with Bill Parcells' rebuilding job from the team that was in disarray both on the field and in the boardroom, and seriously considered moving, first to St. Louis, then to Baltimore, and finally to Hartford (which would have allowed them to keep the "New England" name).
5 seasons, 4 Playoff berths, and the 1996 AFC Championship, and they certainly did better against the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXI than their predecessors did in Super Bowl XX.
Honorable Mention to the 1998-99 Boston Red Sox. A prelude to the team that finally "reversed the curse," they won the AL Wild Card both seasons, and got to the AL Championship Series in 1999, but couldn't get past the Yankees. By the time they got close again in 2003, they were a different team.
Honorable Mention to the 2007-12 Boston Celtics. After 2 of the worst seasons in team history, they went the superteam route, signing Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to join Paul Pierce in a "Big Three." 5 straight Atlantic Division titles, 3 trips to the Conference Finals, 2 Eastern Conference titles and the 2008 NBA Championship.
Honorable Mention to the 2010-13 Boston Bruins. 2 Northeast Division titles, winning the Stanley Cup Finals in 2011 and losing them in 2013. They added an Atlantic Division title in 2014, but didn't go far in the Playoffs.
Honorable Mention to New England's NCAA Football Champions. Yale University claims 27 National Championships -- the last in 1927. Their arch-rival, Harvard University, claims 7, the last in 1919. This was before the beginning of national polls in 1936. Most were before the legalization of the forward pass in 1906. So take these titles for whatever you think they're worth.
Honorable Mention to New England's NCAA Basketball Champions: 1947 College of the Holy Cross (also reached what we would now call the Final Four in 1948), and the University of Connecticut in 1999, 2004, 2011 and 2014 (also reached the Final Four in 2009). UConn's women have won a record 11 National Championships: 1995, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016.
Also reaching the Final Four: Dartmouth College in 1942 and 1944, Providence College in 1973 and 1987, and the University of Massachusetts in 1996 (since stripped of the honor).
Now, the Top 10:
10. 2013-17 Boston Red Sox. (You could say, "2011-present.") This should be considered a separate run of success from 2003-09, as David Ortiz was pretty much the only carryover. So far, 5 seasons, 3 AL East titles, and the 2013 World Championship.
9. 1967-69 Boston Celtics. Bill Russell picked up as player-coach after Red Auerbach limited himself to general manager duties, and won 2 more NBA Championships.
8. 1938-46 Boston Bruins. 8 seasons, 3 regular-season NHL titles, 4 trips to the Stanley Cup Finals, and the 1939 and 1941 Stanley Cups.
7. 2011-18 New England Patriots. A different team from the early Tom Brady years. In 7 seasons (possibly to add on to this), 7 AFC East titles (indeed, the Pats' last 3 failures to win the AFC East have come in 2008, 2002 and 2000), at least the AFC Championship Game every season, 4 AFC Championships, and 2 more Super Bowl wins.
6. 1912-18 Boston Red Sox. In 7 seasons, they won 4 Pennants, winning the World Series each time. They began to be broken up in 1919, and many of the players on the 1910s Red Sox became the Champions of the 1920s Yankees.
5. 2003-09 Boston Red Sox. The team that changed the perception of Boston as a sports town forever -- and not all for the more palatable. In 7 seasons, only 1 AL East title, but 6 trips to the AL Division Series, 4 trips to the AL Championship Series, and the 2004 and 2007 World Series wins.
They did not achieve as much as their 1910s forebears, but were probably more talented -- unless you think the steroids made that much of a difference. It's also worth noting that the 1912-18 Sox won 4 postseason series, all that were available to them; the 2003-09 Sox won 8.
4. 1968-74 Boston Bruins. The years of Bobby Orr: 6 seasons, 3 East Division titles, 4 trips to the Stanley Cup Semifinals, and 3 trips to the Stanley Cup Finals, winning it in 1970 and 1972 and losing it in 1974.
The 1971 team that got shocked by the Canadiens in the Quarterfinals is often called one of the best teams in any sport not to win a title. For shocking upsets in Boston history, it's right up there (or down there, if you prefer) with the 1946 Red Sox and the 2007-08 Patriots.
3. 2001-08 New England Patriots. 7 seasons, 6 AFC East titles, 5 AFC Championship Games, 4 AFC Championships, 3 Super Bowl wins, and the only 16-0 regular season in NFL history, very nearly the only 19-0 NFL Championship season ever. Alas, there were Giants in the Earth in those days.
2. 1979-88 Boston Celtics. 10 seasons, 8 Atlantic Division titles, 8 trips to the Conference Finals, 5 Eastern Conference Championships, and the NBA Championship in 1981, 1984 and 1986.
1. 1956-66 Boston Celtics. Can there be any other? Actually, there could be another way to put it. I thought of breaking the 1956-69 dynasty into 2 separate teams, and decided that the end of Red Auerbach's reign as head coach after the 1966 title was as good as any, since the run of 8 straight titles, never matched in any major North American League, then ended.
So: 10 seasons, 10 Eastern Division titles, and 9 NBA Championships, losing the Finals only in 1958 when Bill Russell had an injured ankle. The Yankees or the Montreal Canadiens could match this Celtic team for greatness in collection of players, but not for achievement. It can be argued that the NBA wasn't especially strong at this point. But the opposite could also be argued: No watering-down through expansion.