Two wins. Two wins represent the margin between a seemingly euphoric year in which there is widespread talk of a potential championship and a disappointing year in which there were more questions than answers. In the 2002 season, 93 wins left the team out of the playoffs. The 95 wins in the 2003 season were enough to garner the wildcard slot and capture the attention of the region. It’s hard to believe that 2 wins over the course of 162 games makes that much of a difference.

In looking over the statistics between the last two seasons, all that really changed for the Sox was two extra wins, combined with the Angels complete collapse, opening up the Wild Card slot. It is interesting to note that amongst playoff contenders, the Sox were the only team to win more games than they had the previous season.

Boston won 95, last year 93. Diff: +2
NYY won 101, last year 103. Diff: -2
OAK won 96, last year 103. Diff: -7
SEA won 93, last year 93. Diff: 0
ANA won 77, last year 99. Diff: -22
MINN won 90, last year 94. Diff: -4

Unrelated note: KC won 62 games last year and 83 this year. Tony Pena is the manager of the year.

Hoss has spoken