Number 7
2003 Boston Red Sox, 120 wRC+
95-67, .586, wild card winner, lost in ALCS
.289/.360/.491, .364 wOBA—Red Sox
.267/.333/.428, .330 wOBA—League Average
This was the Red Sox team the year before they ended their long World Series drought. This Red Sox team finished second in the AL East for the sixth season in a row, but the offense was not to blame. The main driver of the offense was a league-best .491 slugging percentage, which was .036 higher than the second-best Blue Jays and .063 higher than league average.
Four members of the 2003 Red Sox were at least 45 percent better than league average, including Manny Ramirez (158 wRC+), Trot Nixon (152 wRC+), Bill Mueller (145 wRC+), and David Ortiz (145 wRC+). This was Bill Mueller’s career year. He led the league in batting average and won the Silver Slugger Award at third base, the only time he would do either in his 11-year career.
This was also the last good full season Nomar Garciaparra had with the Boston Red Sox. He hit .301/.345/.524, with 120 runs, 28 home runs, 105 RBI, and 19 steals while playing 156 games for the second year in a row. He would be traded to the Cubs the following season and never play more than 122 games in a season over the last six years of his career.