When can chemistry turn a loser into a winner?

Who woulda thunk it?
     The Boston Red Sox went from 93 losses in 2012 to winning their third World Series in this century. Who in their wildest imagination could have foreseen it? At spring training virtually all of the experts and bets were on Toronto. What caused such a dramatic turnabout?

    Boston was a 30-1 underdog to win the World Series last winter but joined the 1991 Minnesota Twins as the only teams to win titles one season after finishing in last place.

    The Red Sox signed 7 free agents for only about 100 million. Would this list strike fear into you if you were an opposing GM?

    Victorino, Napoli, Gomes, Drew, Uehara, Ryan Dempster and Ross.

    
    Victorino was coming off his worst season and people scoffed at his three year 39 million contract. Napoli's degenerative hip was so huge an issue that he could only get a one year contract for 5 million. Johnny Gomes played in just a combined 142 games in 2011 and 2012.

     Stephen Drew played in only 158 games in the 2011 and 2012 season with less than impressive stats. Uehara was a good signing but he would be 38 during the season and no one could predict the impact he would have. Ryan Depster had a 5.09 ERA in 2012 and a WHIP of 1.435 in 2012. David Ross was 35 coming into the season with a lifetime BA of .216 and an OBP of .298.

That begs the question. How did this team win 97 regular season games let alone the World Series?  Victorino and Ellsbury had years worthy of Comeback Player of the Year Awards, and Mike Napoli had a much better than expected 2013. Yet something tells me that cleaning out some of the selfish- and undisciplined players from the 2012 roster did as much or more towards winning the title. Much of the credit must go to Manager John Farrell and GM Ben Cherington. They looked at the character of the players they wanted to re-make the team. Those players fed off of one another. Their bearded bond gave them the same can't lose attitude that "the idiots" had in 2004. In short they had team chemistry.     What came first, the chemistry or the Boston Marathon tragedy? I sense that the chemistry fostered by a born leader like David Ortiz and the tragedy sparked a chemical reaction that carried the team for almost an entire season toward a triumphant reward for the City of Boston and their loveable Red Sox team.      I'm very happy for them all. Enjoy your victory! Chemistry more often that sabermetrics matters.