McAdam: John Henry anoints the 2018 Red Sox as the best in franchise history

LOS ANGELES -- For sheer history and drama, nothing will ever top the 2004 Red Sox, who ended an 86-year title drought and altered the franchise's history of near-misses and crushing losses.

And while we're at it, the 2013 Red Sox will always be remembered for their improbable title which united the city in the aftermath of a brutal terror attack.

But principal team owner John Henry, who bought the team in 2002 and has now overseen four titles in the last 15 seasons after Sunday's defeat of the Los Angeles Dodgers, has little doubt that this year's edition is the best in Red Sox history.

"I've never had a more satisfying season,'' said Henry, minutes after the 5-1 win knocked off the Dodgers. "I mean, this was the best Red Sox team in history. It's for (the media) to say, but, in so many ways, we're going to be very strong again next year. We have pretty much the whole team coming back.''

Asked what was this team's defining characteristic, Henry was quick to respond: "Unity, dedication, the sense of purpose that they had from the first day of spring training. In my mind, it showed all of us who were watching, what you can accomplish as a really diverse group of individuals.''

Henry was the numbers on his side. The 108 wins in the regular season were the most for any Red Sox club in history, and their total of 119 wins -- including 11 in the postseason -- makes them the second-winningest team to the 1998 New York Yankees, who won 125 -- 114 regular seasons games and another 11 in the postseason.

No less an authority than John Thorn, who serves as Major League Baseball's official historian, tweeted late Sunday night: "With 119 wins, they become (IMHO) the first club to challenge the 1998 Yankees as the best of the expansion era.''

That covers almost the last 60 years of baseball history. But going back more than a century to compare this team with the many others -- including seven others who won titles and many more who came perilously close -- is a tougher task.

Henry noted that the Sox were 7-2 against two 100-win teams - the Yankees in the ALDS and  Houston Astros in the ALCS, who also happened to be defending world champions until the Sox unseated them with three straight victories at the Astros'  home.

Then, the Sox made relatively quick work of the National League champion Dodgers, who might have been swept had not Eduardo Nunez tumbled into the stands or Ian Kinsler not made an ill-advised throw in the wee hours of Friday night/Saturday morning's marathon.

"As everyone said, they were just relentless throughout the season,'' said Henry. "But it was the unity and the sense of purpose. I've never said anything like it. It was the best group of guys. I don't want to take anything away from all the other teams, so I probably shouldn't say that.''

Indeed, the Sox seldom let up from the very start. They began 17-2. They never lost more than three games in a row. They never were more than two games out of first place. And they never let go of first place after July 2.

From the end of March until the last few days of October, they lost just 57 times.

"It's tremendous,'' marveled Henry. "I don't know what it is about these (Red Sox) teams in the World Series. What are we, 16-3 against the best teams in the National League? That's remarkable. But this one in my mind was easily the best.''

Winning a fourth time -- and doing so with relative ease against top competition -- served as vindication for ownership's decision to go over the every luxury tax threshold when it came to payroll. The Sox spent more money on salaries than any other MLB team -- but got rewarded for it.

"We really invested this year and went beyond where we probably should have financially,'' he said. "You can't do it all the time, but we were missing one piece (J.D. Martinez) this year and we went over our budget to do that.''