Mookie Betts, Chris Sale reminisce during the 2018 Red Sox season

Mookie Betts and Chris Sale have been very successful with the Dodgers and the Braves, respectively, since the end of their mandates with the Red Sox.

But the starry voltireur and the starting launcher always have good memories of their stay in Boston – especially during a 2018 season which ended with 108 victories and a title of the World Series.

“I just remember to present myself at the park, and every day was like” we are going to win “,” said Betts on “We base with Mookie Betts” during a conversation with dirty. “Every day we have just beat the brakes and returned home. I remember a section when it was like, every day, we just came, and we beat our brakes, and we got home.

” And [Alex] Cora had it where we hang out in the clubhouse … and we arrive at the playoffs, and we simply sprayed them. »»

The Red Sox 2018 were one of the best MLB teams gathered with recent memory, becoming the first Boston club to win 100 games in a single season since 1946. Boston jumped to a record of 21-7 in March and April, which set the tone for a season when the Red Sox was not challenged for first place in Al East.

Betts has paved the way for Red Sox this season, winning Al MVP honors after hitting .346 with 47 doubles, 32 circuits, 80 products and 129 points scored.

The free agent’s pick-up JD Martinez changed the DH spot after hitting .330 with 43 circuits and 130 points produced in the league, while other alignment stars included Xander Bogaerts, Andrew Benintendi, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Rafael Devers.

The sale (12-4, 2.11 ERA) anchored a rotation of the Red Sox which also featured David Price, Nathan Eovaldi, Rick Porcello and Eduardo Rodriguez, while Craig Kibrel opened the way to the enclosure of the Boston enclosures.

“There was really no panic,” said dirty. “And the playoffs are very under pressure, I mean, it is a tense environment. I think the path [Cora] Organized this team, there have been a few points in the year you are looking for your eyes, and you say to yourself: “guy, we are the most nasty team in the League.” “”

While the Red Sox struggled to reproduce the success of 2018, Betts won two other World Series titles with the Dodgers in 2020 and 2024 – while Sale won the NL Cy Young Award in its first season with the Braves in 2024.

Conor Ryan is a screenwriter covering Bruins, Celtics, Patriots and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has occupied since 2023.