Editing Boston Red Sox (section)

====2002–03====
[[File:2003-09-25 - Fenway Park 11.jpg|thumb|right|The Red Sox celebrate their clinching of the 2003 AL Wild Card with a victory over the [[2003 Baltimore Orioles season|Baltimore Orioles]]]]
{{Main|2002 Boston Red Sox season|2003 Boston Red Sox season}}
In 2002, the Red Sox were sold by Yawkey trustee and president Harrington to [[New England Sports Ventures]], a consortium headed by principal owner [[John W. Henry|John Henry]]. [[Tom Werner]] served as executive chairman, [[Larry Lucchino]] served as president and CEO, and serving as vice-chairman was [[Les Otten]]. [[Dan Duquette]] was fired as GM of the club on February 28, with former Angels GM [[Mike Port]] taking the helm for the 2002 season. A week later, manager [[Joe Kerrigan]] was fired and was replaced by [[Grady Little]].

While nearly all offseason moves were made under Duquette, such as signing outfielder [[Johnny Damon]] away from the [[Oakland Athletics]], the new ownership made additions such as outfielder [[Cliff Floyd]] and relief pitcher [[Alan Embree]]. Nomar Garciaparra, Manny Ramírez, and Floyd all hit well, while Pedro Martínez put up his usual outstanding numbers. Derek Lowe, newly converted into a starter, won 20 games—becoming the first player to save 20 games and win 20 games in back-to-back seasons.

After failing to reach the playoffs, Port was replaced by [[Yale University]] graduate [[Theo Epstein]]. Epstein, raised in [[Brookline, Massachusetts]], and just 28 at the time of his hiring, became the youngest general manager in MLB history.

The [[2003 Boston Red Sox season|2003 team]] was known as the "Cowboy Up" team, a nickname derived from first baseman [[Kevin Millar]]'s challenge to his teammates to show more determination.<ref name="Cowboyup">{{Cite news|url=https://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2003/09/24/rallying_cry_spurs_sox_to_finish_ride/|work=The Boston Globe|date=September 24, 2003|title=Rallying Cry Spurs Sox To Finish Ride|first=Joseph P.|last=Kahn}}</ref> In the [[2003 American League Division Series]], the Red Sox rallied from a 0–2 series deficit against the [[2003 Oakland Athletics season|Athletics]] to win the best-of-five series. Derek Lowe returned to his former relief pitching role to save Game 5, a 4–3 victory. The team then faced the [[2003 New York Yankees season|Yankees]] in the [[2003 American League Championship Series]]. In Game 7, Boston led 5–2 in the eighth inning, but Pedro Martínez allowed three runs to tie the game. The Red Sox could not score off [[Mariano Rivera]] over the last three innings and eventually lost the game 6–5 when Yankee third baseman [[Aaron Boone]] hit a solo home run off [[Tim Wakefield]]. Some placed the blame for the loss on manager Grady Little<ref name=Gradyjob>{{Cite news|url=https://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2003/10/23/little_unsure_he_wants_job/|title=Boston Globe, Little unsure he wants job|first=Gordon|last=Edes|date=October 23, 2003|newspaper=The Boston Globe|author-link=Gordon Edes}}</ref> for failing to remove starting pitcher Martínez in the 8th inning after some observers believe he began to show signs of tiring. It was stated by Epstein that the decision to not renew Little's contract was "made on a body of work after careful contemplation of the big picture...did not depend on any one decision in any one postseason game."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2018/10/16/17982722/grady-little-pedro-martinez-15-year-anniversary-2003-alcs|title=Revisiting the Grady Little Game, 15 Years Later|first=Ben|last=Lindbergh|date=October 16, 2018|website=The Ringer}}</ref> Boston would hire former [[Philadelphia Phillies]] manager [[Terry Francona]] to manage the 2004 season.