Millar On Toucher & Rich: 'Teams Win Championships, Not Players'
BOSTON (CBS) - Former Red Sox first baseman and current MLB Network analyst Kevin Millar talked to 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher & Rich Monday morning about the World Series champs and how the winning culture that started in 2004 is back in Boston.
Millar said the Red Sox completed a worst-to-first turnaround by bringing in "straight-up ball players" like Shane Victorino and Jonny Gomes, and it's something other general managers will take notice of this off-season.
"You'll have GMs figure out it's not about getting that pretty boy or highest paid player. Teams win championships, not players," said Millar. "Intangibles and chemistry are two words that, I don't know how much that means, but you better start looking at those two words. Intangibles of the player, and chemistry of the team, because you're looking at a team that won 69 games last year, last place with Bobby Valentine saying all that baloney, and then they bring in John Farrell and let guys be who they are. It was an incredible story."
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Millar said Gomes brought a lot of the same things to the table that he did back in 2004.
"He's a guy that can get the most out of his teammates by just being 'that guy,'" said Millar. "There's a little bit of my role in '04; we weren't the greatest player, but if you drink your own Kool-Aid and get guys to drink your Kool-Aid, it's about winning that game tonight.
"It has nothing to do with who is going to hit 30 home runs or nothing to do with you salary, it's about winning the game tonight. Gomes brought a lot of the same culture that we had back, and a lot of smiles to the fans," said Millar.
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Millar also clears up the thought that he doesn't have to buy his own food and drinks around Boston, and what his World Series celebration was like:
Kevin Millar On Red Sox' Winning Culture
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