{"id":122233,"date":"2025-08-06T00:23:16","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T00:23:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/122233\/"},"modified":"2025-08-06T00:23:16","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T00:23:16","slug":"surging-red-sox-trying-to-recapture-2018-mojo-with-new-version-of-win-wall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/122233\/","title":{"rendered":"Surging Red Sox trying to recapture 2018 mojo with new version of \u2018win wall\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

BOSTON \u2014 Tucked off in a corner, near the doorway where players enter the Boston Red Sox clubhouse, six rows of neatly organized Polaroid-style pictures sit on wooden ledges screwed into the wall. Each snapshot captures a victory this season. After the Red Sox beat the Royals 8-5 on Monday night, there were 63.<\/p>\n

Garrett Crochet pumping his fist after his first Fenway win. Roman Anthony swatting his first big-league homer. Ceddanne Rafaela, arms wide, skipping toward home plate to meet his teammates after a walk-off homer. Multiple Wally Head celebrations in the dugout.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of different faces up there,\u201d shortstop Trevor Story said. \u201cI think that\u2019s a sign of a good team. Someone is playing a different hero every single win. You get to relive it every time you walk by.\u201d<\/p>\n

They\u2019re snapshots of a hard-fought season, with an ending that has yet to be told. When wins were few and far between early in the season, many players hardly noticed the new clubhouse wall display. But as the Red Sox began to turn a corner from a seesaw of wins and losses over the first three months to a 17-7 July, during which they strung together 10 wins in a row, the win wall took shape.<\/p>\n

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After every game, photographer Maggie Malhotra prints the photo, then labels it with the score and opponent. (Sarah Boeke\/ Boston Red Sox)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s cool,\u201d Story said. \u201cIt\u2019s a great little reminder as you go in and out of the clubhouse, you get to see the guys, and it\u2019s kind of an affirmation for the hard work.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the idea sounds familiar, it\u2019s because it\u2019s a reprisal of a project from seven years ago<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In 2018, as a first-year manager in Boston, Alex Cora\u2019s office was decorated with 8\u00d712 photos from each win that season. No one knew at the start of that year it would become the winningest season in Red Sox history or that the club would claim its ninth World Series title. It was a unique project that grew organically and offered something for the players to reflect on whenever they stepped into Cora\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

Reviving the project wasn\u2019t at the top of Cora\u2019s mind entering this season, but in spring training, when the team had its annual meeting with ownership, Fenway Sports Group partner Linda Henry reminisced about the wall with Cora.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was like, you know what, we should do it,\u201d Cora said. \u201cIt\u2019s a fun way to recognize the guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no expectation that this new version of the project will repeat the magic of 2018. Rather, there is something to be said, in the midst of a long season, for a visual aid of what winning looks like.<\/p>\n

The 2025 version is similar, but different. There are no players from the 2018 team still here; Rafael Devers, the lone holdover at the start of the year, was traded in June. In fact, just Cora and bench coach Ram\u00f3n V\u00e1zquez remain from the on-field personnel. The 2018 team was a juggernaut, rolling past opponents. The 2025 team floundered for much of the first half, dealt with the Devers drama and endured injuries to key players.<\/p>\n

For a while, there weren\u2019t many photos on the wall.<\/p>\n

Jarren Duran, who was drafted in 2018, had no idea about the win wall from the World Series run.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s pretty cool,\u201d he noted. \u201cWe\u2019ll try to get the mojo of 2018. Everybody\u2019s chipping in, so I like to see that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cora was open to a new version of the win wall but wanted it to be different from the original. Rather than have it displayed in his office, he wanted the photos in the clubhouse, among the players, for everyone to see more easily. Team photographer Maddie Malhotra suggested the Polaroid-style snapshots to go along with a vintage theme the social media team has implemented this season. (Case in point: They\u2019ve had some players record video on camcorders this season.) Like her predecessor Billie Weiss, who chose the photos for the 2018 wall and hung them in Cora\u2019s office, Malhotra runs point on the 2025 version.<\/p>\n

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After each win, she\u2019ll choose a photo from whichever photographer shot the game that night, including staff photographer Rachel O\u2019Driscoll or interns Clay Stark and Sarah Boeke. The photographers are not at every road game, so in that case, they\u2019ll use photos from the Associated Press or Getty Images.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just kind of drawing on big moments, big plays, milestones for guys, or sometimes it\u2019s just like our favorite photo that day,\u201d Malhotra said. \u201cOne that feels reflective of that day\u2019s storyline.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Malhotra chooses the photo, she prints it, dates and labels it on the back with the score and opponent \u2014 \u201cI double check my work, I\u2019m always counting,\u201d she quipped \u2014 and props it up on the ledge near the door.<\/p>\n

Each ledge fits 11 photos, so if she doesn\u2019t realize how close she\u2019s gotten to the end of the ledge, she\u2019ll have to wait for the Fenway Park facilities team to make a new ledge before the next set of photos can be displayed.<\/p>\n

When the team is on the road and the home clubhouse is used for concerts or other events, clubhouse manager Tommy McLaughlin takes down the five dozen or so photos and stores them in an envelope in his office adjacent to where they\u2019re displayed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want them to disappear or get knocked down or someone not knowing what they are take one with them,\u201d McLaughlin said.<\/p>\n

When the team returns, he makes sure to put each photo back in order. The dates on the back are a crucial element for this step.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just some added flavor to the clubhouse that we didn\u2019t have before, I like it,\u201d Duran said.<\/p>\n

With fewer than 50 games to play and the Red Sox on a six-game winning streak, there\u2019s no telling what the wall will look like in two months. Either way, it will tell a story.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery win, it\u2019s a good day,\u201d Vazquez said. \u201cEven when they\u2019re not pretty, you learn from them, so it\u2019s nice to see the photos.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Photos: Sarah Boeke \/ Boston Red Sox)<\/p>\n