1.  Good Reliable Pitching.

Off-season Import Daisuke Matsuzaka, and Josh Beckett have been the two best pitchers on the redsox this year going a combined 34-18. While Josh Beckett has an outstanding strikeout rate recording 188 strike outs in 194 innings. Josh Beckett has also dropped his Home run totals from 33 last year to only 15 this year. While Matsuzaka will also be important as he leads the team in innings pitched and games seen. But, there could be problems with the pitching staff this post-season, and it also includes two 40 year-old pitchers with each with 150+ innings this year. Tim Wakefield and Curt Schilling, Schilling has already had injury problems this season and will most-likely not be a factor. So Its very important that Julian Tavarez and Kyle Lester be ready to make a spot start or come in for an important long-relief outing.

   2. Strong bullpen

Although The 51 million dollars awarded to Daisuke Matsuzaka was fuel to the hype machine for Matsuzaka. Few people realize just how important Hideki Okajima has been this year for the Red Sox; he has the lowest ERA in the redsox bullpen, second only to Jonathon papelbon. Although, as a true a closer Papelbon is typically coming into the game to start the ninth inning, where as Okajima is pulled into the game with one, two, or three men on base. He has also pitched a full twelve more innings than anyone else. As good as Okajima has been, Jonathon Papelbon as provided the second part of a great one-two punch at the back of the Red Sox bullpen. His strike-out to walk ratio is amazing striking out 83 batters in just 57 innings, while only walking 15.

   3. High on base percantages up and down the line-up

Outside of Julio Lugo, who has been a major disappointment. Everyone on the Redsox has a .332, which means that on average everyone on there team is getting on base once every three at-bats. Also on top of that six members of there line-up have an OBP of .370 or higher, including David Ortiz who has a whopping .465 OBP. One major problem for the RedSox lineup will be filling the major hole left in there line-up by Manny Ramirez's extreme drop-off in production this year, his OPS (on-base percentage + Slugging) has dropped considerably in the past season from his career average of 1.002 all the way down to .881. His once elite power has almost fallen off the map as he failed to hit at least 30 home runs for the first time since 1995, a goal he fail well short of only blasting 20 homeruns. Its sad to see, but it looks like Manny Ramirez Decline has finally happened, and at the age of 35 I cant say I'm surprised, but for the past 15 years Manny Ramirez has been at least one of the top five hitters in baseball, and he should be remembered as on of the top ten hitters of all time.