A pretty good decade

After painting the bathroom yesterday and an unpleasant appointment this morning, Christine and I are quietly taking in the end of the year and decade at home.

Besides scheming of ways to steal back the trophy from the Empire in 2010, we will look back on what may likely be the greatest decade ever for SoxandPhils fans. Our teams won 30 percent of the World Series this decade and lost a fourth.

Leaving the 1990s, our teams were underachievers that each faced their own problems. The Red Sox couldn't beat the Yankees and the Phillies couldn't get to the playoffs. Now, the Red Sox have a true rivalry with the Yankees that for a change includes the Red Sox with the upper hand in "biggest collapse ever." And the Phillies are now seen as prohibitive favorites to extend their three-year run of winning the NL East, if not their two consecutive NL pennants.

Neither of our teams is quite the Yankees: They don't buy a big name to fill every roster spot. Yes, they'll get a Roy Halladay, but they have to sacrifice a Cliff Lee to get him. Yes, they'll sign a John Lackey, but that means they won't retain a Jason Bay. Our teams have become well-run organizations that make smart decisions to perennially keep our teams among baseball's elite.

It's a transformation that occurred in the 2000s, but you get the feeling that it's set up to last throughout the 2010s.

Survivors: Instead of going position by position for the SoxandPhils team of the decade, I thought I would just give a special honor to the two players who most resemble the ideals of the SoxandPhils over the last decade: Jimmy Rollins and Tim Wakefield. A team full of those guys may not be the most dominant, but it would win more than it loses and it would never quit and ooze class.

Look back: Opening day lineups for the 2000 Red Sox and Phillies:

2000 Red Sox: Jose Offerman 2B, John Valentin 3B, Carl Everett CF, Nomar Garciaparra SS, Mike Stanley 1B, Troy O'Leary LF, Gary Gaetti DH, Jason Varitek C, Darren Lewis RF, Pedro Martinez P. (They beat Jamie Moyer and the Mariners.)

2000 Phillies: Doug Glanville CF, Ron Gant LF, Scott Rolen 3B, Mike Lieberthal C, Kevin Jordan 2B, Rico Brogna 1B, Kevin Sefcik RF, Desi Relaford SS, Andy Ashby P.

How do you think those lineups would fare against their counterparts of the latter part of the decade?

Happy New Year!