What if … A look at how Boston sports might’ve been different in 2013

You know the numbers. Each of the Big Four Boston sports teams have won a championship since 2004. Eight titles in all have been secured since 2001. That run of success is truly extraordinary. But you know what? It also lends itself to a lengthy list of what-ifs, for reasons both exhilarating and disappointing. The constant relevance leads to fascinating possibilities, not all of which come to fruition.

Skeptical? Then just consider our list of the biggest Boston sports what-ifs from 2013 alone. You’ll be convinced of how lucky we are, and how easily so many pivotal moments and moves could have gone differently.

What if the Red Sox had a different free agency plan (such as signing Josh Hamilton)?

This doesn’t count in hindsight, because it was the argument we made at the time: Signing free-agent outfielder Josh Hamilton last winter would have been a terrible way to make use of the financial gift the Dodgers provided the Red Sox by taking $240 million’s worth of contracts off their hands. To look at it another way: The Angels paid Hamilton $17 million last year to hit .250/.307/.432 with 21 homers. For that money, the Sox paid a year’s salary to Koji Uehara, Jonny Gomes, Mike Napoli and David Ross, excluding incentives. What happens if they sign Hamilton? Some other team is the World Champion, that’s what.

What if Game 6 of Stanley Cup Finals was 1:17 shorter?

The ultimate “what if?’’ The one that got away. I was sitting in the press area in the bowels of TD Garden for this one. It’s a place that really hammers home the weirdness of sports. Chicago writers sat watching the game on TVs needing only to hit “send’’ on their “Hawks lose’’ stories. The Bruins people spoke of flight arrangements for a likely Game 7. And then before we saw it, we heard it, a roar from above as hundreds of Blackhawks fans cheered the first goal with 1:16 left. Seventeen seconds later, Chicago took the lead and won the series.

If the Bruins had held on in Game 6, they would have had a tall task ahead of them. After being held to five goals in the first three games, Chicago had exploded for 12 in next three. Game 7 would have been on the road, and Patrice Bergeron was a walking WebMD diagram. Prediction here is the B’s would have lost Game 7 soundly, something like 4-2, crushing Boston’s dream’s just a short time later

– Gary Dzen

What if Tim Tebow made the team?

Remember that guy? In a stint so brief it could have been a snooze underneath a Gainesville palm tree, the Patriots signed Tim Tebow, then released him before the start of the regular season. Tebow completed 11 of 30 passes for 145 yards, two TDs, and two INTs in three preseason games.

What would have happened if he stayed on the roster? There might have been Tebow rumblings when Tom Brady seemed to be hiding his swollen hand during a Week 8 win over Miami. Gronk’s injuries? Steven Ridley’s fumbles? Nothing a little Tebow Time can’t fix. The scenarios in which fans would have called for Tebow throughout the season would have been insufferable.

But hey, at least the Patriots would have gotten some time on Sports Center.

– Gary Dzen

What if the Patriots had Emmanuel Sanders?

Sanders, the fourth-year receiver for the Steelers, isn’t a superstar, but he is a young player who keeps improving. Last year, he had 44 catches for 626 yards and 1 touchdown. This season, he’s upped those numbers to 63-707-5. His appeal to the Patriots was such that they signed him to an offer sheet as a restricted free agent in the offseason. The Steelers matched, and he returned to Pittsburgh. The Patriots’ offer to Sanders came a month after Wes Welker signed with Denver, and a couple of months before Aaron Hernandez was arrested and charged with murder. Tom Brady had to enter the season with a depleted and/or inexperienced receiver corps.

Presuming Sanders learned the playbook quickly, he’d have helped the Patriots in the early going, though he wouldn’t have had much if any effect on their won-lost record.

– Chad Finn

What if Patrice Bergeron was healthy in Finals?

The worst-kept secret on the Bruins is that Bergeron is the team’s best player. During the Stanley Cup Finals last season, though, Bergeron managed to keep his major injuries largely hidden from view. There was the torn rib cartilage he suffered in Game 4, a game which the Bruins, up 2-1 in the series, lost 6-5 in overtime. It doesn’t take much reaching to suggest a healthy Bergeron might have turned the tide in that one.

The Bruins center separated a shoulder in Game 5 and punctured a lung in Game 6, games in which the Bruins also lost. With Bergy healthy the B’s were 2-1. With him hurt they were 0-3.

If he was at full strength, the Bruins might have raised another Stanley Cup.

– Gary Dzen

What if the Patriots didn’t have all these injuries?

The final chapters of the 2013 Patriots are yet to be written, and this year’s team has proven to be nothing if not resilient. Yet there’s already a significant what-if quality attached to this season. The Patriots have been crushed by injuries to key players — nose tackle Vince Wilfork and linebacker Jerod Mayo were lost for the season early, taking away the heart of their stout run defense. And Rob Gronkowski, as dominant as ever after returning from offseason back and arm surgeries, was lost for this season and beyond in the season’s 13th game when he suffered a devastating knee injury against the Browns.

There still could be big things in store in a season in which the best teams appear to be in the NFC. But we can also say this with confidence: If the Patriots’ key players had all stayed healthy, there’s a great possibility they’d be heading to New York on February 2 as the AFC representative in the Super Bowl.

— Chad Finn

What if the Blue Jays didn’t release John Farrell?

Maybe coveting thy AL East neighbor’s manager is a baseball sin, but that didn’t prevent Ben Cherington from pursuing his longtime friend John Farrell as the Red Sox manager for two years — even though he was in charge of the Blue Jays. The Blue Jays would not let him go before the 2012 season, so blame them for the Lost Season of Bobby Valentine. But on October 20, 2012, they acquiesced, allowing Farrell to leave for the Red Sox, with pitcher David Carpenter also coming to Boston and shortstop Mike Aviles heading north.

Had the deal not happened, chances are Gene Lamont — whom Cherington preferred to Valentine a year before — or someone such as Torey Lovullo would have ended up with the job.

– Chad Finn

What if Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce stayed?

Brooklyn’s dismal start to the season should poke holes in the validity of this whole crystal ball thing, as no one but Finn saw that coming. But let’s say the Celtics and not the Nets were saddled with those two aging thoroughbreds. The guess here is that Doc Rivers, with the knowledge of what was to come and the freedom to choose, still would have left.

With Pierce and Garnett more inconsistent than we’ve ever seen, the Celtics wouldn’t be much better of a regular season team than they are now with Gerald Wallace and Kris Humphries. A little surge in the postseason would be a reasonable expectation, but where would our emotions be? Would fans get behind the old boys for one more run knowing that Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker were going elsewhere? As loyal as they are, C’s fans might have actually turned on their two superstars, as well as Danny Ainge, for holding them back.

– Gary Dzen

What if Jarome Iginla accepted the trade the first time around?

Hey, at least he recognized his mistake, right? Iginla, the longtime Calgary Flames scoring machine, nixed a trade to the Bruins last March, instead ending up with the Penguins because he thought they had a better chance of winning the Stanley Cup. So much for that — the Bruins swept the Penguins in the Eastern Conference Finals, limiting Iginla to exactly zero points in the series. A little more than three months later, he finally joined the Bruins, signing a one-year, $6 million deal in July.

Given how the Bruins dominated the Penguins and how much Iginla struggled, it’s hard imagine him making much of an impact last for the Bruins in the Stanley Cup Finals against the Blackhawks. Then again, had he scored just one goal, that would have been more than the Bruins’ Plan B, Jaromir Jagr, had in the entire postseason.

– Chad Finn

What if Wes Welker stayed?

At the start of this season, this one looked like a slam dunk. Welker had six touchdowns in his first four games as a Bronco, and with Danny Amendola hurt, it looked as though the Patriots had made the wrong move. That’s still somewhat the perception, as Amendola has just two touchdowns all season, but he’s been productive playing through pain, catching 10 passes for 131 yards vs. the Dolphins last week. What Welker’s departure has really done is sped up the arrival of Julian Edelman as an indispensable player. With Welker battling multiple concussions, the Patriots have put themselves in a better position without him.

– Gary Dzen

What if David Ortiz didn’t hit the granny?

It’s no exaggeration to say Ortiz’s hit was the turning point of the playoffs. The Sox were down 5-1 to the Tigers in the eighth inning of Game 2 of the ALCS and already trailing 1-0 in the series, They faced Justin Verlander in Game 3 and the next three games were on the road. If Ortiz doesn’t tie it there, he probably doesn’t get the chance to .688 in the World Series for the MVP award.

– Gary Dzen

What if Doc Rivers stayed?

Back to the reflective part of the program, let’s say Rivers decided to ride out his contract and stick with the Celtics for better or worse. Let’s say Pierce and Garnett still leave. What’s left is Doc, who doesn’t particularly like to give minutes to young, erratic players, coaching a bunch of young, erratic players. Our guesses as to what would happen, in bullet points:

— Avery Bradley would still be lost on offense

— Kelly Olynyk wouldn’t sniff the floor

— Keith Bogans would take Courtney Lee’s minutes

— Kris Humphries and Gerald Wallace would start

— Rajon Rondo wouldn’t get to hold a clipboard

– Gary Dzen

What if Jose Iglesias wasn’t traded?

Neither Iglesias nor Red Sox shorstop Stephen Drew hit much of anything in the postseason. But the real surprise was that Drew was the steadier defender, which proved crucial in the Red Sox’ ALCS victory over Iglesias and the Tigers. In the seventh inning of what would be the Red Sox’ clinching Game 6 victory at Fenway, the Tigers held a 2-1 lead and had two runners on with two outs. Miguel Cabrera hit a rocket up the middle against Junichi Tazawa, but Drew made a sensational play and threw Cabrera out. In the bottom half of the inning, Iglesias booted a grounder by Jacoby Ellsbury that could have gone as an inning-ending double play. Instead, the error loaded the bases for Shane Victorino, who promptly reminded us not to worry about a thing, crushing a grand slam into the Monster en route to victory.

I’m not saying the Red Sox wouldn’t have won the World Series had they kept Iglesias. But Drew came through defensively just before he did not, and both plays proved pivotal in the ALCS outcome.

– Chad Finn

What if the Patriots had beaten the Ravens?

In a season that mirrors the one taking place right now, the Patriots looked beatable throughout but rarely were. After steamrolling the Houston Texans, New England needed to beat only a Baltimore Ravens team that barely made it into the playoffs to go to the Super Bowl. It didn’t happen. Baltimore would go on to win the Super Bowl, beating a 49ers team whom the Patriots figured out in the second half of their regular season meeting.

If the Pats had gotten out of the AFC, they’d be holding a fourth trophy right now, and Welker might still be here.

– Gary Dzen

What if Aaron Hernandez was on the roster?

First, let’s be clear. Acknowledging that losing Hernandez has affected the Patriots this season is not in any way intended to dismiss or diminish what he is alleged to have done. That said, if you’re a Patriots fan and you’re telling us you haven’t wondered how this season would be different had Hernandez not been arrested and charged with the murder of Odin Lloyd in July, well, we’re not sure we buy it. Hernandez was an essential member of the Patriots offense, a versatile tight end who provided a matchup mismatch all over the field.

The Patriots offense wouldn’t have struggled nearly as much early in the season had he still been a part of it.

– Chad Finn

What if Rajon Rondo didn’t get hurt?

We’d never have gotten that ridiculous “they’re better without Rondo’’ argument, for one. Without their point guard, the world-beating Celtics entered the playoffs at 41-40 and lost to the Knicks in the first round of the playoffs in six games. That may not have happened with Rondo healthy, but the next round vs. Indiana would have gone exactly the same as it did to the Knicks: bye bye.

This season, Rondo’s injury really hasn’t held the Celtics back much at all, and the Celtics wouldn’t exactly be going for broke if Rondo were healthy. Basically, nothing’s changed.

– Gary Dzen

What if the Patriots didn’t trade for LeGarrette Blount?

Blount, the former 1,000-yard rusher acquired from Tampa Bay in April for kick returner/Olympic sprinter Jeff Demps, has proven a valuable addition to the Patriots’ running attack. In 14 games, he’s run for 507 yards on 113 carries, a 4.5 average. Of course, that’s just a workload of eight carries per game, and while he’s picked up some of the slack since Stevan Ridley fumbled his way into the doghouse, it’s fair to wonder whether his biggest impact is yet to come.

Blount’s bruising style– similar to that of Antowain Smith, who won two rings with the Patriots — suggests his role could grow as the stakes get higher and the temperatures lower.

– Chad Finn