The year 2023 won’t be remembered fondly among Red Sox fans, but across baseball as a whole this was a banner season that saw the game take big steps forward after years of stagnation and strife.

With the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockout fully in the rearview mirror, baseball turned its focus to the future and embraced long-overdue changes that helped reinvigorate the sport. The result was one of the most exciting seasons in recent memory.

Now as the calendar turns to 2024, here are some of baseball’s biggest and most important highlights of the past year.

Pitch clock changes the game

Every year it seemed like the games kept getting longer. There were more pitching changes, more stoppages and every pitch felt like an interminable slog. With apologies to Rob Bradford, baseball was getting boring, and even the sport’s most ardent diehards had to admit something needed to change.

Enter the pitch clock, which immediately helped set the game back on the right path.

It’s impossible to overstate the pitch clock’s impact on the sport. Without all that dead time games moved at a much quicker pace, with the same amount of action now condensed into a more enjoyable viewing experience. Shorter games also meant fewer games dragging deep into the night, which made it easier for fans to stay up and watch even when they had school or work the next morning.

Overall the average length of a nine-inning game dropped to 2 hours and 40 minutes, a 24-minute decrease from 2022, and according to MLB the sport also saw a spike in batting average and the most stolen bases in nearly 40 years. Even though the Red Sox still averaged some of the longest games in MLB, their games went from a bloated 3:11 to a much more manageable 2:45.

The pitch clock still has its critics, especially among players who feel it has contributed to a rise in pitcher injuries, but there’s no denying it’s had the desired effect on improving baseball’s lackadaisical pace.

Rangers end 62-year drought

A decade ago it looked as if Texas’ time had finally come. The Rangers made back-to-back World Series in 2010-11 and in the latter instance came within one strike of finishing off the St. Louis Cardinals. Then the birds rallied in stunning fashion, and the Rangers were left to wonder how it all slipped away.

This time Texas wouldn’t be denied.

This October the Rangers ended one of baseball’s longest title droughts, winning their first World Series in franchise history by beating the Arizona Diamondbacks in a decisive five-game beatdown. Having overcome a brutal run of injuries that nearly kept them out of the playoffs entirely, Texas rolled through the postseason and went undefeated in road playoff games, capping off its run with a 5-0 shutout in the clinching Game 5 at Chase Field.

With the win Bruce Bochy earned his fourth World Series victory as a manager, and the franchise snapped a 62-year title drought stretching back to the club’s founding as the Washington Senators in 1961. The club relocated to the Dallas-Fort Worth area and became the Rangers in 1972, and now Texas is well set up to contend for another championship in the coming years.

An all-time World Baseball Classic

Before the season even began fans were treated to an incredible showcase, as many of baseball’s biggest stars represented their countries in what was likely the most successful international baseball tournament ever held.

By most measures the 2023 World Baseball Classic was a triumph, featuring historic attendance and television viewership along with one of the most competitive fields since the tournament was established in 2006. You had the Group of Death featuring powerhouses like the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Venezuela, along with Cinderella stories like Italy and Australia, each of whom beat out much larger baseball nations to advance to the knockout rounds.

Finally it all culminated in an epic showdown between the defending champion Team USA and Samurai Japan, which was fittingly decided by former Angels teammates Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout facing off against one another with the game on the line for the first time in their careers. Ohtani got the better of the three-time MVP, clinching Japan’s victory and cementing his status as one of Japan’s all-time sporting legends.

Ohtani, Acuña deliver seasons for the ages

Ohtani, obviously, was only just getting started. Once the season began he resumed his assault on baseball history and turned in his third straight season as a two-way cheat code.

At the plate Ohtani remained one of baseball’s most dangerous hitters, batting .304 with 44 home runs, 95 RBI, 20 stolen bases and an MLB-best 1.066 OPS, and on the mound he was likely on pace for a second-straight top-five Cy Young finish before getting hurt in August. Even still, he went 10-5 with a 3.14 ERA and 167 strikeouts in 132 innings (23 starts), and after the season he was unanimously named A.L. MVP for the second time in his career.

Meanwhile, Atlanta Braves five-tool superstar Ronald Acuña Jr. turned in a historic campaign of his own, becoming the first player in history to record 40 home runs and 70 stolen bases in a season.

Before Acuña, nobody had ever even had a 40-50 season, much less 40-70.

Acuña won N.L. MVP honors unanimously as well, shunting aside a challenge from Dodgers great Mookie Betts that would have been an easy MVP case in almost any other year. Now with Ohtani jumping to the Dodgers the two figure to go head to head in many MVP races to come, and probably some big playoff series in October as well.

Miguel Cabrera wraps up historic career

Miguel Cabrera will go down as one of the greatest players in baseball history, and though he’s long past his prime, it was still special seeing him take the field one last time.

Throughout his final season, and especially down the stretch in September, Cabrera was showered with love from fans at every park he visited. He received a standing ovation from the crowd during his last at bat at Fenway Park in August, and on Sept. 27 he hit the last home run of his career in an 8-0 home win over the Kansas City Royals.

The final career numbers for Cabrera: a .306 average, 3,174 hits, 511 home runs, 1,881 RBI, .901 OPS, two MVPs, 12 All-Star nods, four batting titles, the first Triple Crown since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967 and a World Series championship as a rookie in 2003. That resume should comfortably earn Cabrera enshrinement in Cooperstown five years from now.

Young Sox stars step up

This past season brought mostly lowlights for the Red Sox, but one encouraging development was the strides taken by several young up-and-comers who the club hopes to build around for years to come.

Jarren Duran, who had almost become an afterthought after two failed call-ups in 2021 and 2022, finally delivered on his immense promise and established himself as a potential top-of-the-order fixture. Triston Casas also proved his worth as a longtime top prospect, finishing third in the Rookie of the Year vote while posting a monster second half, and Brayan Bello took a giant leap forward to establish himself as Boston’s best starting pitcher at just 24 years old.

Those three should play a major role for Boston going forward, but just as encouraging as their progress in the big leagues was the breakout enjoyed in the minors by Roman Anthony. In his first full professional season the 19-year-old outfielder elevated himself from an intriguing recent draft pick to a Top 20 overall prospect, and if he continues on his current trajectory it’s not crazy to imagine he could be starting in Boston as soon as 2025.

Between the three who have already arrived and the big prospects rising through the ranks, the future is looking bright for the Red Sox even as the present remains frustrating.

Dodgers load up for big 2024

Coming into the offseason there were two obvious prizes up for grabs on the free agent market, Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

The Dodgers got them both.

If there were ever any doubts over their place as baseball’s premier organization, the Dodgers put them to rest with a forceful offseason that should ensure Los Angeles goes into 2024 as heavy World Series favorites. Between Ohtani, Yamamoto, fellow newcomer Tyler Glasnow and returning stars like Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, the Dodgers have assembled a veritable super team, and more could still be on the way.

Can anyone else compete? Of course, this is baseball. People felt similarly about the New York Mets and San Diego Padres after their big offseasons last year, and the Atlanta Braves aren’t exactly a pushover in the National League. Still, by committing more than $1 billion in future payroll to bolstering what was already a loaded roster, the Dodgers have planted their flag at the center of the baseball world and thrown down the gauntlet to the rest of the league.

Whether or not anyone else can keep up will be one of the dominant stories of 2024. Buckle up.