Welcome back to this century, wherein we conclude our journey through the thousands.

After covering the Red Sox’s first-ever victory and wins No. 1,000 through 3,000 in Part 1, and 4,000 through 7,000 in Part 2, we arrive in the current millennium for the home stretch.

No. 8,000 — May 8, 2002 (12-6 at Oakland A’s)

Red Sox manager: Grady Little

President of the United States: George W. Bush

“Time is a flat circle,” Matthew McConaughey’s character Rust Cohle opines, like a modern-day Friedrich Nietzsche, in the TV show “True Detective.”

The A’s being such a recurring part of this saga feels like more than mere happenstance, but sports seasons are also inherently repetitive; this was especially true in the pre-expansion decades when the Red Sox and A’s were two of only eight original American League charter clubs.

Coincidence or not, the Red Sox achieved their first thousandth win of the 21st century the same way they announced their arrival in the 20th century: with a road victory over the Athletics.

Further highlighting the long and intertwined history between the two clubs, longtime A’s star Rickey Henderson was batting leadoff for the Red Sox. Johnny Damon, who’d played for the A’s the year before, was batting second. Manager Grady Little’s starting nine also included Nomar Garciaparra, Manny Ramirez batting cleanup and DH’ing, ‘24 Red Sox Hall of Fame inductee Trot Nixon in right, and future captain and current coach Jason Varitek behind the dish. Despite giving up three earned runs, including a pair of homers, right-hander John Burkett went six innings and improved to 3-0 on the season.

Leading off for the A’s was Jeremy Giambi, who was less than two weeks away from being traded to the Phillies. Philadelphia flipped him to the Red Sox during the offseason. Originally projected to be Boston’s primary DH, Giambi soon lost that job to fellow newcomer David Ortiz.

Scott Hatteberg, Miguel Tejada, and Carlos Peña, who went on to play for the ‘06 Red Sox, were also in the ‘Moneyball’ era A’s lineup that night.

Compared to the team they beat that night, the Red Sox were the picture of consistency. The Athletics’ Philadelphia and Kansas City days were decades in the rear view mirror by then; Oakland and the Coliseum had been their home since 1968. Columbia Park, the site of that first-ever Boston Americans win in 1901, was long gone. So was Shibe Park/Connie Mack Stadium, where the Red Sox had won their 4,000th game. In fact, the only ballpark on this list that was still standing at the turn of the millennium was that little emerald cathedral in Boston.

But there were many significant changes in the Red Sox universe between their 7,000th and 8,000th victories, too. Fenway wasn’t the only brand-new ballpark opening its doors for the first time on April 20, 1912; they’d shared that birthday with Tiger Stadium, and as other ballparks around the majors rose and fell throughout the 20th century, the two AL clubs stood the test of time.

Until Sept. 27, 1999, when the Tigers played their final game at Tiger Stadium and the Red Sox entered the new millennium in sole possession of the oldest ballpark in Major League Baseball.

At the time, it looked like Fenway would soon meet the same fate. But on Jan. 17, 2002, Major League Baseball owners approved the sale of the Red Sox, owned by Tom Yawkey, his wife Jean, or the trust bearing her initials since 1933, to what is now Fenway Sports Group. And rather than demolish the Boston ballpark, the John Henry-led ownership opted to save, and spent lavishly to repair and upgrade Fenway.

Less than two months after the Red Sox won their 8,000th game, the franchise mourned the loss of its greatest player. Theodore Samuel Williams, the “Splendid Splinter,” the greatest hitter to ever don a Boston uniform, passed away on July 5, 2002.

It was, in another odd coincidence, the 51st anniversary of the Red Sox’s 4,000th win (though Williams did not play).

And 23 years to the day of Teddy Ballgame’s passing, the Red Sox would complete their 10,000th.

No. 9,000 — May 10, 2013 (5-0, Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park)

Red Sox manager: John Farrell

President of the United States: Barack Obama

It is a mark of how dominant the Red Sox were for most of the 2000s and 2010s that they reached their 9,000th win 11 years and two days after their 8,000th, the shortest amount of time on this list.

That’s what happens when you have guys like Pedro Martinez, David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez and Dustin Pedroia on your teams.

And Jon Lester, who was the star of this particular victory and so many others.

On a Fenway Friday in May 2013, the homegrown ace tossed a complete-game shutout, a dazzling display as close to a perfect game as can be: five perfect innings, and only one hit in the remaining four.

Lester had been here before. Almost exactly two years prior, and less than a year after returning to the game after lymphoma treatment cost him 11 months, he’d no-hit the Kansas City Royals at Fenway on May 19, 2008.

The Red Sox entered May 10, 2013 in first place, though it was a three-way tie with the Yankees and Orioles. Even so, attendance was 33,606, several thousand below night-game capacity. Fenway Park’s streak of 794 consecutive regular-season sellouts — dating all the way back to May 15, 2003 — had ended on April 8, 2013. Chalk that up, at least partially, to the club’s appalling 2012 campaign: a 69-93 finish under one-and-done manager Bobby Valentine.

The Boston Marathon Bombing the month before had galvanized the club, but it was still too early to tell, on that day in May, where they were headed.

Few could have predicted that just over five months later, the “Boston Strong” Red Sox would clinch their first championship at Fenway in 95 years to complete a worst-to-first campaign that was so much bigger than baseball; a love letter to a city that had loved its team through decades, disasters, delights, and everything in between

Win No. 10,000 — July 5, 2025 (10-3 at Washington Nationals)

Red Sox manager: Alex Cora

President of the United States: Donald Trump

This one just happened. Do you really need a refresher already?

The road ahead

With the National League (1876) being a quarter of a century older than the American League (1901), five teams — the San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, and Atlanta Braves — have already surpassed 11,000 wins. The Cincinnati Reds entered Saturday with 10,985 regular-season wins, with the Pittsburgh Pirates (10,878) and New York Yankees (10,831) not too far behind. The Philadelphia Phillies, baseball’s oldest continuous franchise (same city and name since 1883), are the only other team ahead of Boston.

A total of 124 years, two months, and five days separated the Red Sox’s first-ever and 10,000th victories. They averaged 4,535.7 days, or just under 12.42 years, between each thousandth win. Thus, we can extrapolate that they will reach 11,000 around 2037.

What might the world look like then? Or Major League Baseball?

May we all be so fortunate as to find out.