LOS ANGELES – Sure, there’s still 82 more years remaining, but for now, the Boston Red Sox are baseball’s franchise of the century.

The Red Sox claimed their fourth title in 15 seasons Sunday night, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 in Game 5. And as the celebration unfolded on the field and in the visitor’s clubhouse at Dodger Stadium, the question was no longer whether Boston has been Major League Baseball’s most consistently excellent franchise.

The question is, which Red Sox team among their four championship squads since 2004 is the greatest?

For Red Sox fans, this could amount to choosing which child is their favorite. And as baseball continues evolving at a breakneck pace, the team’s four titlists practically hail from distinct eras, making comparisons challenging.

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“I like the starting pitching we had in 2004,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, famously a key reserve on that squad, before Game 5. “But offensively, (2018) is very balanced, very athletic, probably more athletic than the teams that I remember, considerably better defensively.

“The baserunning, the threat to steal a base, up and down the lineup. The bullpen strength and the arms, that's real.”

So, how does this 119-win World Series champion stack up against the three that preceded it?

One impeachable ranking:

No. 4: 2013

If 2004’s breakthrough team was the Idiots, just call this group the Aberrations. Their 97-win season was wedged between 2012’s 93-loss team and 2014’s 91-loss squad, and bouncing back was the them for several players. Oft-injured outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury stayed healthy and productive, taking a .355 on-base percentage and 52 stolen bases into free agency. Pitchers Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz boosted the team to a 20-9 start and the division was put away by early September.

Some odd-fitting veteran parts – Shane Victorino, Jonny Gomes, David Ross, Mike Napoli – fused around Red Sox legend David Ortiz, who produced a .309, 30-homer, 109-RBI season and then went nuts in the playoffs. His Game 2 grand slam rescued them against the Detroit Tigers in the ALCS, and then he produced an all-time great World Series: 11 hits in 16 at-bats, two homers, a .760 on-base percentage.

Why they’re No. 4: Pitching, mostly. Their World Series hero was John Lackey, who won Game 1 and 6, and had an underwhelming 3.52 regular season ERA, the best mark among pitchers with more than 16 starts. The Rays-Tigers-Cardinals playoff gauntlet wasn’t exactly a murderer’s row.

No. 3: 2004

Seems like sacrilege to put these guys so low, huh? Well, they’re the lone wild card team in the bunch, during an era when there was no wild-card game to survive, though their 98 wins are nothing to dismiss. A glance at their offensive stats reveals that it was a very different era, indeed: The team hit 222 home runs and scored 949. But their pitching staff was easily punishable, too: Tim Wakefield and Derek Lowe combined to make 63 starts, yet boasted ERA-plus marks of 99 and 89. Their bullpen lacked a significant swing-and-miss element, though closer Keith Foulke’s changeup was nasty enough to ride all the way through October.

As amazing as the comeback from 3-0 in the ALCS was, it’s easy to forget the Red Sox also gave up 10 and 19 runs to the Yankees in that series, and nine runs to the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series opener. Sure, it was a powerball era. But run prevention wasn’t necessarily this group’s forte.

No. 2: 2007

The best of two eras, really: Plenty of leftovers from the 2004 champs like Ortiz, Manny Ramirez (who hit an ALDS-ending walkoff shot), Jason Varitek (who posted a .367 OBP) and even Curt Schilling, who at 40 won Game 2 of the World Series against the Colorado Rockies. Meanwhile, rookie Dustin Pedroia batted .317 with a .380 OBP, Kevin Youkilis produced an .843 OPS and Lester returned from cancer in time to take a shutout into the sixth inning of the World Series clincher. Another rookie, Jonathan Papelbon, was probably the greatest closer of the championship quartet: He struck out 84 in 58 1/3 regular season innings and then did not give up an earned run in seven postseason appearances, racking up four saves.

“We had David and Manny and Pedey was amazing. Youk was good,” Boston manager Alex Cora, a reserve on that 2007 team, said Sunday. “Surrounding those two guys we had good bats.”

Those Red Sox had a run differential of +210 and posted an 11-3 postseason record, sweeping the Angels and Rockies and overcoming a 3-1 ALCS deficit against Cleveland.

No. 1: 2018

Recency bias? Whatever. On credentials alone, it’s tough to argue against these Sox: 108 regular-season wins, 119 wins overall, and, like those 2007 Red Sox, an 11-3 postseason record.

These Red Sox, however, took out a 100-win Yankees team, a 103-win Astros team defending its championship and a two-time NL champion in the Dodgers. Without a glance at the roster, that’s pretty good.

Oh, and they can play. They outscored opponents by 229 runs, boast the AL batting champion (Mookie Betts, .346) and home run runner-up (J.D. Martinez, who hit 43 and also batted .330). Betts, center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. and left fielder Andrew Benintendi have a legitimate case as one of the greatest defensive outfields of all time.

Chris Sale was on his way to a Cy Young Award before shoulder irritation slowed his campaign, but the Red Sox were already well on their way to the East title by then. While the bullpen beyond top options Craig Kimbrel and Matt Barnes had occasional issues, the club became truly indomitable when it acquired hard-throwing Nathan Eovaldi at the trade deadline.

He solidified the back end of the rotation down the stretch and then became arguably their most valuable playoff performer, pitching at least seven innings and winning both his playoff starts and adding four dominant relief outings, posting an overall 1.61 ERA.

“It's a relentless group that grinds at-bats and we foul pitches,” says Cora. “And obviously we drive the ball out of the ballpark, but we can do other stuff, too.”

Better than any of their championship brothers ever.