For the fist time in 95 years, the Boston Red Sox got to celebrate a World Series title on their home field. Sure, we know about the other two titles this franchise has won in the past decade, but this one was different. Those titles were clinched on the road, in St. Louis (2004) and Denver (2007). This time it was done in the shadow of the Green Monster, in front of a packed Fenway Park, with a crowd so electric that it shook the century old ball park.
What a remarkable turn around it has been. Boston's worst to first path has been nearly unprecedented, as they are now only the second team in league history to win a World Series following a season where they finished last in their division. Nobody could have predicted this result, not after the infamous September collapse of 2011 and the Chicken and Beer scandal. Not after the Bobby Valentine fiasco and a dismal 69 win season last year. Not after a massive salary dump that saw the team send a quarter of a billion dollars worth of salary to the Dodgers. Needless to say, expectations entering the season were understandably low.
Remember back in the spring, when the Red Sox were widely criticized for overpaying mediocre talent coming off down seasons? Shane Victorino, Mike Napoli, Jonny Gomes. Even under the radar signings like David Ross and Koji Uehara. All of them were indispensable to this historic run. How foolish we all look now for questioning how GM Ben Cherington constructed this team.
How did they do it? The talent is clearly there, but they had that last year too and we know how that turned out. Team chemistry was the biggest difference. Instead of a divided clubhouse of entitled players that failed get along, this was a group united by blood, sweat and beards. It starts with manager John Farrell, who gave them a leader the team could respect, which they clearly lacked last season. Instead of everyone being unable to stand one another, this year's team stood together. When tragedy struck the city of Boston back in April with the Marathon bombings, this team rallied around the Boston Strong mentality and used it to give the city hope again. David Ortiz led the rallying cry by proclaiming "this is our f*cking city!" and NESN play-by-play announcer Don Orsillo capped it off after Daniel Nava's three run homer lifted the Red Sox over the Royals later that afternoon by shouting "Boston, this is for you!"
Yes, Boston - this is for you. This World Series title that was won after suffering through a miserable two years. They earned it, but not before competing in one of the wildest World Series we've seen in years.
Game 1: The Red Sox came out swinging by blasting the Cardinals 8-1 in the opener at Fenway. St. Louis was done in by several key errors, including one controversial call that was overturned when the umpires huddled together to discuss. Matt Carpenter flipped the ball to Pete Kozma for what looked like the start of a routine double-play. Except Kozma never had the ball in his glove. The umpire originally ruled that he did, but the ball was dropped on the transfer from glove to hand, so Dustin Pedroia was called out at second base. Next year we'll have instant replay to handle these types of situations, but this time it wasn't necessary, as all five of the other umpires unanimously saw that Kozma never had the ball. You never see a play like that overturned, especially on this big of a stage, but the important thing is that they got the call right.
Here's something else you don't see very often. A routine pop up in the infield falling untouched between a Gold Glove pitcher and catcher. Yadier Molina couldn't help but laugh at how things were falling apart.
Carlos Beltran robbed David Ortiz of a Grand Slam, nearly flipping over into the bullpen the same way Torii Hunter did in the ALCS. Beltran made the out, but bruised his ribs in the process and was knocked out of the game (he'd return the next night for the rest of the series). Ortiz would get his revenge with a two run shot in the 7th inning to put the game away.
Game 2: The Cardinals fought back to even the series behind the arm of rookie sensation Michael Wacha. The powerful Sox lineup wasn't able to get to him until the 6th inning, when Ortiz homered for the second straight game to put Boston on top, 2-1. That snapped a scoreless streak of 18 2/3 innings for Wacha, which set a rookie record for a single postseason. For Ortiz, it was his 17th career postseason HR, tying him with Jim Thome for 7th all-time.
The lead wouldn't last long, as this time it was Boston's defense that failed them. The Cardinals scored a pair of runs on a Matt Carpenter sac fly when Jarod Saltalamaccia and Craig Breslow both committed errors on the play. A Beltran single knocked in the runner from third and the Cardinals power arms in the bullpen shut the door to close out the victory.
Game 3: Defensive lapses and controversy were becoming the key to the series and that didn't change when the series shifted to St. Louis. In the bottom of the 9th, Uehara got Jon Jay to hit a ground ball to second. Pedroia scooped it up and threw a laser to home plate to tag out Molina for the second out of the inning. With the light hitting Kozma on deck, the play should have ended there, but Saltalamaccia inexplicably made a risky throw to third base to try to get the hobbled Allen Craig at third base. The throw went wide, forcing third basemen Will Middlebrooks to make a diving attempt to knock the ball down. He missed it, allowing the ball to shoot into left field, but Craig didn't miss Middlebrooks on his way home. He stumbled over the fallen third basemen and was easily thrown out at home, but the umpires called obstruction on Middlebrooks and awarded Craig the winning run. It was the first time in postseason history that a game ended on a walk-off obstruction call. The result was so confusing that the Cardinals weren't even sure that they had won, while the Red Sox angrily protested.
Technically, the call was right. Craig did trip over Middlebrooks, impeding his path to home plate. Yet you can't blame the Sox for feeling cheated there. It wasn't Middlebrooks fault that he was in the way, since he was just diving after the ball. Replays showed that there sure seemed to be plenty of room for Craig to have run around him, but hey - we won the series, so no sense still being bitter about this loss. Have to wonder though, if Boston went on to lose the series, would Salty have become the new Buckner?
Game 4: Sometimes fate just shines on a team in strange ways. The struggling Jonny Gomes was being replaced in the lineup by Daniel Nava, but when Shane Victorino was a late scratch due to back tightness, Gomes found himself back in the lineup again. That turned out to be great news for Boston, as Gomes ended up hitting a game winning 3-run homer in the 6th inning. My brother texted me as Gomes came to the plate for that at-bat, saying "Gomes is due." True story, he's like Nostradamus.
Then, just to keep things interesting, we were treated to yet another bizarre ending. When Beltran came to the plate in the bottom of the 9th, representing the tying run, pinch runner Kolten Wong was picked off first base for the final out. Yup, you guessed it. This was the first time in postseason history the game ended with a pick-off.
Game 5: Jon Lester once again came out ahead in the battle of the aces, out-dueling Adam Wainwright for his third career World Series win (in addition to Game 1 of this series, Lester also closed out the deciding Game 4 of the 2007 series in Denver). Lester finishes this postseason with a pristine 1.56 ERA and now has a 2.11 ERA in 13 career postseason starts.
David Ross provided a double that drove in two runs in the 7th inning to put the Red Sox ahead for good. Boston has only twice in franchise history gotten a game winning hit from a catcher in the 7th inning or later. The last time it happened? Carlton Fisks' infamous home run in the 12th inning of Game 6 in the 1975 World Series.
Game 6: That brings us back to Boston, where the electricity of the Fenway crowd foretold this would be the night the Red Sox would put the series away. Wacha had looked so dominant all postseason, but seeing him for the second time made a world of difference for the Red Sox hitters, who pounced on him for 6 runs in the first 4 innings.
John Lackey was brilliant on the mound in the series clinching victory, tossing 6 2/3 innings and giving up only a single run. The proud veteran stubbornly refused to come out of the game in the 7th inning, but after getting into a bases loaded jam that could have put St. Louis back in the game, Junichi Tazawa was summoned from the bullpen to bail him out. Boston's relievers took care of the rest, with Uehara closing it out. When Matt Carpenter swung through strike three in the 9th inning, Uehara gleefully jumped into the arms of his catcher to celebrate victory.
This Red Sox season surpassed all of our wildest expectations. There were plenty of heroes on this squad that helped them get to this point, but none more so than David Ortiz, who had a historic series to capture the World Series MVP award. Big Papi hit .688/.760/.1.188 in the series with a pair of home runs and six RBIs. His batting average and on-base percentage are both the highest in World Series history, trailing only Billy Hatcher's marks from 1990 with Cincinnati. Ortiz reached base an incredible 19 times in 24 plate appearances, including 8 walks with only 1 strike out. Only Barry Bonds has reached base more times in a World Series (21), but it took him 7 games and 30 plate appearances to do it. With numbers like that, it's fair to wonder the same question David Ross posed earlier this week - "what planet is that guy from?"
It's been a long time since the Red Sox have had the chance to celebrate on their home field, but this team showed it's resiliency by grinding away until the end. They weren't just strong, they were Boston Strong. They answered all the critics that expected so little of them so that now they can call themselves something else as well - world champions!
Now that leaves us with only one question left - is it finally time for them to shave off those beards?
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