For the first time since Babe Ruth’s 1918 Red Sox Championship team, Boston celebrated a victory in front of its home crowd. In 2004 and 2007, the Sox were on the road when clinching their World Series victories.
This victory needed to happen in Boston. For sports, for the city and for the story. Not only did the Red Sox go from worst to first, but they managed to come back from turmoil and come together as a city. Just months after their city was bombed and terrorized, Bostonians can celebrate this championship in triumph.
“Because of what happened to this city, we wanted to do something special and make everybody happy and proud,” Red Sox All-Star Dustin Pedroia told The New York Times after the World Series win.
When it was over, David Ortiz took a microphone on the field and addressed the city, just as he did a week after the Boston Marathon bombings in April.
“This is for you, Boston. You guys deserve it,” said Ortiz, who captured the Series MVP. “We’ve been through a lot this year, and this is for all of you and all those families who struggled.”
Shane Victorino, symbolic of these resilient Sox, returned from an injured back with a three-run double off the Monster in Game 6. These three runs proved to be crucial against the Cardinals rookie sensation, Michael Wacha. That one hit would go on to be enough to clinch the series victory. The Cardinals only scraped together one run, that came in the seventh inning off a base hit from Carlos Beltran. Like the majority of this series, the Cardinals did not play their game. Once dubbed “The Cardinal Way,” this was a team that never missed opportunities when having men on base. The Cards made a living being one of the most timely teams in the league, yet even with bases loaded and zero outs they failed to score in Game 6. The Red Sox simply out pitched them and, better yet, outplayed them.
John Lackey became the first pitcher to start and win a Series clincher for two different teams, allowing one run over 6 2/3 innings 11 years after his Game 7 victory as an Angels rookie in 2002.
The only player remaining from the 2004 champs, Ortiz had a ridiculous Series. He batted .688 (11-for-16) with two homers, six RBIs and eight walks (including four in the finale) in 25 plate appearances, the second-highest in Series history. The 38-year-old proved age is no matter and single-handedly put the offense on his back when they needed him the most. He may have just guaranteed himself a spot in the Hall of Fame. Ortiz, or “Big Papi,” is one of the most clutch players to ever play this game and is simply unstoppable in the playoffs.
“We have a lot of players with heart,” Ortiz said. “We probably don’t have the talent that we had in ’07 and ’04, but we have guys that are capable of staying focused and doing the little things.”
Take a player like Stephen Drew as an example. Drew went into Game 6 slumping and as one of the weakest offensive players in the Sox lineup. But that did not stop him from sending the first pitch of the fourth inning over the wall to give the Sox a 4-0 lead. Every game it was a different player for the Red Sox. That is what makes them champions.
Boston was a 30-1 underdog to win the World Series last winter. They joined the 1991 Twins as the only team to win the World Series after coming in last the previous year. It did not come easy for Boston. They hit .211 as a team in the World Series, but somehow managed to win in six games. With opportune hits from players others passed up on, and timely plays that others gave up on, the Boston Red Sox are World Champs once again.
James Belluscio can be reached at james.belluscio@spartans.ut.edu.