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Wednesday, October 30, 2013

RED SOX WIN THE 2013 WORLD SERIES!

This is unbelievably awesome! The Red Sox have won the 2013 World Series. I can definitely say I did not expect this at the beginning of the season. I hoped for it! I was optimistic, but never in a million years did I expect it. I want to share a copious amount of things and I will definitely be creating a montage for the season soon! The report card will be issued later on. But from every walk-off hit to every Bob Marley verse, the season was an incredible ride.

The 39-Win Difference (my article)
I could have picked a cliche title. I could have said "Worst to First" or "Boston Strongest." It would have been easy to pick any of those titles, but I would not be doing the Boston Red Sox justice because their job was not easy. So why should my job be?
John Farrell's final memory of his managing career in Toronto is upsetting to recount. In his final season with the Blue Jays, he left a game versus the Kansas City Royals with pneumonia. Toronto finished the 2012 season with seventy-three wins under the belt. They were only eight wins away from finishing the season with a .500 record. Thanks to the Bobby Valentine-lead Red Sox of 2012, the Blue Jays finished in fourth place that season. Executives of the Toronto ball club allowed Farrell to interview with the only team they finished above. On October 21, 2012, Farrell was named Boston's new manager, replacing Valentine.
Second baseman, Dustin Pedroia, and designated hitter, David Ortiz were both members of the disaster that was the 2012 baseball year in Boston. The Red Sox finished with only sixty-nine wins. Fans were used to success in recent years with two World Series titles and five postseason appearances in the past eight years. 2012 was jarring. Boston was left dumbfounded and distraught at the prospect of rebuilding for the next four years. General manager, Ben Cherington, decided that if the Sox were going to rebuild, then fan-favorite "Big Papi" Ortiz and the essential leader of the team, "The Laser Show" needed to be around for it, wins or no wins.
Koji Uehara missed the final month of the 2009 season with the Baltimore Orioles. On the trade deadline in 2011, Uehara was traded to the Texas Rangers where he posted a record of two wins and three losses out of the bullpen. He sat out all of 2012 as a free agent. It was not until December when the Red Sox took a chance on Koji and labeled him as a middle inning reliever.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia narrowly avoided arbitration by signing two consecutive one-year deals with the Red Sox for less than three million dollars, chump change for professional athletes. Ryan Lavarnway was quickly pushed through the minor league baseball system as a suitable backup catcher to "Salty," as he struggled defensively and from both sides of the plate. With no contract option looming in the 2013 offseason, it seemed as if Jarrod's days in The Hub of the Universe and the Sports Hub of America were numbered.
David Ross was eventually tabbed as Saltalamacchia's backup once Lavarnway showed signs of immaturity, in the baseball sense. Ross was subject to be the backup catcher of Atlanta Brave, Brian McCann, for four seasons. He suffered two concussions once joining the Red Sox in the 2012 offseason and was sidelined until he returned when Boston beseeched the baseball Gods to return.
It wasn't until Daniel Nava turned 27 when he made his MLB debut in 2010, smacking a grand slam on the first pitch he ever saw. Diminished to the minor leagues again in 2011, Nava again returned in 2012 and he finally stuck. Once thinking of giving up baseball, Nava continued to tell himself that quitting was not an option.
In August 2012, Stephen Drew was traded to the Oakland Athletics for a minor league shortstop who has yet to make his debut with the Arizona Diamondbacks. His abysmal statistics, including a .223 batting average lead the A's to decide he was not worth keeping in the Golden State. The Bay State decided Drew had the potential to be a valuable addition to the team. He sports the same number his brother, J.D., wore during his days in Boston.
Mike Napoli was one out away from winning his first World Series title in 2011 with the Rangers, but instead, the St. Louis Cardinals pulled out a miraculous victory in seven games. He stayed with Texas in 2012, but opted to dip his toe in the free agent waters, eventually landing with the Red Sox. The deal nearly fell through. Initially signing for three years, the agreement collapsed after a failed physical examination that revealed medical issues in his hip. Fortunately, Napoli and his agent negotiated a successful contract for one year and only five million dollars.
Jonny Gomes hit a respectable eighteen home runs during the 2012 season, but this was not enough production for Oakland to resign him. Boston outbid the Athletics by five million dollars. Playing for Boston marked his fifth team in an already hectic career.
Shane Victorino played in only fifty-three games in 2012 for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He witnessed the blockbuster trade that sent clubhouse poisons Josh Beckett and Carl Crawford, along with Adrian Gonzalez from Boston to Hollywood. Apparently, he was not a fan of Beckett either, when he signed for thirty-nine million dollars and three years. "The Flyin' Hawaiian" spread his wings to land in Massachusetts.
Jon Lester's 2012 numbers were revolting to Boston fans used to his usual stellar record and ERA which dated back to 2007. He was 9-14 with a 4.82 earned run average. Despite this sub-par performance, Lester was still tapped as the Opening Day starter against the New York Yankees for 2013.
Perhaps the most reviled of all, was John Lackey. He finished the 2011 collapse of a season with a 12-12 record, a stomach full of beer and fried chicken and a mind filled with controversy. Then, he underwent Tommy John's surgery in the offseason, missed the entire 2012 season and continued to drink beer in the clubhouse. Boston fans wanted him out, but for some reason, Cherington did not. Once again, Cherington was right.
Maybe it was luck. Maybe it was the perfect storm. Maybe it was motivation to represent a city stronger than any other. The reason could have been anything, but the outcome was set in stone, "ever since spring training," according to Jonny Gomes.
It was Gomes who hit the clutch three-run home run in Game Four of the 2013 World Series which pitted the Red Sox against the Cardinals. He was just the latest installment in the growing list of slumping Sox who picked the right spot to come through. Trailing 5-1 in a must-win ALCS game against the Detroit Tigers, David Ortiz's grand slam lifted the team to a walk-off victory where Saltalamacchia ended the game with a clutch RBI of his own.
Farrell had lead the team to the World Series. This much was true after Shane Victorino launched his own grand slam over the Green Monster to the tune of Bob Marley's Three Little Birds.
Napoli hit a three-run double off the same emerald wall that Victorino managed to get over. It was his latest moment of clutch hitting after his two home runs in the ALCS. Lester pitched brilliantly in the same game, continuing his streak of unhittable performances in championship games. With the series tied, Nava hit two RBIs in a controversially failed Game Three for Boston.
In the next game, Boston rebounded from questionable obstruction and tied the series. The following day, David Ross was Boston's latest hero as he doubled home what proved to be the winning run. Lester again won the game from the mound.
In the final game of the World Series, the Red Sox won by five runs and they were champions again. Victorino again connected with the Green Monster, with a bases clearing triple. Stephen Drew finally broke out of his depressing slump with a home run. David Ortiz won the MVP award. John Lackey, yes that John Lackey, got the win against Michael Wacha.
The Red Sox did the impossible in 2013. Not just in going from 69 wins to 108, but from turning Lackey from zero to hero, yet another rhyme that can perfectly describe the revamped Miracle Dream run. This group of bearded fools each found themselves in dark places in the first month of the 2012 MLB offseason. The very next year, they found themselves on top of the world.

Here's the final pitch:













































































































Sorry this post is so huge, but the Red Sox are world champions! I LOVE IT!

I leave you with this, from March:






LET'S GO RED SOX!
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1 comment:

  1. Wings1295November 2, 2013 at 8:43 PM

    Wow. Now that is one excellent Red Sox World Series Champions post! Love your article, it truly shows how the team put so many scattered pieces together to make a whole, a whole that worked together as a team to win it all. Love how much you included here, from the pics and videos to the tweets. A memorable post, indeed. Kudos on it and Congrats to the Red Sox! Let's do it again in 2014!!!

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