BOSTON—David Ortiz and the Boston Red Sox capped a remarkable turnaround by beating the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-1, in Game 6 on Wednesday to win their third World Series championship in 10 seasons.
And the Red Sox didn’t have to fly the trophy home. For the first time since Babe Ruth’s team back in 1918, Boston won the title at Fenway Park. The 101-year-old ballpark, oldest in the majors, was packed with 38,447 singing, shouting fans anticipating a celebration 95 years in the making.
“Maybe they won’t have to go another 95 years,” said John Farrell, a champion in his first season as Boston’s manager.
Shane Victorino, symbolic of the resilient Red Sox, returned from a stiff back and got Boston started with a three-run double off sensation Michael Wacha.
John Lackey became the first pitcher to start and win a World 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.
With fans roaring on every pitch and cameras flashing, Koji Uehara struck out Matt Carpenter for the final out. The Japanese pitcher jumped into the arms of catcher David Ross while Red Sox players rushed from the dugout and bullpen as the Boston theme “Dirty Water” played over loud speakers.
“We have a lot of players with heart. 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 do the little things,” said Ortiz, the Series Most Valuable Player.
There wasn’t the comeback charm of the 2004 team that swept St. Louis to end an 86-year title drought. There wasn’t that cool efficiency of the 2007 team that swept Colorado.
This time, they were “Boston Strong”—playing for a city shaken by the marathon bombings in April.
“This is for you, Boston. You guys deserve it,” Ortiz told the crowd. “We’ve been through a lot this year and this is for all of you and all those families who struggled.”
After late-season slumps in 2010 and 2011, the embarrassing revelations of a chicken-and-beer clubhouse culture that contributed to the departure of manager Terry Francona, and the daily tumult of Bobby Valentine’s one-year flop, these Red Sox needed to regain support.
Ortiz, the only player remaining from the 2004 champions, had himself a Babe Ruth-style World Series. He batted .688 (11 for 16) with two homers, six RBIs and eight walks—including four in the finale—for a .760 on-base percentage in 25 plate appearances.
Even slumping Stephen Drew delivered a big hit in Game 6, sending Wacha’s first pitch of the fourth into the right-center bullpen.
By the time the inning was over, RBI singles by Mike Napoli and Victorino had made it 6-0, and the Red Sox were on their way.
Red Sox fans bid up the average ticket price to over $1,000 on the resale market and some prime locations went for more than $10,000 each. Nearly all the Boston fans stood in place for 30 minutes after the final out to view the presentation of the trophy and MVP award.
“When we started rolling,” Ortiz said, “nobody ever stopped the train.” AP