Red Sox Win World Series!

| By Garth McLennan, Sports Editor

F.. the second time in four years,

| the Boston Red Sox are the world

champions of baseball. They completed
a dominating four game sweep over the
National League champion Colorado
Rockies, with a 4-3 win in the final
game. Boston’s third baseman Mike
Lowell was named the MVP.

This was the first year in MLB
history that a Japanese pitcher has
started— Boston’s Daisuke Matsuzaka,
who originally signed on to a monster,
$52-million deal in the off-season.

It has been quite a year for the
talented Matsuzaka, who became known
as one of the top pitchers in baseball
this season, captured the World Series,
and began to cash in on his mammoth
contract. Boston paid an incredible $51
million just for the negotiating rights to
Matsuzaka.

The Red Sox have now firmly
entrenched themselves as the best team
in baseball. They finished the regular
season as the league’s top team, led all
of baseball for most of the season, and
were the first team in Major League
baseball to clinch a playoff position.
Star closer Jonathan Papelbon threw the
final out against Colorado’s Seth Smith.

It was a sour ending for the Rockies,
who enjoyed a Cinderella run to the
finals, winning 14 of their last 15
regular season games to equal the
Padres for the National League wild
card spot. They then triumphed in a
nail-biting regular season playoff game,
beating the Padres 9-8 in a wild 13-
inning game. Heading into the World
Series, Colorado had won 22 # er
last 23 games. .

 

 

powerful Red Sox however, who ripped
the Rockies apart in three of the four
games and controlled the final game
up until the final two innings. Boston
bombarded Colorado’s stud pitcher,
Delta’s Jeff Francis, with six runs,
winning the first game of the series 13-
1. Colorado faired better in Game 2,
but still fell by a score of 2-1. Boston
triumphed once again in game three,
winning 10-5.

Boston swept the Los Angeles
Angels of Anaheim in the opening
round, and captured the ALCS crown
with an amazing comeback series
win over the Cleveland Indians, who
had dethroned the surging New York
Yankees. Cleveland was leading the
series three games to one when Boston
dug deep and came back to win.

Boston boasted far and away the
best pitching in baseball this year.
Their starting rotation had perhaps
more talent and ability than any other
team in history. Superstar Josh Beckett,
Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka, and
the legendary Curt Schilling were the
starters. They also had highly skilled
closers, with Eric Gagne, who was
picked up at the trade deadline, Hideki
Okajima, and Jonathan Papelbon.

David Ortiz, Boston’s DH
(designated hitter), had a good year
with 35 home runs, which dipped from
his previous year’s total of 54. ‘Big
Papi’ was also on Boston’s 2004 World
Series winning roster. In 2006, Ortiz
signed a four-year, $52 million contract
extension with Boston, which will pay

the deal, which expires in 2011.

him $13.5-million throughout the life of

      
   

Bambino for good. Despite being a
consistently good team, Boston went

a stunning 86 years without a World
Series Championship before ending the
curse in 2004. The curse stemmed from
Boston trading Babe Ruth to the rival
New York Yankees in one of the sport’s
world’s most notorious and one-sided
trades. Long suffering Red Sox fans can
now be at peace that the legendary curse
is now a thing of the past.

Boston manager Terry Francona
had his perfect World Series record
extended this year, he’s now 8-0, as
Boston swept the World Series in 2004
as well. He is the only manager in
baseball history with such a record.

The mercurial Manny Ramirez
surpassed Bernie Williams for Boston’s
all-time postseason home run record
this fall, recording his 23" on October
13. Ramirez’s season could be called
average at best, as the controversial star
hit just 20 home runs, and had 87 RBI’s
with a .296 average, despite making
an astonishing $17 million this year,
being the highest paid player on the
second highest paid team in baseball.
Overall, the Red Sox had a staggering
$143 million committed to player
payrolls this year. Ramirez, the 2004
World Series MVP, also faced criticism
when he informed reporters that losing
“wouldn’t be the end of the world”
after his team went down 3-1 against
Cleveland.

World Series MVP Mike Lowell had
a career year this season, leading the
team in RBI’s with 120, and making
the 2007 AL all star team. He was at ©

average. Lowell is an unrestricted free
agent after the 2007 season. He made $9
million this season. This was Lowell’s
third World Series title, as he was a part
of the 2004 squad the won it all, as well
as being a cog in the Florida Marlins
team that won the World Series in 2003.

One man who might appreciate this
World Series the most is future hall
of fame member Curt Schilling. The
superstar pitcher, who became just the
second pitcher in history to start and
win a World Series game at the age of
40, will likely leave the game on top.
He had a superb playoffs, winning three
games with a performance for the ages
in game 2 of the World Series. The
living legend pitched 5 1/3 innings,
holding the Rockies to just four hits. As
he left the field in the sixth inning, the
Fenway faithful gave him a standing
ovation for what could be the final time.

The man who sealed the deal for the
Red Sox, Jonathon Papelbon, was an
excellent closer for the team, winning
the 2007 MLB Delivery Man of the
year award. He became famous in
these playoffs for Irish dancing to the
Dropkick Murphy’s song Shipping up
to Boston after the Red Sox won the
American League East title.

The only team that could match the
Red Sox for sheer talent and skill this
year was the Yankees, and Boston far
outstripped them. This monumental
victory shattered the remains of the
Great Bambino curse, and put the entire
baseball world on notice that they are
indeed here to stay. If this magical year
was any indication, Boston will be a
baseball superpower for many years to