![]() ![]() "I told the guys, 'If you want them to love you here, then we've got to win it all,'" he said. Victorino told me in June that his goal was to inject the Red Sox clubhouse with passion and emotion. Instead, Victorino was jettisoned last summer to the Los Angeles Dodgers, where the dispirited "Flyin' Hawaiian" lapsed into the worst slump of his career. It was fitting also that the biggest hit of the night was delivered by Shane Victorino, a former World Series hero with the Phillies who had dreamed of finishing his career in Philadelphia. Lackey mirrors the remake of this team and this organization." "It's almost fitting he is the guy on the mound tonight to close this out. "I got chills watching it," Farrell admitted. The righty tipped his Red Sox cap, a gesture of forgiveness, his journey from pariah to clutch postseason performer complete. When Lackey finally was lifted after a walk to Matt Holliday in the seventh inning, he gazed at the sea of red and blue in the stands, squinted, then appeared mildly stunned as they chanted his name over and over. Louis Cardinals 6-1 in Game 6 on Wednesday night, locking up their third championship in the past 10 years and their first World Series clincher at Fenway Park since 1918.īoston clinched its title because Lackey, a man who was booed off the mound repeatedly just two short seasons ago, battled his way through 6 2/3 rugged innings, limiting the Cardinals to just one run while his teammates pummeled previously untouchable rookie Michael Wacha. The Red Sox, losers of 93 games last season, are world champions. ![]() "There were some times here that haven't been a whole lot of fun," John Lackey said in what should qualify as the understatement of the baseball season. They came to symbolize everything that was wrong with the entitled ballclub. Their suddenly skeptical customers wondered aloud why the Red Sox were manufacturing bogus sellouts and devoting so much time to a "football" team overseas.īoston's pitchers disintegrated into a punch line - have some more chicken and beer! - a symbol of arrogance and excess. Their paychecks were signed by an ownership group that had once had its finger on the pulse of Red Sox Nation but had lost touch with the very qualities that had endeared the team to its fan base in the first place. They joined a manager, John Farrell, whose brief and rocky tenure as the Toronto Blue Jays skipper left him roundly criticized by a future Hall of Famer (Omar Vizquel). Some key guys were already here, while others lugged their baggage from other teams, each of them sharing an unspoken yet determined resolve to alter their narrative. "There was a tremendous amount of embarrassment last year."Īs Boston general manager Ben Cherington assembled his 2013 roster, he bypassed the superstars and carefully selected a group of veteran baseball players who had something to prove. "People were motivated to rewrite their own story," manager John Farrell confirmed. Nobody likes to be demonized, to be doubted or to be dumped.Īnd yet, the Red Sox clubhouse was littered with players who had experienced some (or all) of those things. You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browserīOSTON - They each had their own reasons for wanting - no, needing - to transform themselves into champions.
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