Daily Baseball Update: Red Sox Win the World Series

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Congratulations to the Boston Red Sox, the 2013 World Series Champions.  It was their third World Series victory in ten years and their eighth overall.  The eighth World Series Championship pushes the Red Sox past the Giants on the all time list, giving them the fourth most championships among all teams, behind the Yankees (27), Cardinals (11), and A's (9).

Background
The Red Sox finished the 2012 season just 69-93, last place in the American League.  This came on the heels of a historic 2011 collapse that left them out of the playoffs.  Jon Lester (9-14, 4.82 ERA), Andrew Bailey (1-1, 7.04 ERA), Jacoby Ellsbury (4 HR, 26 RBI, .271 AVG), Clay Buchholz (11-8, 4.56 ERA), Daniel Bard (5-6, 6.22 ERA), Mark Melancon (0-2, 6.20 ERA), Carl Crawford (3 HR, 19 RBI, .282 AVG), and Josh Beckett (5-11, 5.23 ERA) all had rough years.  Things were not looking good for the last place Sox.

2012-2013 Offseason
That was when sophomore general manager Ben Cherington decided to step in.  In August, he shipped Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, and Nick Punto over to Los Angeles so he could wipe the slate clean.  After the season, he fired manager Bobby Valentine and hired John Farrell.  To replace Carl Crawford, he brought in the more consistent Shane Victorino.  To fill the hole at first base left by Gonzalez, he added Mike Napoli.  He slotted Ryan Dempster into the rotation hole left by Beckett.  Jonny Gomes joined the team as a fourth outfielder.  After dealing Mark Melancon and prospects to the Pirates for Joel Hanrahan and Brock Holt, Cherington signed Koji Uehara in what may have been his best move of the offseason.  Now, instead of a team full of high priced superstars, the Red Sox had something better: chemistry.  This new look employed by Boston drove me to believe from day one that they would retake the AL East title.  

The Regular Season
The 2013 season got off to an extremely tough start with the April bombings of the Boston Marathon.  Instead of letting the tragedy hurt them, with the help of the resilient city of Boston, the Red Sox employed the Boston Strong motto to a man.  David Ortiz' famous comment, "This is our F*****g city!" helped drive the team and the city throughout the summer.  They fought for the entire season and spent much of the year with baseball's best record.  Lester, Ellsbury, John Lackey, and Buchholz experienced bounce back seasons.  David Ortiz even set a career high with four stolen bases, despite weighing 250 pounds at age 37.  At season's end, the Red Sox were 97-65, tying with the Cardinals for baseball's best record a year after they were buried at the bottom of the toughest division in baseball.

The ALDS vs Tampa Bay
The Red Sox easily defeated the Rays, three games to one.  They outscored Tampa Bay 26-12, or an average game score of 6.5 to 3.  David Ortiz paced the offense with a pair of home runs and a 1.479 OPS.  Jacoby Ellsbury went 9-18 with four stolen bases.  Dustin Pedroia lead the team with five RBI.  Lester, Lackey, and Craig Breslow earned wins and Koji Uehara nailed down two saves.

The ALCS vs Detroit
This series took six games, but the Red Sox eventually held off Detroit, four games to two.  It was the one series where Ortiz wasn't absolutely mashing, as he went just 2-22.  However, he added the biggest hit of the series with his go ahead grand slam over the head of the tumbling Torii Hunter.  Shane Victorino also hit a grand slam in the deciding Game 6.  Mike Napoli knocked a pair of home runs and Jacoby Ellsbury again lead the team in hits, this time with seven.  At this point, he is 16-40 with six stolen bases, good for a .400 postseason average.  On the mound, Lester, Lackey, Junichi Tazawa, and even Koji Uehara earned wins.  Uehara also locked down three saves and earned the ALCS MVP award.  

The World Series vs St. Louis
The Red Sox got off to a loud start in Game One, downing the Cardinals 8-1.  Jon Lester tossed 7.2 shutout innings as David Ortiz began what would be a historic World Series by going 2-3 with a home run and three RBI despite being robbed of a grand slam.  Mike Napoli added a three run double.  Despite another 2-3 performance by Ortiz in Game 2, as well as another home run from him, the Cardinals were able to come away with a 4-2 victory.  Game Three will be remembered, not for the first 79 plays of the game, but for the last.  In a 4-4 tie, with one out in the bottom of the ninth and runners on second and third, Jon Jay knocked a ground ball to a diving Dustin Pedroia, who fired it home to nail Yadier Molina at the plate.  Catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia attempted to throw Allen Craig at third, but missed the target as the ball went skipping into left field.  Left fielder Daniel Nava picked up the ball and fired it back home, apparently nabbing Craig at the plate for an unusual double play.  However, he was called safe at home plate because of obstruction by third baseman Will Middlebrooks. Middlebrooks, who was on the ground after diving for the errant Saltalamacchia throw, had inadvertently tripped Craig on the way home.  Game over.  After dropping back to back games, the Sox found themselves in a 2-1 hole.  In Game Four, they bounced back on Jonny Gomes' three run home run to take a 4-2 victory.  Of course, Uehara earned the save.  Looking to gain an edge in Game Five, the Red Sox entered the Busch Stadium finale tied 2-2 with the Cards.  Lester gave the Sox everything they needed, tossing 7.2 innings on just one earned run, while Ortiz added three more hits in the 3-1 victory.  It all came down to Game Six at Fenway.  The Sox wasted no time getting ahead, as Shane Victorino knocked a third inning, three run double.  The next inning, Stephen Drew homered and Mike Napoli and Victorino added RBI singles to put Boston up 6-0.  John Lackey held down the Cardinals on the mound, and by the ninth inning, the Sox were up 6-1 with Jon Jay, Daniel Descalso, and Matt Carpenter due up against Koji Uehara.  Jay flew and Descalso flew out, leaving only Matt Carpenter between Boston and it's eighth title.  After a long at bat, Uehara floated a pitch just past Carpenter's bat, preserving a 6-1 victory to win the World Series.  David Ortiz earned World Series MVP honors, hitting two home runs, driving in six, and batting .688.  If he hadn't been robbed of a grand slam, he would have hit three home runs, driven in nine, and batted .706 (his hit was classified as a sacrifice fly).  Jon Lester was easily the best pitcher, earning two wins on a 0.59 ERA.  John Lackey and Felix Doubront earned victories as well.  In the end, Ortiz again gave his comments for the city of Boston: "Should I keep it clean?  This is our BEEEEP city!", this time censoring himself.

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Teams followed in this update: Washington Nationals, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers
If your team is not included, please leave a comment.
HR: home runs.  RBI: runs batted in.  AVG: batting average.  SB: stolen bases.  ERA: earned run average. WHIP: walks/hits per innings pitched.  K's: strikeouts. WPCT: winning percentage
Zack Silverman