Completing a comeback from a 3-1 series deficit, the Red Sox won their 12th pennant last night with an 11-2 thrashing of the Cleveland Indians. Japanese rookie Daisuke Matsuzaka picked up the victory with five innings of solid pitching and fellow rookie Dustin Pedroia (home run, double) knocked in five runs as the Sox blew it open with eight runs in the seventh and eighth innings. Dating to the historic sweep of the Yankees in 2004, it marked the sixth win by the Red Sox in their last last seven elimination games.
"It's the biggest event of my life," said Pedroia.
"This team is appealing for a lot of reasons and that's a good sign for Red Sox Nation," said Sox CEO Larry Lucchino. "Home-field advantage has never meant as much as it does to me right now."
And so the Sox are in the World Series for the second time in four years, which hasn't happened since James Michael Curley and George Herman Ruth prowled the narrow streets of Boston.
The Series starts Wednesday night at Fenway with ALCS MVP Josh Beckett pitching for the Sox against the Colorado Rockies, who have won 10 straight games and 21 of their last 22.
Clearly, these Red Sox fear no team and no situation. Faced with three consecutive must-win games, Boston outscored Cleveland by an aggregate, 30-5.
This must have been what it felt like in the early days of Fenway when the Royal Rooters ruled and the Red Sox were regular hosts of baseball's autumnal showcase. From 1915 through 1918, the Sox won three World Series. They did not win again until 2004, the beginning of a magical October run that has resumed over the last four days.
On the heels of back-to-back wins in which the Sox outscored the Tribe, 19-3, fans came to Fenway expecting to see another champagne celebration on the Fenway lawn. Former Sox slugger Kevin Millar, a fabled member of the '04 champs, was flown in to toss the ceremonial first pitch, but fans were more concerned with the throwing skills of Matsuzaka, the $103 man who failed in his first two postseason appearances.
