Indomitable closer and nifty dancer Jonathan Papelbon fanned pinch hitter Seth Smith on a 94-mile-per-hour fastball at 12:05 a.m. (EDT) for the final out, then heaved his glove toward the heavens. Catcher Jason Varitek stuffed the precious baseball into his back pocket while he ran out to the mound to congratulate his teammate. Time to pop the corks.
As they did in 2004, Terry Francona's men shredded their National League rivals like so many cardboard cutouts, beating the Rockies by an aggregate 29-10 over four games. Once famous for autumnal folds, the Sox have won eight consecutive World Series games and finished the 2007 playoffs with seven straight wins.
In the last two weeks, Sox fans who worship Curt Schilling, David Ortiz, and the other curse-breaking veterans of 2004 discovered a new generation of October warriors; young men developed by the Theo Epstein administration . . . Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Papelbon, and Jon Lester.
It was Lester, one year removed from chemotherapy treatments for lymphoma, who won the clincher with 5 2/3 innings of shutout ball. Mike Low ell, who hit a home run and a double, was named World Series MVP, and Bobby Kielty's pinch-hit home run in the eighth inning proved to be the difference.
"I'm so proud of Jon Lester," said Francona. "I thought it was very appropriate that he got the win. It's hard to come up with the right words."
"It feels like a dream," said Sox chairman Tom Werner.
"Don't wake me up," added owner John W. Henry.
After the final out, thousands of Sox fans convened behind the third base dugout and lingered for more than an hour, standing, chanting, and saluting their champions. The first "Yankees suck" chorus broke out 22 minutes after the game ended.
"For us to come through and do what we thought we were capable of doing is unbelievable," said Lowell. "Our manager didn't panic, the players didn't panic, the coaches didn't panic. We knew if we just kept playing the baseball that we know we can play, we'll be all right."
