The Cardinals could have avoided a lot of trouble and heartache before this MLB 2013 World Series began by reading The Shadow League’s World Series preview. As the old saying goes: “ A hard head leads to a soft butt, “ and St. Louis can’t even sit down today after losing Game 6 of the WS on Wednesday 6-1 to Boston, as the Red Sox won their third World Series chip in the last 10 years and 8th title overall.
After blowing several leads in this series and escaping Game 3 with a little help from the umps, St. Louis’ eulogy was being written on its off day.
The fact that the team's plane sat on the tarmac at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport for about seven hours on Tuesday and didn't arrive in Boston until about 11 p.m., should have been all of the omen baseball fans needed to finally ditch the notion that the Cards were on the table and ready to deal. .
"Guys were making the best of a situation they knew we didn't have any control over," manager Mike Matheny told FOX Sports. "How that affects us? I don't think it really does."
Turns out, that was very wishful thinking on Matheny’s part. A team needs every edge possible when facing a WS elimination against a motivated team like Boston, who had a chance to clinch a WS title at home for the first time since 1918. Would a smooth day off have helped? Probably not, because as TSL also mentioned in an Oct. 24th article, “Big Papi Always Sets The Record Straight In The Fall”, the X-Factor in these situations is David Ortiz.
St. Louis fought hard this series and were the beneficiaries of a couple of controversial moments, but in the end the crèam rose to the top. The large majority of that cream was pushed up there by “Mr. Fall."
Ortiz, whose impact and contributions to all three of the Red Sox’ recent championships are epic, was named the most valuable player of the series. He hit two home runs, knocked in six runs, scored seven more, batted .688 and had a loopy .760 on-base percentage.
After Game 5’s Red Sox win in which Papi hit the double to put them ahead, I wondered why Matheny was even pitching to the Dominican Destroyer.
“He’s not just mashing at Fenway,” TSL said . “Papi is home-schooling the Cardinals too, especially second-year baby Mike Matheny, who should be committed for continuing to pitch to this guy.”
Big Papi already hits like Don Baylor during the regular season, but he turns into Mickey Mantle when the East Coast winds start to nip and the leaves turn colors. The Cardinals finally wised up in Game 6, walking him four times, three times intentionally, but Ortiz accepted his walks, and he scored twice in the clinching game.
Let’s not forget about the history shifts. We told you, that’s what Papi and Boston is all about.
Starter John Lackey, who also won Game 7 of the 2002 WS for the Anaheim Angels, is the 11th pitcher in baseball history to win two World Series clinchers, and the third to do it with two different teams.
Lackey joins Jimmy Key (with Toronto in 1992 and the Yankees in 1996) and Catfish Hunter (with Oakland in 1972 and the Yankees in 1978) in this honor. However, Lackey is the only one of the three to win both games as a starter.
John Farrell is the third Red Sox manager to win the World Series in his first season in charge. Ed Barrow won the World Series in 1918, his first season, and Jake Stahl did it in 1912.
Farrell took over after Bobby Valentine led the Red Sox to a last-place finish in the AL East and their worst record in almost 50 years. The low key, composed Farrell was the perfect fit for a Red Sox squad gushing with talent, but still licking old wounds.
"He provided solid leadership from Day 1," Red Sox owner John Henry said Wednesday night. "Players wanted to win for him, and that's huge. They wanted to play for him, and they found a way to win it seemed night after night, somehow, some way."
That’s been the Red Sox way for a minute.
