World Series

In a matchup of 97-game winners, the Red Sox consistently produced the big pitch and the big hit.

SERIES VS ST. LOUIS

by Dan Shaughnessy • Globe Staff

It was a Back Bay Bacchanal, a party unlike anything since 1918. >> Six months after Shelter in Place, the city of Boston invites the world to celebrate a victory of team over self. Boston Strong, at least a variation of the theme, hit a crescendo on Oct. 30 on the Fenway lawn, the town common of 2013. >> The 2013 Red Sox, the motley crew that left Fort Myers begging, "Please don't hate us," completed the ultimate redemption song, thrashing the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-1, in the sixth and final game of the World Series. The Brotherhood of the Beard are World Champions for the third time this century, worthy progeny of the 20th century Sox, who won five of the first 15 Series back in the days when Babe Ruth was a fuzzy-faced lefthanded orphan from Baltimore. >> Nobody saw this coming. Nobody.

After the worst season in 47 years — the Bobby Valentine clown show of 2012 — Sox general manager Ben Cherington and new field manager John Farrell made the Red Sox relevant and good again. The 2013 Sox dusted the field in the American League East, then blew past the Tampa Bays Rays, the Detroit Tigers, and the estimable Cardinals in an 11-5 postseason onslaught. The Sox were dominant. In the 2013 playoffs they bested aces Matt Moore, David Price, Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Anibal Sanchez, Adam Wainwright, and Michael Wacha. >> And so Boston has its eighth championship parade since 2002, and outgoing mayor Thomas Menino will be on a duck boat, which is scheduled to roll down Boylston Street, past the places where the bombs exploded on Marathon Monday, April 15. It is the ultimate civic comeback story. >> These are the 2013 Red Sox. They finished in the basement of the American League East in 2012, winning a mere 69 games in a trainwreck season that came on the heels of the epic collapse of the Terry Francona/Theo Epstein Sox who folded dramatically in September 2011.

John Lackey was the poster boy of the 2011 chicken-and-beer chokers, and in Game 6 this year he completed his comeback ballad, hurling 6 innings of one-run ball and becoming the first man in baseball history to start and win World Series-clinching games for two franchises (Lackey won Game 7 for the Angels over the Giants when he was a 24-year-old rookie in 2002). The Boston pariah of 2011 became the hero of 2013.

This finale was the first World Series Game 6 at Fenway since the Carlton Fisk Home Run Game of 1975, and it was a worthy successor. Luis Tiant, the '75 Game 6 starter, and his old batterymate Fisk threw out ceremonial first pitches, and Sox heartbeat Dustin Pedroia completed the metaphor when he hit a towering foul fly that narrowly missed the left-field pole in the bottom of the first.

Pedroia's near-miss was a mere footnote. The Sox would not be denied.

Both teams squandered scoring opportunities in the first two innings. It looked like it might be a true contest, but the Sox removed all doubt with a three-run third off St. Louis rocket boy Wacha.

Jacoby Ellsbury led with a single to right. After Pedroia went out on a grounder to third, Wacha intentionally walked World Series MVP David Ortiz (.688). Good move. Mike Napoli struck out and then Jonny Gomes was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Enter Shane Victorino. Cue the music. "Three Little Birds,'' by Bob Marley.

Every little thing gonna be all right.

Victorino turned on a 2-1 pitch and drove it toward the Monster Seats. The ball hit the Covidien sign on the wall, good for three runs and a World Series ring. Victorino was credited with a three-run double. The ballgame was over.

The Sox added three more runs and chased Wacha in the fourth. Much-maligned Stephen Drew led off with a homer into the Red Sox bullpen (gloved by Franklin Morales), and surrendered a double to Ellsbury. The young righthander (MVP of the NLCS) was lifted after intentionally walking Ortiz. Napoli made it 5-0 with a single to center off Lance Lynn. After a walk to Gomes, Victorino struck again with a single to left and it was 6-0. Ballgame.

There was good drama for the Sox in the seventh. With two out and nobody aboard, the Cardinals rallied with a single, a double, and Carlos Beltran's RBI single. Farrell came out to get Lackey, but was rebuffed.

"This is my game!" Lackey shouted to his manager.

Farrell relented. But when Lackey walked Matt Holliday to load the bases, the manager reemerged from the dugout and pulled his starter. When Lackey walked off the mound, he tipped his cap to the masses who'd rightfully crushed him over the past two years. Junichi Tazawa retired Allen Craig on a harmless grounder and it was on to the seventh-inning stretch.

It was a mere formality in the last two innings. Indomitable Sox closer Koji Uehara came out for the ninth and retired the side in order, sealing the championship by striking out Matt Carpenter (swinging) at 11:23 p.m.

Fifteen minutes after the final out, Red Sox/Globe owner John Henry hoisted the World Series championship trophy ("The World Series Cup," according to Menino) and addressed the crowd as fireworks smoke enveloped the infield. Henry spoke. Tom Werner spoke. Cherington spoke. And then Farrell took center stage for his bow.

It was the first time the Sox won the World Series on the Fenway lawn since Carl Mays beat the Chicago Cubs in Game 6 on Sept. 11, 1918.

Ninety-five years later, the Sox won it again on their home field. And the party lingered long into the night.

American League Championship Series

The Sox struck out a record 73 times, but had a flair for the dramatic.

SERIES VS DETROIT

by Dan Shaughnessy • Globe Staff

It was just before 11:30 on a splendid Saturday night at our 101-year-old ballpark when a guy from Hawaii stepped to the plate as we heard the recording of a man from Jamaica singing, "Don't worry about a thing, 'cause every little thing gonna be all right." >> More than 38,000 voices sang along with Bob Marley, then Shane Victorino effectively ended eight days and six games of unforgettable baseball with a grand slam into the Monster Seats on an 0-2 pitch from Tigers reliever Jose Veras. >> The Flyin' Hawaiian's shot bookended the bases-loaded blast by Dave Ortiz that kickstarted everything one week ago, and launched the Red Sox into the 2013 World Series. >> Boston's American League Championship Series clincher, a 5-2 Sox victory, officially ended at 12:01 Sunday morning when Koji Uehara fanned Jose Iglesias, triggering a wild celebration on the Fenway infield and pandemonium in the stands and streets outside the park.

One year after enduring last-place humiliation and the worst season in 47 years, the Red Sox were AL champions for the 13th time since 1901. >> It all started one year ago, when general manager Ben Cherington hired Blue Jays manager John Farrell. He was the perfect candidate to replace clown prince Bobby Valentine. He was a pitching coach with the 2007 world champion Red Sox and already had the respect...