The Boston Red Sox nailed down their ninth World Series title Sunday night by defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 5 of the 2018 World Series. It is Boston’s fourth World Series title since the Red Sox broke the “Curse of the Bambino” in 2004. It is also 100 years since they won the World Series when the Bambino -- Babe Ruth -- was their pitching ace.
Here are some takeaways from Boston’s fourth Series championship in 15 seasons.
The Red Sox won a World Series title on the road for the fourth time in franchise history. In addition to winning Sunday night at Dodger Stadium, the Red Sox won title-clinching games at Philadelphia’s Baker Bowl in 1915, St. Louis’ Busch Stadium in 2004 and at Denver’s Coors Field in 2007.
The Red Sox were 7-1 during the postseason in games away from Fenway Park. Their lone loss was an 18-inning marathon defeat to the Dodgers in Game 3 in a game that took 7 hours, 20 minutes to play.
Credit: Sean M. Haffey
Credit: Sean M. Haffey
Winning manager Alex Cora becomes the first man born in Puerto Rico to manage a team to a World Series title. Other managers born outside the continental United States to win baseball’s biggest price are Bruce Bochy, who was born in France and managed the San Francisco Giants to titles in 2010, 2012 and 2014; and Ozzie Guillen, a native of Venezuela who piloted the Chicago White Sox to the 2005 championship.
Cora also becomes the fifth manager to win a World Series in his rookie season, joining Bucky Harris of the Washington Senators (1924), Eddie Dyer of the St. Louis Cardinals (1946), Ralph Houk of the New York Yankees (1961) and Bob Brenly of the Arizona Diamondbacks (2001). Honorable mention goes to Dallas Green of the Philadelphia Phillies (1980) and Tom Kelly of the Minnesota Twins (1987), who won Series titles in their first full seasons as managers. Both had managed portions of the previous seasons.
By losing, the Dodgers became the first team to lose back-to-back World Series since 1977-78. They were hoping to become the eighth team to rebound from a 3-1 series deficit to win the World Series and the first since the 2016 Chicago Cubs.
Red Sox starting pitcher David Price improved to 8-2 in his career with Jeff Nelson as the home plate umpire.
Price also became the second left-handed pitcher in Red Sox history to be credited with the victory in the title-clinching game. The other southpaw was John Lester, who nailed down Boston’s four-game sweep against Colorado in 2007.
Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez had gone hitless during the first two World Series games in Los Angeles, but they each hit a home run in Game 5.
Meanwhile, Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw fell to 1-4 in elimination games. Los Angeles has not won a World Series since 1988.
