Boston Red Sox win 2018 World Series

For the fourth time in the last 15 years, the Boston Red Sox are World Series champions. They clinched the title with a Game Five win over the Dodgers earlier tonight. It’s the second straight year the team that knocked the Yankees out of the postseason went on to win the World Series. If you’re interested, here are the Game Five box score, video highlights, and WPA graph. Every single run in the ALCS, NLCS, and World Series clinchers came on a home run. They win championships, folks.

The Red Sox won 108 games during the regular season and were never really challenged in October. They went 11-3 with a +35 run differential in the postseason while playing arguably the three best non-Red Sox teams in baseball in the Yankees, Astros, and Dodgers. One of the best teams ever, truly. I find it very fitting that, en route to a title, the big market team that maxed out its payroll beat the two big market teams that trimmed $50M off their payroll so they could get under the luxury tax threshold.

Steve Pearce was named World Series MVP but it should’ve been David Price, who threw seven innings of one-run ball (on short rest!) in Game Five. If Price going from capital-P Postseason Choker to should-be World Series MVP in the span of two weeks — two weeks! — doesn’t make people realize past postseason performance is descriptive rather than predictive, nothing will. Price allowed three runs in 19.2 innings in his final three postseason starts (and one relief appearance) this October.

Because the Red Sox winning the World Series the year the Yankees were expected to emerge as MLB’s dominant team isn’t bad enough, Boston did it with a bunch of ex-Yankees. Eduardo Nunez and Pearce had big hits and Nathan Eovaldi was unbelievable in October. The only other 2018 Red Sox with ties to the Yankees is non-postseason roster infielder Tony Renda. The Yankees got him in a minor trade with the Nationals, then flipped him to the Reds in the Aroldis Chapman deal.

As for the Dodgers, they have now lost back-to-back World Series and this is the second straight Fall Classic to end at Dodger Stadium. It’s the first time the World Series has ended at the same park in back-to-back years since Yankee Stadium in 1976-77. Rich Hill, who appeared in 14 games in pinstripes in 2014, is the only player on the Dodgers postseason roster with ties to the Yankees. (Former Yankees prospects John Axford and Pat Venditte spend time with Los Angeles during the regular season.)

Now that the World Series is over, the offseason can begin. The Yankees have more heavy lifting to do this winter than they’d probably like, especially on the pitching side. We’ll see what happens. All I know is I’m tired of seeing the Yankees settle for the Wild Card Game and I’m completely sick of hearing about the luxury tax. Hopefully the Yankees go back to being the Yankees this winter.