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The Boston Red Sox celebrate on the field defeating the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 6 of the 2013 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals at Fenway Park on Wednesday, October 30, 2013.
Sometimes miracles come true.
The Boston Red Sox became World Champions last night as they took the sixth game of the World Series 6-1 on the night to finish with a 4-2 series victory over the St Louis Cardinals. It was a magical moment for the team who began this season as the worst ranked team in baseball, making this only the second time in history that a team has gone from worst to first.
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David Ortiz claimed the series MVP, but it was Shane Victorino who immortalised himself in Boston folklore. He drove in four runs with a bases-loaded double in the third and an RBI single in the fourth as Boston took the Series at Fenway Park.
It was the first time the Red Sox have won the World Series in front of their home crowd since 1918; a fantastic moment for a city that only 6 months ago was in mourning after two bombs exploded during the Boston Marathon on April 15th 2013.
Three people lost their lives and more than 260 people were injured in the attacks when two pressure cooker bombs packed with nails, ball bearings and other shrapnel were detonated close to the finish line of America’s most famous marathon. It was the worst mass-casualty attack on US soil since 9/11.
In the months that have followed, Boston has bonded together as a city in a way that only tragedy can do, trying to come to terms with what happened on that fateful day. A slogan and motto was created, “#BostonStrong”, that has become the symbol for Boston resilience following the attack.
BOSTON – APRIL 15: Police officers with their guns drawn hear the second explosion down the street. The first explosion knocked down a runner at the finish line of the 117th Boston Marathon.
The #BostonStrong campaign did not originally have anything to do with sport. However, the slogan began to become more and more sports orientated as residents of the city tried to escape into the world of the city’s sporting teams.
Back in July, the city put the full weight of the #BostonStrong campaign behind local NHL team, the Boston Bruins, who came agonisingly close to a second Stanley Cup victory in 3 years. The Bruins fell short of the title, eventually losing a thrilling finals series 4-2 to the Chicago Blackhawks, with 2 games going to overtime and one going all the way to triple overtime.
It was a bitter loss to a city that had invested so much into the team emotionally. It was particularly tough for the Bruins themselves, who had desperately wanted to bring the Stanley Cup back to the aching city.
While that did not happen, the long playoff run itself was a tremendous positive for the whole of Boston. It helped distract the city in the immediate aftermath of one of its most tragic times, and its value in that regard went far beyond any sporting significance.
Little did Boston know, the city’s success did not end with the Bruins. To the surprise and joy of Bostonians everywhere, the MLB Red Sox managed on Wednesday night to do what the Bruins ultimately could not; bring a trophy back to Boston.
They did it behind an MVP performance by David Ortiz, who six months previously stood on the very same field at a remembrance ceremony for the victims of the bombing at Fenway Park. Ortiz, known as Big Papi to his Boston fans, fired up the crowd that day with these words:
“This jersey, that we wear today, it doesn’t say ‘Red Sox.’ It says ‘Boston’. We want to thank you Mayor (Michael) Menino, Gov. (Deval) Patrick, the whole police department, for the great job that they did this past week. This is our f***ing city. And nobody’s going to dictate our freedom. Stay strong.“
The city endeared themselves to Ortiz and the team that day, but nobody could have predicted that just six months later 2012’s worst baseball team would be back in Fenway Park lifting the World Series in front of their home crowd.
The Red Sox are no strangers to success; the team has won eight World Series titles, including as recently as 2007 and 2004. Winning the World Series almost feels routine now for the dominant Red Sox. There was nothing routine about this win, however, nor about the celebrations which followed.
When the game was over, thousands of fans went to celebrate at the finishing line of the Boston Marathon. Cheers and laughter filled an area that not too long ago carried only screams and tears. This victory was for the victims of the Boston Marathon. The “B STRONG” sign cut into the field at Fenway Park reminded everybody of that on Wednesday night. It was a victory celebrated not only by baseball fans, not only by sports fans, but by the entire city of Boston. It was a victory that transcends sport.
Mark Porcaro, a Boston native, told ESPN Boston “We needed this [victory]… They were an easy team to get behind because they stood up for us when we needed them most [following the tragedy].”
After the game, the voices of Boston exploded onto social media, showing all of us as outsiders what it means for this city to be World Champions again:
It is hard not to celebrate for Boston. The people there have been through a lot, and to see them celebrate like that at home, and in such improbable fashion, brings warmth to your heart. Clearly this title means a lot to an emotional city.
Having said that, we must be careful not to overstate the significance of the Red Sox achievements. Yes, it was a tremendous victory that brings value far beyond any simple sporting significance. Yes, it is the most important victory in Boston sports history for that exact reason.
BOSTON, MA – OCTOBER 04: Boston Marathon bombing survivors take the field prior to Game One of the American League Division Series between the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park on October 4, 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts.
However, the World Series win isn’t a “sweet recovery” from the Boston Marathon bombings, as some have described it. There is no recovering from wounds that go that deep. Not fully, anyway. Those that have been affected will tell you that you can only heal so much. A trophy in the cabinet at Fenway Park doesn’t bring back the people who were lost that day, nor does it give the amputees their limbs back.
What it does do, however, is help bring a smile back to a city who had forgotten what it meant to smile in recent months. It has helped a crying city find something to be happy about in dark times. It has helped Boston be #BostonStrong.
And that is why it is such a special win, and why it is a win that will stay in the hearts and minds of the Boston people for a lifetime. It is also why it is a win truly worth celebrating, not just by the people of Boston, but by sports fans everywhere.
Congratulations, Boston. Your 2013 World Champions.
