He rounded first fist hanging high above his head. The fans over the monster watched the ball as it spun temptingly towards the comfort that would reside in this ball leaving the yard.
Shane Victorino felt the same and as he jogged towards 2nd base, his wishes were granted. For the second time in 4 games, the Boston Red Sox had scored a pivitol, game ending grand slam. The only difference between Ortiz's bomb in game 2 and Victorino's in game 6 was the fact that in game 2 all that slam did was win a game. In game 6, Victorino won a series. 6 outs later the Boston Red Sox were going to the World Series and for the 3rd time in a month Fenway was in pandemonium and champagne was in surplus back in the Boston clubhouse.
For Red Sox fans, the win that followed Victorino's grand slam represented their 3rd ALCS pennant in 10 years. But for so many other of those jubilant fans, the past meant nothing. As much as this 10 year run in which the Sox have now won 9 playoff series looks like a dynasty to those who look deeper it becomes clear that the past decade has been anything but. Their title defense in 2008 was cut short by the White Sox after just 3 games in the ALDS. One year later, they missed October altogether loosing 76 games and ending the year 11 games behind the division winning Yankees. But 1 year later none of that mattered as with a nearly identical team, the Sox erased the pain of 2006 and won it all in 07. From there however, the Sox began their 5 year slide as from 2008 on they went from an ALCS loss to an ALDS loss to 3 consecutive playoff less seasons. The 3rd of those years was the hardest to bear largely because of one man: Bobby Valentine. They lost 93 games in 2012 and Valentine was fired at the end of the year and so the rebuild began.
They signed Johnny Gomes, signed Mike Napoli, nabbed Joel Hanrahan and brought Koji Uehara to Beantown. When the season ends, it will without a doubt be the beginning of a long discussion on which was the best offseason move made by GM Ben Cherrington. As it stands, this postseason has made it clear that that discussion will involve just two moves: Shane Victorino and Koji Uehara.
Last night however, while both of those men did in fact play before the 27th out was recorded, Victorino was the man of the night.
"I told myself, 'Get a pitch I can handle." He said when asked for his insight into the lead-up to the 7th inning bomb. "Try to tie the game, at the minimum. Give ourselves a chance. Get us back in the game and give us another chance. Fortunately I got a 0-2 curveball that I could handle and was able to hit a home run. It was a special moment. It's been a special year. We battled, and to have good moments like this, you cherish it."
After pounding his fist against his chest so hard that you were worried he might break something, Victorino touched home and threw himself into the arms of Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz in that order. This bomb was Victorino's second such hit in postseason play.
"He's a money player," said David Ortiz for referencing Shane's 2 for 23 slump. "I don't care that he was 2-for-23, or 0-for-whatever. Money players come through at the right time, and he did."
The idea of money players has been clutch this season as with 27 comebacks and 10+ walkoffs guys like Victorino, Stephan Drew and Johnny Gomes have all nabbed endless lists of bug hits. We have already spoken about Victorino but when you look back at what allowed for the bases to be loaded prior to Victorino coming to bat, Drew and Gomes both deserved at lest an astrix next to the big 4 spot in the 7th frame of last night's box score.
After back to back errors commuted by relief pitcher Brandon Workman, Miguel Cabrara came to bat with runners on 1st and 2nd. He took just 1 pitch before he slammed what looked like a sure hit right back where it came from. Drew however came out of nowhere, laid out to glove the ball and then hopped to his feet to throw out a slow running Cabrara at first.
Fans cheered for Drew but it would not take long for those cheers to regnight. This time, that roar could be attributed to the work of Johnny Gomes. As the lead off hitter in the bottom of the 7th inning, Johnny Gomes rammed a high fly ball to left field and came just 6 inches shy of clearing the top of the wall.
After Stephan Drew struck out, Xander Bogarts milked a walk and Jacoby Ellsbury reached on an error thus loading the bases. We all know what happened next.
Baseball is a sport that brings the kid out even the most mature of men. It caused Dustin Pedroia to sprint towards the plate and forcefully slam the most violent of high fives in the direction of his teammate and above all it has captivated a city of Red Sox fans and 1 year after getting dropped in 93 heart wrenching losses the Sox have stormed back and now...they are in the World Series.
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