Your Latest Hard-To-Fathom David Ortiz World Series Factoid

In six World Series games, David Ortiz made five outs.

Game One
1st inning - Safe on E6
2nd inning - Sacrifice Fly F9 (RBI)(robbed of grand slam)
5th inning - Single
7th inning - Home Run (2 RBI)
  
Game Two
2nd inning - Groundout 4-3
4th inning - Walk
6th inning - Home Run (2 RBI)
8th inning - Single
  
Game Three
2nd inning - Groundout 3U
4th inning - Walk
6th inning - Single
8th Inning - Intentional Walk
  
Game Four
2nd inning - Single
5th inning - Double
6th inning - Walk
8th inning - Single
  
Game Five
1st inning - Double (RBI)
4th inning - Single
6th inning - Fly out F8
8th inning - Single
  
Game Six
1st inning - Walk
3rd inning - Intentional Walk
4th inning - Intentional Walk
6th inning - Strikeout
8th inning - Intentional Walk

Newspapers: 2013 World Champions!

World Series 6: Red Sox 6, Cardinals 1

Cardinals - 000 000 100 - 1  9  1
Red Sox   - 003 300 00x - 6  8  1

2004. 2007. 2013!

Shane Victorino's three-run double in the third inning ignited the Red Sox offense and John Lackey (6.2-9-1-1-5, 105) held the Cardinals at bay as the Red Sox won their third World Series championship in the last ten years.

World Series MVP David Ortiz (.688/.760/1.188) reached base four times - on four walks, three of them intentional - and scored two runs.

Stephen Drew socked a solo home run in the fourth inning. ... Jacoby Ellsbury was on base four times and scored twice. ... Jonny Gomes and Victorino were on base three times each.

After Lackey left the game in the seventh with the bases loaded, Junichi Tazawa retired Allen Craig on a grounder to first. Brandon Workman pitched a perfect eighth and Koji Uehara retired the Cardinals in order in the ninth, striking out Matt Carpenter to end the game - and the 2013 season.

Michael Wacha / John Lackey

Ellsbury, CF
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Napoli, 1B
Gomes, LF
Victorino, RF
Bogaerts, 3B
Drew, SS
Ross, C

The Boston Red Sox have celebrated a World Series championship at Fenway Park twice in their history*:

October 16, 1912
World Series Game 8
Red Sox 3, Giants 2 (10)

September 11, 1918
World Series Game 6
Red Sox 2, Cubs 1

Tonight could be the third time.

(*: In 1916, they clinched in Boston, but played their home World Series games at Braves Field because it had a greater seating capacity.)

The Red Sox have two chances to grab one win and defeat the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2013 World Series. In a season that has been such an amazing turnaround from last year's dismal summer, perhaps it is fitting that John Lackey - who has undergone a remarkable villain-to-hero transformation - gets the ball in what will be a raucous night in Boston. (OTM's Brendan O'Toole writes a bit about Lackey and "redemption" here.)

Shane Victorino is "full go" for Game 6, according to manager John Farrell. Jonny Gomes (left field) and David Ross (catcher) will also be in the starting lineup.

Farrell said that lefty Felix Doubront - who pitched well in Games 3 (25 pitches) and 4 (32 pitches) in St. Louis - will be available out of the bullpen.

Tom Verducci, Sports Illustrated:

It was the middle of spring training, just another day in a month and a half of Groundhog Days, when Boston pitcher Ryan Dempster gave just another absentminded "Hey, how ya doin'?" to teammate Jonny Gomes. What Gomes responded with was anything but ordinary, foreshadowing what the year might hold from a band of rogues and grinders that would come to resemble sloppily hirsute Civil War re-enactors.

Replied Gomes, "One day closer to a parade." Such has been the spirit and will of the 2013 Sox.

A victory in either tonight's game or Thursday's Game 7 will give David Ortiz three World Series rings with the Red Sox. Two Boston players - Harry Hooper and Heinie Wagner - won four championships (1912, 1915, 1916, 1918). Ortiz is the only player from the 2004 team still with the Red Sox.

One more step.

Counting The Hours Until 8 PM

Don't forget to pick up some champagne on the way home!

David Ortiz: "I Was Born For This"

David Ortiz is 11-of-15 (.733) in the first five games of the 2013 World Series. His OPS is 2.017.

Ortiz has reached base 15 times in the five games (11 hits, four walks). The only other player in history to reach base (by hit, walk or HBP) at least 15 times over the first five games of a World Series is Barry Bonds in 2002.

Ortiz's 11 hits are two shy of the World Series record, held by Bobby Richardson (1964 Yankees), Lou Brock (1968 Cardinals) and Marty Barrett (1986 Red Sox).

Ortiz is the third player to reach base safely in nine straight World Series plate appearances, joining Joe Gordon (1939/1941 Yankees) and Billy Hatcher (1990 Reds).

David Ortiz In Postseasons In Which Red Sox Reached World Series

Year   Reached Base     AVG   OBP    OPS
2004   13 of 14 games  .400  .515   1.278
2007   13 of 14 games  .370  .508   1.204
2013   11 of 15 games  .360  .476   1.196

Ortiz is the first Red Sox player to have consecutive three-hit games in the World Series.

Ortiz, at age 37, is the oldest player in history with back-to-back three-hit World Series games.

Among the 277 players with at least 50 career World Series plate appearances, Ortiz is first in average, (20-for-43, .465), on-base (.556), slugging (.814), and OPS (1.370).

Highest Career OPS In World Series History

Player           OPS    Team(s)
David Ortiz     1.370   BOS
Lou Gehrig      1.214   NYY
Babe Ruth       1.214   BOS/NYY
Reggie Jackson  1.212   OAK/NYY

Ortiz has 14 RBIs in his World Series career. That ties the Red Sox record, held by Dwight Evans.

Ortiz's double in the first inning of Game 5 was his ninth extra-base hit of his World Series career. That set a new Red Sox record.

Ortiz homered in Games 1 and 2, becoming the first Red Sox player to do so and the 11th player in major league history. He is the second Red Sox player to homer in consecutive World Series games, joining Larry Gardner (Games 3 and 4 against Brooklyn, 1916).

Ortiz has hit five home runs in the 2013 postseason, tying the team record for a single postseason. The record is held by Todd Walker (2003) and Ortiz (2004).

In 54 World Series plate appearances, Ortiz has 20 hits, 10 walks, and only four strikeouts.

Ortiz hasn't struck out in his last 30 postseason at-bats.

To paraphrase Ortiz, this is his fuckin series.

Mechanical Issues With Airplane Keep Cardinals Grounded In St. Louis

Derrick Goold, St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

The Cardinals' charter flight from St. Louis to Boston [on Tuesday] was delayed more than five hours by a mechanical issue that kept the plane grounded. The team waited for the glitch to be fixed, and eventually had to consider getting a new plane to make their way here for Game 6 of the World Series.

The Cardinals boarded the flight before 1 p.m St. Louis time.

By 6 p.m. it had not left.

Stats And Stuff

ESPN:

Red Sox starter Jon Lester became the second left-hander in team history with three World Series wins, joining Babe Ruth.

Lester became the fifth pitcher to allow one run or fewer in at least three straight World Series starts to begin his career, the first whose career began after World War II ended in 1945.

Most Consecutive Starts Allowing 1 Run or Fewer To Begin World Series Career

Christy Mathewson   4   1905-11
Jon Lester          3   2007-13
Harry Brecheen      3   1944-46
Waite Hoyt          3   1921
Stan Coveleski      3   1920

Elias noted that Lester's streak of 16.1 scoreless innings ... [was] the third-longest scoreless innings streak to begin a career in World Series history. Christy Mathewson holds that record; he began his career with 28 consecutive scoreless innings in the World Series; Jim Lonborg ranks second with 17 straight for the Red Sox in 1967.

He also became the first Red Sox pitcher with at least seven strikeouts and no walks in a World Series game in 98 years. The last was Rube Foster against the Phillies in 1915. ...

[David] Ortiz became the third player to reach base safely in nine straight plate appearances in the World Series, joining Joe Gordon (1939/1941 Yankees) and Billy Hatcher (1990 Reds). Ortiz and Hatcher are the only two to do so in a single World Series.

Ortiz has 11 hits, two shy of the record for most in a World Series, which is shared by Bobby Richardson (1964 Yankees), Lou Brock (1968 Cardinals) and former Red Sox second baseman Marty Barrett (1986 Red Sox).

Alex Speier, WEEI:

[Koji Uehara's] save on Monday marked his seventh of the postseason, tying him for the most ever by a closer in one playoff run. (The mark was previously reached by John Wetteland (1996), Troy Percival (2002), Rob Nen (2002) and Brad Lidge (2008).) ...

[H]e's now recorded four saves of four or more outs, becoming just the fourth pitcher in playoff history to do so — following Goose Gossage (6 in 1981), Mariano Rivera (5 in 1998, 2000 and 2003; 4 in 1999, 2001 and 2001) and Jonathan Papelbon (4 in 2007). ...

[David Ortiz] has a career .465 average in the World Series, the highest ever by a player with 50 or more career plate appearances in the World Series.

Ortiz has also tied the Red Sox record for career multi-hit World Series games. He and Duffy Lewis, who last appeared in a World Series in 1916, both have six.

Must hear: "Cardinals' Announcer Laughs At Red Sox For Holding Wong Before Pickoff". ... Game 5 in gifs. ... The law firm of Babip, Pecota, Vorp, and Eckstein have a commercial.

Newspapers: Game 5

And finally, from the New York Daily News:

This can't be playing well in New York, certainly not with Yankee fans. Enough already with all of this beard-tugging, for one thing, but more to the point, the Red Sox really do look some like some team of destiny, as tiresome as that may sound.

How else do you explain their uncanny knack for delivering in huge moments this October, despite some hideous batting averages, as they move closer to capping off one of the most remarkable turnaround seasons in baseball history with a championship.

Indeed, the numbers aren't pretty for the Sox, yet they are ... on the verge of winning it all.

World Series 5: Red Sox 3, Cardinals 1

Red Sox   - 100 000 200 - 3  9  0
Cardinals - 000 100 000 - 1  4  0

Jon Lester (7.2-4-1-0-7, 91) stifled the Cardinals and David Ortiz went 3-for-4, including an RBI double in the first inning, as the Red Sox took another step towards their third world championship in the last ten seasons. Boston will try to clinch the 2013 title at Fenway Park on Wednesday night.

Lester allowed leadoff singles in the second and third, but St. Louis could do nothing with the base runners. After Matt Holliday tied the game with a home run in the fourth, Lester set down the next 12 Cardinals batters. He departed the game with two outs in the eighth inning and a man on second.

Koji Uehara came in and struck out pinch-hitter Matt Adams on three pitches. Uehara had a calm ninth, retiring the Cardinals in order: Matt Carpenter struck out looking, Jon Jay grounded out 3-1, and Holliday lined to right.

The game was only a few minutes old when Boston scored its first run. Adam Wainwright (7-8-3-1-10, 107) struck out Jacoby Ellsbury, but Dustin Pedroia ripped an 0-2 pitch to left field for a double. Ortiz then lashed the first pitch he saw down the right field line, and the Red Sox led 1-0.

Ortiz also got Boston's next hit, leading off the fourth with a single, but he was erased on a double play. Xander Bogaerts and David Ross both singled in the fifth, but were stranded.

With one out in the seventh, Bogaerts singled and Stephen Drew walked. Ross then smacked a ground rule double that landed just fair down the left field line for one run. After Lester grounded back to the pitcher, Ellsbury singled to center. Drew scored and Ross tried coming home as well, but was called out on a close play at the plate.

With his fourth-inning hit, Ortiz tied a World Series record by reaching base in nine consecutive plate appearances. Flo is now 11-for-15 (.733) in the World Series and has all but clinched the MVP Award. Lester's superb performances in Games 1 and 5 merit serious consideration, but Ortiz's offensive extravaganza, coupled with his inspirational pep talk during Game 4, cannot be denied.

How hot has Big Papi been?

Ortiz         11-for- 15  .733
Rest of Team  22-for-146  .151

Boston has clinched two World Series championships at Fenway Park: 1912 and 1918. They will try for a third on Wednesday night.

Jon Lester / Adam Wainwright

Ellsbury, CF
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, 1B
Gomes, LF
Nava, RF
Bogaerts, 3B
Drew, SS
Ross, C
Lester, P

For your pre-game pleasure: Game 4 gifs!