I really shouldn’t be surprised here…and honestly, should anyone else be? This team had all of the tools that builds a contender; they added on in the off-season; in the regular season, they were destroying any team that showed up in their path.

Just in case you’ve been living under a rock, the Boston Red Sox were crowned the 2018 World Series Champions of Major League Baseball. They won the fall classic over the National League Champion Los Angeles Dodgers in 5 games. The player who shone through for the BoSox was Steve Pearce. (If you told me in April that Steven Wayne Pearce would win the WS MVP; I would have called you a psycho.) The 35-year-old from Lakeland, FL came up clutch in the coveted series, hitting 4 for 12 (.333 batting average) with 3 home runs, and 8 runs batted in (to go with those stats, Pearce had 4 walks and zero strikeouts). Along with Pearce, other notable players that played mega roles in the BoSox’s run to their eighth overall World Series win included pitching staff ace Chris Sale, pitcher David Price, offensive powerhouse JD Martinez, and left fielder Andrew Benintendi.

Boston’s path to the World Series culminated in an historic 108-54 record in the regular season (.667 winning percentage). In the post season, they decimated their rival New York Yankees, as well as the 2017 World Series winning Houston Astros. Their division series versus the New York Yankees (who made their way to the playoffs by winning the wild card game 7-2 against the Oakland Athletics) showed that this team could win a playoff series (prior to their previous 2 playoff series during which the team never made it out of the Divisional Round). In Boston, after splitting the first two games with the Bronx Bombers, the rivals headed to the Bronx for the next two games of the series. In the 2 games at Yankee Stadium, the Red Sox would outscore the Yankees 20-4 across the two games (including their 16-4 demolition of the Evil Empire in Game 3). To go with their Game 3 victory, Utility player Brock Holt hit for the cycle (when a player hits a single, double, triple, and home run in the same game). This was the only time a player in MLB history has hit for the cycle in the post-season.

After defeating their franchise antagonists, Boston continued on to do battle with the Houston Astros (who had won the 2017 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers). The Red Sox came out on top against Houston in a division series rematch. Like in their battle against NY, the BoSox beat their opponents on Houston’s own turf. The two teams each took a game in Fenway Park before traveling back to the Astros’ own Minute Maid Park. Boston won the next 3 games in Houston to put the defending world champions back in their place. The ALCS MVP named was Boston Outfielder Jackie Bradley Junior, who hit 2 home runs (one of them being a grand slam, the other a two-run go-ahead home run) to go with 9 runs batted in and a 1.067 OPS.

Again, Boston persevered and continued on to the World Series match-up with the Los Angeles Dodgers (LA had made it to the 2017 World Series, but lost to the Astros in 7 games). This short series was an entertaining one. History was made, the two most successful teams in the sport were showcased and fans got to witness some of the top players in the sport (including Chris Sale, JD Martinez, Mookie Betts, Manny Machado and Brian Dozier). In game 3 at Dodger Stadium, play went on for a record-setting 18 innings. (The game took seven hours and twenty minutes to complete.) The Dodgers won when LA infielder Max Muncy hit a walk off home run off of Red Sox pitcher, Nathan Eovaldi. There were no breaks given, and the two teams would go on to play two more consecutive days to finish off the 2018 Fall Classic with the Boston Red Sox winning their ninth title in franchise history.

One final thing that should be noted about the Coach Alex Cora’s Boston Red Sox’s historic 2018 season is that they always persevered whenever a challenge arose. Both their 2017 and 2018 seasons prove that the Boston Red Sox earned their win and deserve their title.