No, it was not a dream. The 2018 Boston Red Sox are World Series champions.
Each year as the lights get brighter and the stage gets bigger, some players rise to the occasion. It seems as though each Major League Baseball postseason has its own unlikely heroes who help propel their team to victory when no one else was expecting it.
The Sox have won four World Series titles since 2004, and they would not have won any of them without their own improbable stars.
Here are the eight most unlikely heroes from the last four World Series.
2018 – Steve Pearce and Nathan Eovaldi
Neither Pearce nor Eovaldi started the 2018 season as a member of the Red Sox, but both are massive reasons why the Sox will be raising another banner in Boston.
The Red Sox traded for Pearce to fill the void created by the release of Hanley Ramirez. He performed well throughout the season for the Sox but came alive in World Series. In five games, the first baseman hit .333 with three home runs and eight RBIs, earning him MVP honors. His home runs came at the most important time — drilling a game-tying home run late in Game 4 and clubbing two in the decisive Game 5.
Similar to Pearce, Eovaldi was essential in raising the ninth World Series trophy in Red Sox history. A journeyman in his own right, Eovaldi has played on five different teams throughout his seven-year career. Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski went out and acquired the right-hander from the Tampa Bay Rays just before the trade deadline. Eovaldi was willing to do anything that manager Alex Cora asked, and pitched relief in each of the first three games of the series. The right-handed fireballer potentially had the best pitching performance in the series, throwing six innings of three-hit relief in the 18-inning marathon Game 3. Although Eovaldi got the loss after giving up a walk-off home run to Max Muncy, his gutsy performance will be remembered highly in Red Sox lore as it even brought Game 3 starting pitcher Rick Porcello to tears. To make matters even crazier, Eovaldi arrived to the park the next day and told Cora he was ready if he needed him.
2013 – David Ross and Koji Uehara
Ross didn’t have the finest series offensively, but he came through when it mattered most. In the seventh inning of Game 5 of the 2013 World Series, Ross stepped up to the plate with the score knotted at one and unloaded a go-ahead double to take a 2-1 lead. The Sox would go on to win the game and take their first lead in the series going up 3-2. Ross ultimately caught four of the six games. His quality management of the pitching staff was apparent as the Sox would win all four games he started.
Uehara had a solid season in 2013 with 73 appearances and 21 saves, but came alive in the Fall Classic. The veteran right-hander pitched in five of the six games and didn’t surrender a run in 4 2/3 innings of work, recording two saves while only gave up two hits. Uehara practically was perfect for Boston in the World Series and gave the bullpen a much needed sense of security once he entered the game. The momentum led into the 2014 season for Uehara when he earned a spot on the All-Star team.
2007 – Mike Lowell and Bobby Kielty
Lowell had a very productive career, but after a sub-par 2005 season he was used as a salary dump in the trade between the Red Sox and then-Florida Marlins centered around ace Josh Beckett. Lowell rebounded with Boston hitting .284. then a career high .324 in 2007. He was named the MVP of the 2007 World Series after hitting .400 with a home run and three RBIs. On a team that featured studs like David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez and 2007 Rookie of the Year Dustin Pedroia, Lowell shined the brightest during the World Series. Lowell had essential RBIs in Games 2 and 3 and played solid at the hot corner.
If you don’t remember Kielty, we don’t blame you. His only season with the Sox came in 2007 when he appeared in just 20 games. Although he didn’t play much, he came up big in the Fall Classic. Kielty came up to bat as a pinch hitter in the eighth-inning of Game 4 with the score locked at three. In his lone at-bat he hit the game-winning home run that eventually would clinch the series for the Sox. He batted one time in the series, but that one at-bat took the lead for the Sox and they would never lose it again.
2004 – Mark Bellhorn and Derek Lowe
Bellhorn led the league in strikeouts in 2004 (177), but you wouldn’t be able to tell from his World Series performance. He batted a solid .300 throughout the series with only two strikeouts, a home run and five RBIs. Bellhorn came up clutch in Game 1 with a go-ahead home run in the bottom of the eighth-inning that clanked off Pesky’s Pole and gave Boston an 11-9 win. In Game 2, Bellhorn wreaked more havoc on the St. Louis Cardinals’ pitching staff with two more RBIs.
The Cardinals offense featured two players who hit over 40 home runs (Albert Pujols and Jim Edmonds) and led the National League in runs scored, but they could not get one off Lowe. The sinkerballer threw seven scoreless innings in the series-clinching 3-0 Game 4 victory for the Sox. Lowe surrendered only three hits and one walk to the juggernaut Cardinals offense. He posted a 5.42 ERA throughout the regular season for Boston, but when they needed him the most he showed flashes of brilliance.
