Econintersect: The Boston Red Sox didn’t win a world series after 1918 (the last year that Babe Ruth played in Boston) until 2004. The 1918 season terminated a string of four world championships in seven years. But when the Babe went to the Yankees the Red Sox were finished for another 28 years until they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1946.
Tonight the Red Sox defeated the St Louis Cardinals in the sixth game of the 2013 World Series to take home the championship. The final score was 6-1. Pictured left is MVP David Ortiz. Click on picture for larger image.
The Red Sox and the Cardinals are one of the epic World Series rivalries. The Red Sox have played in 12 World Series (if you count the 1901 Boston Americans World Series victory) with an overall record of 9-3. All three losses came from 1946 to 1986 and two were losses to the Cardinals. The only other team to ever beat the Red Sox in a World Series was the New York Mets in 1986, and that required a monumental error by Bill Buckner to keep the Mets from being eliminated in game six.
The Red Sox have played the Cardinals four times for an even split. The Mets of course hold a 1-0 advantage over Boston. Otherwise the national League is 0-7 against the boys from Fenway, with the losses divided among seven teams.
The following was obtained from Fox Sports via MSN just as the game ended:
The 86-years without a World Championshp was the longest in the major leagues when the Red Sox defeated the Cardinals in St Louis in 2004. But another record stretch of 95 years ended when the Sox closed out a victorious Series in Boston for the first time since the last year they had the Babe in 1918.
Now, for long-suffering fans another streak is in the spotlight: The Chicago Cubs last won a World Series 105 years ago and haven’t appeared in a Series since 1945. So the Cubs’ record is even more dismal than the Red Sox for long-term frustration. And the Chicago team can’t take consolation from an overall winning record either: They are 2-8 all-time in World Championship competition.
So the new cry is “Come-on Cubbies, do it next year”. Oh wait a minute, that’s not new – it’s 105 years old.