World Series afterthoughts: Papi & pitching

Is that the bat Ortiz was using?

David Ortiz's final World Series MVP numbers: 11-16 (.688), 7 runs, 2 doubles, 2 home runs, 6 RBI's, 8 walks, a .760 on base percentage, and one stolen grand slam turned sacrifice fly.  He reached base at least 3 times in each of the final 5 games (and in Game 1 he was 2-3 with a HR and the aforementioned almost grand slam), culminating with the Cardinals basically surrendering and giving him 4 walks last night.  Most people booed this, but I loved it.  More base runners is almost always a good thing, as we saw with Shane Victorino's 3 run double.  Speaking of that, how amazing is this photo:

The funny thing was, after Jonny Gomes crossed the plate, this game (and series) was over in the 3rd inning (it felt kind of anticlimactic, reminding me of the clinching Game 6 of the 2008 NBA Finals in which the Celtics led the Lakers 58-35 at halftime).  Normally an early three run lead doesn't end a baseball game, but in this World Series it did.  The Cardinals only scored 14 times in the entire series, and had just 4 runs total over the final 3 games (all Sox victories).  St. Louis' 6-9 hitters did not record a single RBI, and Boston's starting pitchers allowed just 7 earned runs.  As incredibly worthy as Ortiz was of the MVP, the Red Sox pitching is what won it for them.


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