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The Boston Red Sox defeated the Houston Astros on Thursday night in the fifth game of the AHL championship series, winning the best-of-seven series by a margin of 4-1. The Red Sox are the champions of the 2018 AL and will play against the Los Angeles Dodgers or Milwaukee Brewers in the World Series. The Dodgers currently lead the Brewers by a 3-2 margin in the NLCS, the sixth match being down on Friday.
As such, here are six things you should know about Boston's latest victory as a pennant.
1. The 14th in the history of franchising
This represents the first Red Sox pennant since he's won the World Series since 2013 – it was their eighth world title. Technically, it was seventh place for "Red Sox", which won a championship and two pennants as Boston Americans. But Baseball-Reference counts them and we will do it.
This will be the eighth time the Red Sox have qualified for the World Series since 1918. It's also the fourth time that they've reached the goal since Bill Buckner's famous blunder in the 1986 World Series.
2. Regular season performance in context
The Red Sox have won 108 games this season. You may be wondering what other teams have won the pennant after such a brilliant season. The answer is not too recent.
The Red Sox were only the third team since this latest wave of expansion to win 108 games or so. The others, the Seattle Mariners of 2001 and the Yankees of 1998, had mixed results in the playoffs: the Mariners lost in the ALCS, the Yankees won the World Series.
Of the 11 total teams that have won at least 108 games, 10 have reached the Fall Classic. Eight have won. This statistic is not intrinsically predictive, but it is an interesting part of the story.
It may be interesting to note that the Red Sox would win the most wins in the regular season among World Series winners since the 1986 Mets – yes, the same team that defeated the 1986 Red Sox and has won 108.
Conversely, these Red Sox would have the greatest number of wins in the World Series since the 1969 Orioles in Baltimore, winning 109 games.
3. A dominant presence in the modern era
As noted above, the Red Sox have made it a habit to go to the Fall Classic. They are now tied for the second largest number of World Series entries since the last wave of expansion (1998) alongside the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals (four each).
Of course, the New York Yankees, with six, are still leading the majors in this category.
4. First trip to the World Series for many stars
While the Red Sox franchise has been a big part of the World Series for the last 20 years, many of their current players are about to make their first trips.
In other words, only two of the 12 best Red Sox players (according to the Baseball-Reference WAR) have already played in the World Series. These two people are David Price and Rick Porcello, who combine about four rounds of the world series.
Obviously, the number of players to appear in the World Series increases when the entire table is taken into account. But players think when they create images of this club – Mookie Betts, Chris Sale, Andrew Benintendi, JD Martinez, Craig Kimbrel, etc. – will make their debut in the Fall Classic in a few days. & # 39; time. It's pretty cool.
5. Cora does the story
Clearly, it will also be the first world series as skipper of rookie manager Alex Cora. (He was the coach of the Astros on the bench last season, so this is not his first time as a coach.)
Cora could become the first rookie coach to win the World Series since Bob Brenly in 2001 with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Regardless, he is the first skipper of Latin origin to reach the World Series during his first year.
6. Dombrowski pursues the ring two decades later
The Red Sox executive, Dave Dombrowski, has enough experience in the World Series.
During his career, Dombrowski has seen three of his clubs qualify for the Fall Classic: the Florida Marlins of 1997 and the Detroit Tigers of 2006 and 2012. Only the Marlins have won.
Dombrowski has spent the last two decades and more looking for another victory in the World Series. He might well get it this year.
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