Champion Red Sox finally fielded the right Price at the right time.
Once boasted he was saving his wins for Sox
LOS ANGELES • The relief of finally winning in the post-season had given way to joy long before Sunday night, but now that he’s a World Series champion, David Price can freely admit how deeply the lack of playoff success was wearing on him. And how could it not?
Before running the table with wins in his final three starts in October — including Sunday’s masterpiece to clinch the 114th Fall Classic for the Boston Red Sox — Price was too often a beaten, befuddled man in the postseason.
“It was tough, absolutely,” the 33-year-old said in the afterglow of his three-hit, one-run effort in Boston’s 5-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers, giving them the series in five games.
“To answer that question in spring training and day in and day out, over and over and over and over any time it got near to September, that was difficult. I hold all the cards now and that feels good.
“I can’t tell you how good it feels to hold that trump card. You guys (in the media) have had it for a long time, but you don’t have it any more.”
Of course, Price had the power to change the deck at any point, whether when he was a Jays late-season acquisition in 2015 or in his first two playoff seasons with Boston. For whatever reason, though, he couldn’t manage to get it done.
As Price said, the talk has been going on for a while. After ending his playoff stint with the Jays and signing as a free agent with the Red Sox for US$217 million over seven years, the first question was obvious: what about the playoffs?
Price’s answer then was classic: “I’ve been saving all my playoff wins for the Red Sox.”
Well, eventually that became true. It just took a while. As has been widely documented, Price was 0-9 in 11 career starts before getting the win against Astros ace Justin Verlander in Game 5 of the ALCS. He followed it with another stellar effort in Game 2 against the Dodgers in Boston and now he looks like he can’t be stopped.
With it finally no longer an issue, Price gives firstyear Red Sox manager Alex Cora some credit.
“Our relationship is definitely very unique,” Price said. “It started in the first week of January when we went out for a team lunch in Fort Myers and setting the tone with the first meeting.
“We’re always in contact, even when we are away from the field, so I’ve said it many times: he’s cool.”
The three-hitter through seven-plus innings Sunday could have even been better. After giving up a firstinning homer to David Freese, the only other hits he allowed were a bloop single to Yasiel Puig in the second and a Freese triple that would have been an out if right-fielder J.D. Martinez hadn’t lost the ball in the lights.
“I’m very proud of him,” said Cora. “There are a lot of people who gave up on him throughout the season. But we knew he was one of the best pitchers in the big leagues and he cares. He wants to win and he finally has his World Series win.”
World Series MVP Steve Pearce is riding high in the popularity polls in New England and will likely continue to do so for the rest of his days.
But the clutch-hitting Pearce was one of the more popular players in the Blue Jays clubhouse as well, a hard-nosed dude whom his teammates enjoyed being around.
“He’s been great not only in the field, but in the clubhouse,” Cora said of about as unlikely a candidate as you could find for World Series MVP, who rose to the occasion over the final 11 innings of the series. “He’s been a great teammate. Veteran guy, he’s been through a lot.
“Little by little his role got bigger. He kept putting up good at-bats and actually he played great defensively for us, too, and that was a plus. I’m happy that he was MVP of the series.”
So what now as free agency comes around again?
You can bet the Florida native has great interest in re-signing with the World Series champs.
“I would definitely love it,” Pearce said. “We’re world champions. To be able to open up next season at Fenway Park with the ring ceremony and everything that goes along with it and to drop the banner for the 2018 champions, would definitely love that.”