They Got You, Babe

The Curse of the Bambino is dead, forever submerged in Willis Pond with Babe Ruth’s piano, buried with the home run balls of Bucky Dent and Aaron Boone, the funeral procession rolling through Bill Buckner’s legs and coming to rest at a grave that took New England 86 years to dig.

Long live the Boston Red Sox.

It took a cast of self-proclaimed “idiots,” a scraggly haired band of brothers who were inspired by -- and somewhat impervious to -- their franchise’s star-crossed history, but the Red Sox finally won their first World Series championship since 1918 with a 3-0 Game 4 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in front of 52,037 in Busch Stadium on Wednesday night.

Derek Lowe, the free-agent-to-be who was demoted to the bullpen to start the playoffs, gave up three hits over seven shutout innings to earn his third series-clinching victory of this postseason, and right fielder Trot Nixon had three doubles and two runs batted in, as the Red Sox completed a sweep of St. Louis.

Boston was so dominant it gave up only three runs over the final three games of the Series to a Cardinal club that led the National League in runs, batting average and slugging percentage.

The Red Sox, who on Oct. 17 were three outs away from being swept by the New York Yankees in the American League championship series, reeled off eight consecutive playoff wins and became only the fourth team in baseball history to lead every inning of a World Series. The others were the 1963 Dodgers over the Yankees, the 1966 Baltimore Orioles over the Dodgers and the 1989 Oakland A’s over the San Francisco Giants.

Manny Ramirez, who batted .412 in the Series, was the most valuable player.

It was 10:40 p.m. local time when Red Sox closer Keith Foulke snared Edgar Renteria’s comebacker and flipped to first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz for the final out, touching off a team dog-pile near the bag that was so forceful, the entire group got pushed about 20 yards into foul territory.

The clubhouse erupted in a wild celebration, the traditional champagne sprayed around a room filled with elation and relief, the burden of 86 years of heartbreak and disappointment finally lifted.

“Somebody said to me today that this is the biggest thing since the Revolutionary War -- is that fair?” Red Sox principal owner John Henry said. “It’s just an overwhelming sense of joy and release. All the faith, all the waiting for next year, this is vindication for all of the fans’ frustration.

“It’s sheer joy.”

Henry’s sentiments were echoed all over a room filled with the present and the past, current players partying with Johnny Pesky, the 85-year-old former Red Sox infielder whose 1946 team lost the World Series in seven games.

“This is a feeling I can’t describe,” said reliever Alan Embree, who retired two batters in the eighth inning Wednesday night. “The Curse is dead. We were the ones who killed it, and we can hold our heads up high.”

More than an hour after the game, thousands of Red Sox fans remained behind the third base dugout, celebrating as players took turns hoisting the World Series trophy over their heads, showering them with chants such as “Thank you, Red Sox! Thank you, Red Sox!”

“They live and die with every pitch, every swing, and no more do they have to say, ‘Is this the year?’ ” said Nixon, whose two-run double in the third inning gave Boston a 3-0 lead. “We want them to enjoy this as much as we are. They’ve been searching for that elusive championship for a long time.”

Some longer than others.

“All those fans who have followed the Red Sox for decades, they can die happy now--they got to see the Red Sox win a world championship,” Embree said. “They’re so passionate about the club. They wanted a championship so bad. They deserved this. They willed us to this. In that sense, it wasn’t just about 25 guys. It was about a nation.”

Indeed, the World Series trophy belongs not only to the players, coaches and front-office executives but to all of Red Sox Nation, the legion of long-suffering fans hardened by catastrophic defeats and near misses.

It’s for all those octogenarians who spent summer nights listening to the games on porches from Mystic, Conn., to Manchester, Vt., from the Berkshire Mountains to Bar Harbor, Maine; for the generations of fans who toted transistor radios to the beach and to family cookouts to keep tabs on their team and passed that passion for the Red Sox down to their children and grandchildren.

It’s for those kids who grew up insisting their peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches be made with Big Yaz Bread; who left school early every spring to watch the home opener, and who later in life stopped their cars at the entrance to the many tunnels in The Hub to maintain radio contact if the Red Sox were rallying in the ninth inning.

It’s for those Red Sox fans who were so tired of playing second fiddle to the Yankees, who were constantly reminded that since former Boston owner Harry Frazee sold Ruth to the Yankees for $100,000 in 1920 -- hence, the Curse of the Bambino -- the Yankees had won 26 championships and the Red Sox none.

Until Wednesday night.

Cost of assembling a well-rounded Red Sox team that could vanquish the hated Yankees, who have now gone four long years without a championship: about $130 million.

Hearing Red Sox fans serenade the Yankees in Fenway Park next April with chants of “Year 2000! Year 2000!” as payback for all those “1918! 1918!” chants in Yankee Stadium? Priceless.

“I wouldn’t trade thousands of millions of dollars for this moment,” Pesky said. “This is the greatest thing that’s ever happened to the Red Sox and their fans. This is for the fans of Boston and New England.”

But it’s also for the players of Boston and New England, for Jim Rice and Carlton Fisk, Carl Yastrzemski and Jim Lonborg, Ted Williams and Bobby Doerr, and beloved former owner Tom Yawkey.

It’s for all those Red Sox greats who never felt the sweet sting of champagne in their eyes, as Kevin Millar, Johnny Damon, Jason Varitek, David Ortiz and these current Red Sox did Wednesday night.

“Ted is probably looking down and saying, ‘It’s about time,’ ” Pesky said of Williams. “This means an awful lot to me.”

In typical Red Sox fashion, the Red Sox kept Wednesday night’s game just close enough to keep their notoriously pessimistic fans on edge, especially when they failed to score after loading the bases with none out in the eighth.

But Lowe retired 13 consecutive batters from the second to fifth innings, and after the third inning, the Cardinals never brought the potential tying run to the plate.

Damon, the Red Sox center fielder, opened the game by lining a 92-mph Jason Marquis fastball into the Cardinal bullpen in right-center field for a 1-0 lead, and Nixon’s bases-loaded double in the third, which came when Manager Terry Francona gave him the green light on a 3-and-0 pitch, made it 3-0.

For once, there was no gut-wrenching turn of events, no grounders rolling through Buckner’s legs, no fluke home runs going over the walls, no disasters. The Red Sox stuck together and held on, refusing to buy into The Curse and all of the bad karma surrounding the franchise.

“The biggest thing was our team chemistry, having a whole bunch of brothers,” pitcher Pedro Martinez said. “Not friends -- brothers. We may look like a bunch of idiots, but we know what we’re doing.”

If the Red Sox retain their key free agents and keep this team together, they could be a World Series contender for several years. Knowing this, and surveying the celebration in the clubhouse, Embree inhaled the moment and all its glory.

“You know what?” he said, “Let’s not wait another 86 years to do this again.”

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Longest Droughts

With the monkey off Boston’s back, here are the franchises that have gone the longest without winning the World Series:

*--* Team Year Chicago Cubs... 1908 Chicago White Sox... 1917 Cleveland...1948 Texas*...1961 Houston*...1962 Milwaukee*...1969 Montreal*...1969 San Diego*...1969 Seattle*...1977 Pittsburgh...1979 * Has never won Series.

*--*

*

Wild Times

The Red Sox became the fourth wild-card team -- and the third in as many years -- to win the World Series in the 10 years since the league playoffs expanded to four teams. The wild-card champions:

*--* 1997: FLORIDA NLDS: d. San Francisco, 3-0; NLCS: d. Atlanta, 4-2; World Series: d. Cleveland, 4-3 * Edgar Renteria, who made the final out for St. Louis on Wednesday, also had the last at-bat for the Marlins in ‘97, singling in the winning run in the 11th inning. 2002: ANGELS ALDS: d. N.Y. Yankees, 3-1; ALCS: d. Minnesota, 4-1; World Series: d. San Francisco, 4-3 * Down by five runs in the sixth game, the Angels rallied to win, then wrapped up their first championship the next day. 2003: FLORIDA NLDS: d. San Francisco, 3-2; NLCS: d. Chicago Cubs, 4-3; World Series: d. N.Y. Yankees, 4-2 * A huge underdog entering the series, the Marlins rode pitching of 23-year-old Josh Beckett to their second title. 2004: BOSTON ALDS: d. Angels, 3-0; ALCS: d. N.Y. Yankees, 4-3; World Series: d. St. Louis, 4-0 * On the brink of elimination at the hands of the Yankees, the Red Sox ran off eight victories in a row to end 86 years of frustration.

*--*

*

MVP: Manny Ramirez

*--* At-bats...17 Home runs...1 Runs...2 Runs batted in...4 Hits...7 Batting avg.... .412

*--*

*

Never Looked Back

Teams that have never trailed during a World Series:

1963

Dodgers def. N.Y. Yankees

* Game 1...Dodgers, 5-2

* Game 2...Dodgers, 4-1

* Game 3...Dodgers, 1-0

* Game 4...Dodgers, 2-1

1966

Baltimore def. Dodgers

* Game 1...Baltimore, 5-2

* Game 2...Baltimore, 6-0

* Game 3...Baltimore, 1-0

* Game 4...Baltimore, 1-0

1989

Oakland def. San Francisco

* Game 1...Oakland, 5-0

* Game 2...Oakland, 5-1

* Game 3...Oakland, 13-7

* Game 4...Oakland, 9-6

2004

Boston def. St. Louis

* Game 1...Boston, 11-9

* Game 2...Boston, 6-2

* Game 3...Boston, 4-1

* Game 4...Boston, 3-0

*

PLAY BY PLAY

FIRST INNING

* RED SOX: Marquis pitching. Damon homered to right. Cabrera grounded to third. Ramirez walked. Ortiz flied to left. Varitek struck out swinging. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 left on.

* CARDINALS: Lowe pitching. Womack singled to left. Walker sacrificed to the pitcher. Pujols grounded to second, Womack to third. Rolen grounded to the pitcher. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 left on.

SECOND INNING

* RED SOX: Mueller grounded to second. Nixon doubled to right. Bellhorn walked. Lowe sacrificed to third, Nixon to third, Bellhorn to second. Damon grounded to first. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 left on.

* CARDINALS: Edmonds flied to left. Renteria grounded to third. Mabry flied to right. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors.

THIRD INNING

* RED SOX: Cabrera flied out to left fielder Mabry. Ramirez singled to left. Ortiz doubled to right, Ramirez to third. Varitek grounded into fielder’s choice, Ramirez out at home, first baseman Pujols to catcher Molina, Ortiz to third. Mueller walked, Varitek to second. Nixon doubled to center, Ortiz and Varitek scored, Mueller to third. Bellhorn intentionally walked. Lowe struck out swinging. 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 3 left on.

* CARDINALS: Molina struck out swinging. Marquis grounded out, shortstop Cabrera to first baseman Ortiz. Womack grounded out, shortstop Cabrera to first baseman Ortiz. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors.

FOURTH INNING

* RED SOX: Damon grounded out, second baseman Womack to first baseman Pujols. Cabrera flied out to center fielder Edmonds. Ramirez flied out to center fielder Edmonds. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors.

* CARDINALS: Walker flied out to right fielder Nixon. Pujols struck out swinging. Rolen fouled out to first baseman Ortiz. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors.

FIFTH INNING

* RED SOX: Ortiz walked. Varitek struck out looking. Mueller grounded out, second baseman Womack to first baseman Pujols, Ortiz to second. Nixon flied out to center fielder Edmonds. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on.

* CARDINALS: Edmonds lined out to third baseman Mueller. Renteria doubled to left-center. Renteria to third on Lowe’s wild pitch. Mabry struck out swinging. Molina grounded out, shortstop Cabrera to first baseman Ortiz. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 left on.

SIXTH INNING

* RED SOX: Bellhorn struck out swinging. Lowe grounded out, pitcher Marquis to first baseman Pujols. Damon tripled to right-center. Cabrera flied out to right fielder Walker. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 left on.

* CARDINALS: Marlon Anderson, pinch-hitting for Marquis, grounded out, pitcher Lowe to first baseman Ortiz. Womack flied out to center fielder Damon. Walker walked. Pujols popped out to second baseman Bellhorn. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on.

SEVENTH INNING

* RED SOX: Danny Haren pitching. Ramirez struck out swinging. Ortiz grounded out, first baseman Pujols to pitcher Haren. Varitek flied out to center fielder Edmonds. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors.

* CARDINALS: Doug Mientkiewicz at first base. Rolen flied out to center fielder Damon. Edmonds flied out to center fielder Damon. Renteria singled to right. Mabry struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 left on.

EIGHTH INNING

* RED SOX: Mueller singled to right. Nixon doubled to right, Mueller to third. Gabe Kapler pinch-ran for Nixon. Jason Isringhausen pitching. Reggie Sanders in left field. Bellhorn walked. Pokey Reese pinch-ran for Bellhorn. Kevin Millar, pinch-hitting for Lowe, struck out swinging. Damon grounded into fielder’s choice, Mueller out at home, first baseman Pujols to catcher Molina, Kapler to third, Reese to second. Cabrera struck out swinging. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 3 left on.

* CARDINALS: Bronson Arroyo pitching. Kapler in right field. Reese at second base. Roger Cedeno, pinch-hitting for Molina, popped out to second baseman Reese. Sanders walked. Alan Embree pitching. Sanders stole second. Hector Luna, pinch-hitting for Womack, struck out swinging. Walker popped out to shortstop Cabrera. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on.

NINTH INNING

* RED SOX: Mike Matheny catching. Luna at second base. Ramirez grounded out, third baseman Rolen to first baseman Pujols. Mientkiewicz flied out to right fielder Walker. Varitek singled to left. Nixon grounded into fielder’s choice, Varitek forced at second, shortstop Renteria unassisted. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 left on.

* CARDINALS: Keith Foulke pitching. Pujols singled to center. Rolen flied out to right fielder Kapler. Edmonds struck out swinging. Pujols to second on defensive indifference. Renteria grounded out, pitcher Foulke to first baseman Mientkiewicz. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 left on.