2007 World Series
The 2007 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2007 season. The 103rd edition of the World Series,[2] it was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion Colorado Rockies and the American League (AL) champion Boston Red Sox; the Red Sox swept the Rockies in four games. It was the Rockies' only appearance in a World Series. The Red Sox's victory was their second World Series championship in four seasons and their seventh overall; it also marked the third sweep in four years by the AL champions. The series began on Wednesday, October 24 and ended on Sunday, October 28.
2007 World Series
October 24–28
Fenway Park (Boston)
Coors Field (Colorado)
Mike Lowell (Boston)
Ed Montague (crew chief), Laz Díaz, Ted Barrett, Chuck Meriwether, Mike Everitt, Mike Reilly[1]
Red Sox:
David Ortiz
Rockies:
Todd Helton
Fox (United States)
MLB International (International)
Joe Buck and Tim McCarver (Fox)
Dave O'Brien and Rick Sutcliffe (MLB International)
Jon Miller and Joe Morgan
Joe Castiglione and Glenn Geffner (WRKO)
Jeff Kingery and Jack Corrigan (KOA)
Boston Red Sox over Cleveland Indians (4–3)
Colorado Rockies over Arizona Diamondbacks (4–0)
Terry Francona became the second Red Sox manager to win two World Series titles, following Bill Carrigan, who won the 1915 and 1916 World Series. Including the last three games of the AL Championship Series, the Red Sox outscored their opposition 59–15 over their final seven games. Francona also became the first manager to win his first 8 World Series games. The Rockies, meanwhile, became the first NL team to get swept in a World Series after sweeping the League Championship Series, and just the second team ever to suffer such a fate, following the Oakland Athletics in 1990. This fate would again be suffered by the 2012 Detroit Tigers, being swept by the San Francisco Giants in the World Series after sweeping the New York Yankees in the ALCS. As of 2023, this remains the most recent time an American League team has swept a National League team in the World Series.
Celebration[edit]
While the celebratory crowd at Kenmore Square was not as unruly as in 2004, cars were overturned and 37 arrests were made.[70] The Red Sox victory parade, yet again in duck boats and called a "Rolling Rally" as in 2004, was on October 30, 2007 with closer Jonathan Papelbon doing his infamous "Irish Jig" while local punk band the Dropkick Murphys played their hit "I'm Shipping Up to Boston".[71]
The Red Sox World Series win in 2007 continued the success of Boston-area teams in recent years.[72] The Celtics won their 17th championship, their first championship since 1986, the last time the Red Sox lost in the World Series, 7+1⁄2 months later. Furthermore, the New England Patriots had victories in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2016 and 2018, the Boston Bruins in 2011, and the Red Sox three years earlier in 2004 and six years later in 2013 and five years after that in 2018.
Broadcasting[edit]
The World Series was televised by Fox in the United States, with Joe Buck and Tim McCarver as booth announcers. The starting time for each television broadcast was 8:00 pm EDT (6:00 pm MDT). The series broke with the recent tradition of starting the World Series on a Saturday, as Major League Baseball had become convinced that weekend games drew lower television ratings. Prior to this season, every World Series since 1985 had opened on a Saturday, with the exception of the 1990 World Series. This was the first World Series to start on a Wednesday since 1968.
Rogers Sportsnet (RSN) in Canada used the MLB International feed with Dave O'Brien and Rick Sutcliffe as booth announcers. NASN showed the games live to most of Europe, while in the UK, all games were shown terrestrially on Five. NHK aired the Series in Japan.
On radio, the Series was broadcast nationally by ESPN Radio, with Jon Miller and Joe Morgan announcing. Locally, Joe Castiglione and Glenn Geffner called the Series for the Red Sox on WRKO in Boston, while Jack Corrigan and Jeff Kingery called it for the Rockies on KOA in Denver. Per contractual obligation, the non-flagship stations on the teams' radio networks carried the ESPN Radio broadcasts.
Aftermath[edit]
Red Sox[edit]
As previously mentioned, the Red Sox won two more World Series titles in 2013 and 2018. Both of those titles were managed by two members of the 2007 club. Pitching coach John Farrell served as the skipper of the 2013 Red Sox, featuring 2007 holdovers Clay Buchholz (DNP), Jacoby Ellsbury, Jon Lester, David Ortiz, and Dustin Pedroia. The 2018 Red Sox was managed by Alex Cora, an infielder on the 2007 team.
The Red Sox finished as a wild-card team in the 2008 season, winning 95 games. They were defeated in the ALCS by the Tampa Bay Rays in seven games. The Red Sox again qualified as a 95-win wild-card team in 2009, but lost 3–0 to the Los Angeles Angels in the ALDS. In both 2010 and 2011, the Red Sox missed the postseason despite winning 89 and 90 games, respectively. The 2011 season saw the Red Sox hold a nine-game lead in the wild card heading to September, only to lose 13 of their final 20 games to miss the playoffs. This led to the dismissal of skipper Terry Francona.
Rockies[edit]
After making the World Series in 2007, the Rockies proceeded to appear in the playoffs only three times in the next 15 seasons. In 2009, the Rockies won a wild-card berth after winning 92 games, but in a rematch of the 2007 NLDS, the Rockies lost in four games to the Philadelphia Phillies. During that season, the Rockies fired Clint Hurdle and replaced him with Jim Tracy. The Rockies never finished higher than third place in the NL West between 2010 and 2017, though in the latter season, they returned to postseason play as a second wild-card team. There, the Rockies lost in the Wild Card Game to the Arizona Diamondbacks. The following season, the Rockies made consecutive postseason appearances for the first time in team history, winning the Wild Card Game against the Chicago Cubs, but losing in the NLDS to the Milwaukee Brewers 3–0.
After managing the Rockies, Hurdle was hired by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2011, and in 2013, ended a major North American professional sports record 20-year drought without a winning season. The Pirates proceeded to make the postseason three consecutive years under Hurdle, winning the 2013 National League Wild Card Game during that span.
Three members of the 2007 Rockies went on to win a World Series ring with other teams. Outfielder Matt Holliday won in 2011 with the St. Louis Cardinals, pitcher Jeremy Affeldt won in 2010, 2012 and 2014 with the San Francisco Giants, and pitcher Franklin Morales won in 2013 with the Red Sox, and in 2015 with the Kansas City Royals.