Editing Boston Red Sox (section)

====2007: World Series Championship====
{{Main|2007 Boston Red Sox season|2007 World Series}}
[[File:Red Sox 2007.jpg|right|thumb|2007 season final standing]]
[[File:Boston Red Sox George W. Bush.jpg|thumb|right|Victorious Red Sox players being honored at the [[White House]] by President [[George W. Bush]]]]
The 2005 AL East was decided on the last weekend of the season, with the [[2005 New York Yankees season|Yankees]] coming to Fenway Park with a one-game lead in the standings. The Red Sox won two of the three games to finish the season with the same record as the Yankees, 95–67. However, a playoff was not needed, as the loser of such a playoff would still make the playoffs as a wild card team. As the Yankees had won the season series, they were awarded the division title, and the Red Sox competed in the playoffs as the wild card team. Boston failed to defend their championship, and was swept in three games by the eventual [[2005 World Series]] champion [[2005 Chicago White Sox season|Chicago White Sox]] in the [[2005 American League Division Series|first round]] of the playoffs. In 2006 [[David Ortiz]] broke [[Jimmie Foxx]]'s single-season Red Sox home run record by hitting 54 homers. However, Boston failed to make the playoffs after compiling a 9–21 record in the month of August due to several injuries in the club's roster.

Theo Epstein's first step toward restocking the team for 2007 was to pursue one of the most anticipated acquisitions in baseball history. On November 14, MLB announced that Boston had won the bid for the rights to negotiate a contract with Japanese [[Nippon Professional Baseball]] superstar pitcher [[Daisuke Matsuzaka]]. Boston placed a bid of $51.1&nbsp;million to negotiate with Matsuzaka and completed a 6-year, $52&nbsp;million contract after they were announced as the winning bid.

The Red Sox moved into first place in the AL East by mid-April and never relinquished their division lead. Initially, rookie second baseman [[Dustin Pedroia]] under-performed, hitting below .200 in April. Manager [[Terry Francona]] refused to bench him and his patience paid off as Pedroia eventually won the [[Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award|AL Rookie of the Year Award]] for his performance that season, which included 165 hits and a .317 batting average. On the mound, [[Josh Beckett]] emerged as the ace of the staff with his first 20-win season, as fellow starting pitchers Schilling, Matsuzaka, Wakefield and [[Julián Tavárez]] all struggled at times. Relief pitcher [[Hideki Okajima]], another recent arrival from the NPB, posted an ERA of 0.88 through the first half and was selected for the All-Star Game. Okajima finished the season with a 2.22 ERA and 5 saves, emerging as one of baseball's top relievers. Minor league call-up [[Clay Buchholz]] provided a spark on September 1 by pitching a [[no-hitter]] in his second career start. The Red Sox captured their first AL East title since 1995.

The Red Sox swept the [[2007 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim season|Angels]] in the [[2007 American League Division Series|ALDS]]. Facing the [[2007 Cleveland Indians season|Cleveland Indians]] in the [[2007 American League Championship Series|ALCS]], the Red Sox fell in games 2, 3, and 4 before Beckett picked up his second victory of the series in game 5, starting a comeback. The Red Sox captured their twelfth American League pennant by outscoring the Indians 30–5 over the final three games. The Red Sox faced the [[2007 Colorado Rockies season|Colorado Rockies]] in the [[2007 World Series]], and swept the Rockies in four games. In Game 4, Wakefield gave up his spot in the rotation to a recovered [[Jon Lester]], who gave the Red Sox an impressive start, pitching {{frac|5|2|3}} shutout innings. Key home runs late in the game by third baseman [[Mike Lowell]] and pinch-hitter [[Bobby Kielty]] secured the Red Sox' second title in four years, as Lowell was named Most Valuable Player in the World Series.