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The Red Sox have been celebrating a whole lot this week. After taking the AL East title, while at Yankee Stadium none the less, the Sox returned to Boston to send the face of their franchise off with a bang. And by a bang, I mean his signature pose cut into the outfield grass, the number 34 being retired in the Red Sox universe, and draping a giant Dominican Republic flag over the Green Monster. I also now know my list of demands to ask from my employer when I decide to retire.
After the festivities, everyone took a break from appreciating Ortiz to play a baseball game. The Red Sox lost to the Blue Jays 2-1 and Toronto officially tied the Orioles for 2nd place in the AL East, clinching the top wild card spot. But let’s get back to the important stuff—Big Papi finishes his legendary career with 540 homeruns and an honorable amount of enemies.
The Red Sox play the AL Central winning Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field on Thursday, October 6th, at 12 PM EDT.
After beating the Yankees 5-2 on Sunday, the Orioles punched their ticket to the postseason. They’ll face the Blue Jays Tuesday in Toronto to decide who will go against the AL West champion Texas Rangers in the Division Series. The Orioles haven’t won a World Series since 1983.
Baltimore and Toronto show down Tuesday, October 4th, at Rogers Centre at 8:08 PM EDT.
With one out in the top of 7th inning, Joe Girardi took out Mark Teixeira so that the veteran first baseman could soak up a few final cheers from Yankee fans. Teixeira retires with 1,862 hits, 409 home runs and a .268 batting average.
So what fireworks could we expect during the Battle of the Birds? This season, the Orioles went 9-10 against the Jays, 4-5 being in Toronto. Those are some pretty telling statistics. But who knows what’s to come until the October lights of the Rogers Centre. If baseball fans have learned anything, it’s that during the postseason, anything goes.