Jonathan Daniel/Getty ImagesHere's an interesting question: Did Cole Hamels need the Chicago Cubs or did the Cubs need Hamels?Early in the
veteran left-hander's North Side tenure
http://www.losangelesramsteamonline.com/todd-gurley-ii-jersey , the answer appears to be a resounding "yes and yes."When the Cubs acquired
Hamels from the Texas Rangers before the non-waiver trade deadline, their
rotation was in trouble. Yu Darvish, their $126 million man, had an ugly 4.95
ERA and was dealing with triceps and elbow issues that would eventually cost him
his season.Neither Jon Lester nor Jose Quintana was pitching like a top-shelf
starter. Tyler Chatwood was battling command problems.Overall, Cubs pitchers
posted a 4.56 ERA in July.Chicago was hoping Hamels would be the cavalry as it
battled for supremacy in the National League Central and aimed for another deep
postseason run. But there was no guarantee.Hamels has an ace's resume, with four
All-Star appearances and four top-10 Cy Young Award finishes. He owns a 3.48 ERA
across 98.1 playoff innings and won a ring with the Philadelphia Phillies in
2008.Lately, though, he's been less a reliable stud and more of a payroll drag.
In 2017, the Rangers paid him $23.5 million, part of a $144 million extension he
signed with Philadelphia in 2012. For that lofty sum, Hamels gave Texas a 4.20
ERA and career-low 6.4 strikeouts per nine innings.He turned 34 in December. It
was worth wondering if his career was on an irreversible downslope.G Fiume/Getty
ImagesThis season with the Rangers, he posted a 4.72 ERA with 114 strikeouts in
114.1 innings. Despite a rough July in which he coughed up 21 earned runs in 17
frames, it was enough to entice the Cubs to send a couple of minor league arms
and a player to be named later to Texas in a change-of-scenery swap.So far,
Hamels has been a revelation. In six starts with Chicago, he's 4-0 with an 0.69
ERA. The opportunity to pitch for a winner in the heat of a pennant race has
brought out his best."To be able to change kind of the mindset, now to go on a
first-place team
http://www.losangelesramsteamonline.com/cooper-kupp-jersey , there's something inside of you that sparks when you get in those situations,"
he told reporters at the time of the trade.Hamels' average fastball has clocked
in at 92.7 mph this season, per FanGraphs, a tick above his career mark of 92.3
mph. But he's throwing it just 26.8 percent of the time compared to a career
average of 39.2 percent and relying more on hisoff-speed offerings.Here he is
authoring a complete game August 23 against the Cincinnati Reds and throwing
like a guy you'd gladly hand the ball to under the bright October lights:Most
essentially, he's given the Cubs a necessary ingredient to wrest control of the
division and getback to the Fall Classic."He has all the credentials," first
baseman Anthony Rizzosaid, per ESPN.com's Jesse Rogers. "And he seems like he's
having a good time."Hamels has a $20 million team option for next season, with
an innings-based $24 million vesting option that he's unlikely to qualify for
and a $6 million buyout.The Cubs probably won't pull the trigger at $20 million,
but Hamels has pitched well enough to earn a lucrative deal this winter, in
Chicago or somewhere else.We're insmall-sampleterritory, admittedly. No one
expects Hamels to maintain a sub-1.00 ERA over the long haul. But he's not that
far removed from success, either. He was an All-Star who eclipsed 200 innings as
recently as 2016.Now, he's turning back the clock.The Cubbies needed him. He
needed the Cubbies. Sometimes, these things just work out. Allstatistics
currententering Sunday and courtesy of Baseball Reference and FanGraphs. The
Boston Red Sox will formally celebrate their 2018 World Series victory with
their fans in a parade that begins at Fenway Park on Wednesday.After 86 years of
misery, Red Sox fans have been spoiled with four world championships since 2004.
Their victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers this year was nearly a sweep, with
the National League champs needing 18 innings in Game 3 to earn their lone win
of the series.With 119 combined victories between the regular season and
playoffs
http://www.losangelesramsteamonline.com/jared-goff-jersey , the 2018 Red Sox had the second-most wins in MLB history of any team that won a
World Series. Only the 1998 New York Yankees (125) were better.Per Kevin Slane
of Boston.com, the parade will start 11 a.m. ET Wednesday at Fenway Park and end
onStaniford Street near the Government Center. Red Sox Parade Viewing
ScheduleDate: Wednesday, Oct. 31Network: MLB NetworkStreaming: MLB.com
PredictionsHarry How/Getty ImagesIf someone had told you coming into this MLB
season that David Price would end up being the biggest fan favorite during a Red
Sox World Series parade, they would have been laughed out of the room.At this
time last year, Price seemed like someone the Red Sox were stuck with but really
had no fit with the organization. He was getting into heated arguments with the
Boston media and told Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globehe wouldn't be talking
to the media on days he wasn't pitching."I don't talk to the media every day
like I did last year and I guess I get blown up for that," Price told
Shaughnessy in June 2017. "But I was honest with everything they asked me last
year, and I get blown up for that. So they did this to themselves. Talk to me on
the day I pitch and that's it. There are no more personal interviews. There are
no more asking me questions on a personal level. That's done."Just 12 months
later, Price became one of the biggest playoff heroes in Boston sports
history:MLB Stat of the Day MLBStatoftheDayWhat a turnaround for DAVIDprice24.
ir0AKgPU4YPrice tossed a combined 13 innings with six hits allowed and one
earned run with 14 strikeouts in series-clinching wins over the Houston Astros
and Dodgers.Given Price's standing with Sox fans when 2018 started and compared
to where it is now, don't be surprised to see him receive the loudest ovation
from the crowd if he stands up to speak.Every World Series winner also has the
one player who becomes a cult icon for the rest of time. Boston fans have two
they can pick from: Nathan Eovaldi and Steve Pearce. Both players were with the
team for less than half of the season, but they left an indelible mark.Pearce
has the extra hardware on his mantle after winning the World Series MVP award
thanks to hitting three homers in the final two games against Los Angeles.FOX
Sports: MLB MLBONFOXMiiiiight be time to get those M-V-P chants going.Steve
Pearce goes yard AGAIN! g4p96eK2EDEovaldi, who was tentatively set to start Game
4, tossed six innings out of the bullpen in Game 3's 18-inning marathon. The
right-hander took a hard-luck loss after giving up Max Muncy's walk-off homer,
but all of his teammates showered his performance with praise."Effortwise, I
don't know, World Series, that was one of the best performances probably in the
history of the World Series
Brandin Cooks Jersey Elite ," Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters about Eovaldi after Game 3. "I told him how proud I was of him. The effort was
amazing...probably one of the best, if not the best, game I've ever been a part
of. The effort from both sides. What Nate did tonight, that was amazing. That
was amazing."It was an impressive outing on its own, but it looks even more
incredible if you factor in that Eovaldi pitched one inning in each of the first
two games against the Dodgers. He also recorded four outs in Game 5 against the
Astros two days after giving up two runs in a six-inning outing.Both players
will be beloved figures in Boston for the rest of their lives, but if you are
picking one who will inspire a more rousing round of applause, Pearce gets the
slight edge because of his family's connection to the franchise.Per WEEI's Rob
Bradford, Pearce spent some of his formative years at the Red Sox's spring
training facility watching the team after his family moved to Florida in 1996."I
was out there getting all the foul balls," Pearce said. "I would bring them on
the bus. I went over to Winter Haven all the time. I used to have so many
autographs but then we ended up playing with the balls."MLB history will always
remember star players like Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, J.D. Martinez, Andrew
Benintendi and Chris Sale.But the once-unheralded studs like Pearce and Eovaldi
took this Red Sox team from a dominant regular-season group to a World Series
title.
