Ortiz burns Cardinals as Red Sox move to brink of a title

It would have been hard to imagine seven months ago in Fort Myers, Fla., that the 2013 baseball season would come down to one game with more intrigue than

Tom Verducci | Oct 29, 2013

It would have been hard to imagine seven months ago in Fort Myers, Fla., that the 2013 baseball season would come down to one game with more intrigue than this one. One day closer to a parade are the Red Sox, and it has been almost a century to see it happen at Fenway. Between them and history stands Wacha, the unbeatable, unshakable kid of the postseason. He will be okay as long as he remembers one immutable truth of this and any postseason that is ignored at a pitcher's peril: Do not challenge David Ortiz.

Published Oct 29, 2013

TOM VERDUCCI

Tom Verducci is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated who has covered Major League Baseball since 1981. He also serves as an analyst for FOX Sports and the MLB Network; is a New York Times best-selling author; and cohosts The Book of Joe podcast with Joe Maddon. A five-time Emmy Award winner across three categories (studio analyst, reporter, short form writing) and nominated in a fourth (game analyst), he is a three-time National Sportswriter of the Year winner, two-time National Magazine Award finalist, and a Penn State Distinguished Alumnus Award recipient. Verducci is a member of the National Sports Media Hall of Fame, Baseball Writers Association of America (including past New York chapter chairman) and a Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 1993. He also is the only writer to be a game analyst for World Series telecasts. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, with whom he has two children.