Boston Red Sox's David Ortiz, left, and teammate Dave Roberts celebrate after the Red Sox defeated the St. Louis Cardinals to win the World Series. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)

Red Sox Win World Series to End “Curse”
The curse is over.

The Boston Red Sox swept the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series after coming back from a 3-0 deficit against the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series.
 

Both victories were historic. The World Series win was Boston’s first since 1918. It also ended a so-called “curse” against the team.
 

Legend has it that the curse began when the Red Sox traded pitcher Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees following the 1920 season.
 

Ruth went on to become one of the best home run hitters of all time. Also, the Yankees have won 26 World Series championships since the trade.
 

The trade began a string of bad luck for Boston that continued until last month.
 

Hundreds of thousands of people celebrated the World Series victory with a parade in downtown Boston. Manny Ramirez, the most valuable player of the World Series, said he thought this might be a special season before it began.
 

Long history of bad luck
Boston’s previous struggles have been legendary.
 

They included a famous error by first baseman Bill Buckner in the 1986 World Series and an 11th inning home run by New York Yankees third baseman Aaron Boone in the 2003 American League Championship Series.
 

This year, Boston finished in second place behind the Yankees in the American League East. The Red Sox made the playoffs as the wild card. They then beat the Anaheim Angels in the first round of the playoffs to face the Yankees.
 

New York won the first three games of the series. That includes a 19-8 victory over Boston in Game 3 in Boston. It looked like the series was over for the Red Sox. But Boston came back with four straight victories over New York, two of them in extra innings. It was the first time a team had come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a playoff series.
 

The World Series looked easy by comparison. The Red Sox never trailed in the entire series despite playing against a talented Cardinals offense.