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Fans in Boston had longed to hear it, and now they've heard it twice. In four years. And the Cubbies are pissed. For the second time in four years, the Boston Red Sox have ended October on the highest platform you can stand on. In 2004 it was Schilling, Manny and Papi that carried the Red Sox to a World Series. In 2007, while those three were a part of it all, it was Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Mike Lowell and Josh Beckett that took this team to the top. The change of guard started right after the 2004 Series, when the Red Sox delivered prized prospects Hanley Ramirez and Anibal Sanchez to the Marlins for Beckett and Lowell. While Ramirez is arguably the best shortstop in the National League and Sanchez threw a no-hitter in his second career start, the Sox may have gotten the sweeter end of the deal. It only contributes to the legend of Theo Epstein that those two players, picked up right after one World Series, would be MVPs of the ALCS (Beckett) and Series (Lowell) while leading the Sox to a seventh title. The Red Sox limped into the postseason, nearly handing the Yankees an AL East crown that had so long been yearned for. They tore through a weak-hitting Los Angeles of Anaheim squad and went into the ALCS against a team that was thought to be their toughest challenge in the Cleveland Indians. The Tribe proved to be exactly that, taking three straight after falling in Game 1 to the now immortalized Beckett. He took Game 5 of the ALCS to keep the Red Sox alive and then watched as Boston's bats came alive in Games 6 and 7 to carry the Beantown Boomers to the World Series against a team that came in hotter than any in history. But the Colorado Rockies magic had finally run out. Or maybe the Red Sox were just that good. Either way, Boston played well enough to trail for a measly three innings of 36. Pedroia started things off right, taking the first pitch of Colorado starter Jeff Francis deep to give the Sox a lead they'd never let go. Beckett was stellar again, running his 2007 postseason record to 4-0, and Boston became the first team in history to put up double-digit runs in three consecutive postseason games. Boston's homegrown talent of Ellsbury, Pedroia, Jonathan Papelbon and Kevin Youkilis provided key performances, and all but Youks, who sat in favor of David Ortiz in the DH-less NL park, had a rightful claim to the MVP trophy that Lowell raised at the end of the night. Enemies of the Sawx will say that they're the new Yankees, a team that buys their rings, and they may be right. But Boston does one thing that the Yankees haven't lately. Win. Originally posted on ForeverRivals.com