Playoff baseball turns bloody socks into priceless memorabilia, and 12-year-old suburbanites into folk heroes. It is maddening, unpredictable, and altogether emotionally draining. It is also, as the World Series–winning Red Sox illustrate, a dreadful chore.
The Red Sox defeated the Dodgers in five games to secure the franchise's fourth World Series title since it ended its 86-year championship drought in 2004. With help from the pitcher David Price, who finally seemed to overcome his postseason demons, and the journeyman first-baseman Steve Pearce, whose three home runs in Games Four and Five earned him the MVP award, Boston managed to sustain its stellar regular-season play into October. But though the World Series provided its share of wonder, it is far from an instant classic. From games that stretched way past most people's bedtimes to the obsessive nature of modern managing, staying engaged throughout the Red Sox's run felt more like a duty than an escape. Major League Baseball has long been losing its grip on the title of America's pastime, and the 2018 championship series is emblematic of why.
