Boston Red Sox are 2013 World Champions! #BostonStrong

The Boston Red Sox are world champions.

Yes that moniker may not hold much outside the 50 states of the United States of America but for the city of Boston and fans of its fabled baseball team, it is a title they deeply cherish.

While the grip of the curse of the Bambino is long over, Red Sox fans definitely cherish the World Series like the Holy Grail.

And this achievement will definitely rank as the best out of their three World Series since they broke the curse of Babe Ruth in that fabled American League pennant series against the Yankees in 2004.

After all, let's not forget that the Red Sox just over a year ago finished last in the division. Their then manager, Bobby Valentine was sacked and replaced by John Farrell, a coach who had done a bit with the Toronto Blue Jays but was still by all accounts not familiar with autumn baseball.

The bullpen and batting roster were heavily changed in the winter although the likes of Jack Lester, Dustin Pedroia, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and David Ortiz stayed at Fenway Park. 

Then of course, came the fateful day of April 15, 2013, a day which Boston residents and a nation will never forget.

The Boston Marathon, a day prided so much by the city along with it's other sports teams, was marred badly by a bomb that killed 3 and maimed thousands forever.

The BostonStrong logo was born that day and as Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev were being hunted down in a bloody chase by Massachussets State Police, Boston moved on and the Red Sox who stood in silence just days after the bombing at Fenway Park, vowed to win for their wounded city.

That they did, not only winning their division and having the pleasure of seeing their bitter rivals, the Yankees miss out on October baseball completely, but they also earned the best record in the American League, vanquishing the Tampa Bay Rays and Detroit Tigers en route to a series against the equally impressive St Louis Cardinals.

It's not as if the Cards were bad this series. Far from it.

The team from the Gateway to the West showed why they've made the playoffs every season and made this a highly competitive and enjoyable World Series - more so than the lopsided encounters of past Red Sox wins and last season when the Giants won.

Alas, the Red Sox were a team with a mission and had that 10% extra over the 120 that Yadier Molina and John Wainwright gave and ultimately created their own destiny.

While David Ortiz was named MVP of the Series, it was a team effort all round and no-name players like David Ross and Jonny Gomes made big contributions with the bat.

And how about Koji?

How about Koji!

He may be no Mariano Riviera but for closers he is as good as they get.

In the end, the Red Sox were a star team rather than a team of stars and that's why they're World Series champions.

And that will delight those in Boston who lost their limbs those 6 months ago that can now seem like a terrible nightmare - winning it at home for the first time since 1918 makes this achievement even sweeter.

Well done Red Sox! #BostonStrong