Jacoby Ellsbury played a key role in helping the Red Sox win this year's World Series.
Ellsbury "got things started for the Red Sox all year, and as Boston wrapped up the World Series with a 6-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 6, the leadoff man was the catalyst once more...."
Jacoby Ellsbury is a champion. As key player for the 2013 World Champion Boston Red Sox, he played an important role in this series, especially in Game 6.
Jacoby McCabe Ellsbury, a member of the Colorado River Indian Tribes, is the first Native American of Navajo descent to reach the Major Leagues. As of 2008, he was one of only three active non-Hispanic Native American players in Major League Baseball, along with Kyle Lohse of the Milwaukee Brewers and Joba Chamberlain of the New York Yankees.
Ellsbury was born September 11, 1983, in Madras, Oregon, and is the oldest of four children. In Little League, he often played with teammates up to three years older than himself, and in high school he was a four-year letterman in football and baseball, and basketball for three. In his senior year, he hit .537 with 65 stolen bases. In basketball, he averaged 23.6 points and 4.4 blocks per game. He finished his football career with nine interceptions and six kickoff returns for touchdowns.
With an injury to Coco Crisp, Ellsbury's contract was purchased and he received a call-up to the Red Sox on June 30, 2007, where he made his MLB debut in center field and hit ninth against the Texas Rangers at Fenway Park wearing number 46.
He got his first major league hit against Robinson Tejeda in the bottom of the third inning of that game, and his first career stolen base came off pitcher Brandon McCarthy and catcher Gerald Laird of the Rangers on July 2. He also impressed in that game when he scored from second base on a wild pitch. Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame member Johnny Pesky described the play as "the greatest single play I've ever seen in all my years in baseball." He was optioned back to Pawtucket on July 5 after appearing in six games for the Red Sox. He was first drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 23rd round of the 2002 MLB Draft, but did not sign. He was then drafted 23rd overall by Boston in 2005, after attending three years at Oregon State.
Ellsbury is the only Red Sox player in history who is a member of the 30-30 club, which he accomplished on September 25, 2011, against the New York Yankees. In 2011, Ellsbury also won his first Rawlings Gold Glove Award, his first Silver Slugger Award, and was the American League MVP runner-up to the Detroit Tiger's Justin Verlander.
According to Bleachereport.com, Ellsbury "got things started for the Red Sox all year, and as Boston wrapped up the World Series with a 6-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 6 on Wednesday night, the leadoff man was the catalyst once more. Ellsbury went 2-for-4 in the championship clincher, starting the key third-inning rally against Cardinals starter Michael Wacha with a single to right field, and coming around to score on Shane Victorino's double. The man who led baseball's highest-scoring offense in runs this season also doubled and scored in the fourth inning as Boston broke the game open."
This winter, Ellsbury will be a free agent and there is a chance that the World Series was his last time to play for the Boston Red Sox. However, if that's the case, he ended his career with Boston with two outstanding accomplishments. He hit .438 as the 2007 World Series breakout star and then had six hits in the 2013 World Series to help the Red Sox win the pennant.
"Ells is a really, really good player," Boston pitcher Clay Buchholz told Bleacher Report. "That's an understatement, too. The dynamics of him doing what he can do on the field, there's not many players like that. I'd love for him to come back. I can give up rockets up the middle and he'll catch 'em. That's the best part of him in the outfield."
