Three years later, it was J.D. Drew‘s turn to be the hero. Drew frustrated many Red Sox fans during his tenure in Boston with his emotionless demeanor that some mistook for a lack of passion. Many felt he wasn’t living up to the expectations of the lucrative contract he signed. He was never the slugger fans believed was worthy of that salary, although that wasn’t what made Drew valuable. He was above-average in essentially every aspect of the game and had a particular knack for getting on base but Drew wasn’t the middle of the order run producer we expected.
Drew earned every cent of that contract with his grand slam against Cleveland Indians starter Roberto Hernandez (known at the time as Fausto Carmona) in Game 6 of the ALCS. The first three batters reached via single or walk to begin the first inning, followed by a strikeout and a shallow fly to right that wasn’t deep enough to score a run on a sac fly. That left it up to Drew to come through with two outs and the bases loaded. His deep drive to center field gave the Red Sox an early 4-0 lead.
Boston would go on to win that game 12-2 to force a Game 7, which they also won en route to a World Series sweep of the Colorado Rockies. The “$70 million Grand Slam” quickly changed the tune of those complaining that Drew was overpaid.