The lights shined bright at Fenway Park on former Gamecock Jackie Bradley Jr. after he delivered two home runs and nine RBI's in Game 3 of the ALCS, earning the ALCS MVP Award.
The Red Sox starting centerfielder and last batter only had three hits in this year’s American League Championship Series, and those three hits were all he needed to capture the 2018 ALCS MVP Award. Bradley had a double, two home runs and nine runs batted in across the five-game series, also walking four times.
Bradley now holds the record for the third most RBI's ever by a Boston player in an ALCS, right behind David Ortiz in 2004 with 11 and Manny Ramirez in 2007 with 10. Those series went the full seven games, while Bradley, Jr. hit his in five games.
Jackie Bradley Jr. or JBJ, as he is known to fans and teammates, won two College World Series titles and the College World Series Most Outstanding Player award during his time as a Gamecock.
He was then selected with the 40th pick by the Boston Red Sox in the 2011 Major League Baseball Draft. Since then, Bradley hasn’t had the cards fall in his favor each time. He has had to secure a game plan, but learn how to adjust in trying situations and learn how to execute efficiently on the field.
"You can have a game plan but sometimes it might not work out," Bradley said. "But as a batter, you want to swing at good pitches. You want to swing at pitches you can handle."
Bradley sped through the minor leagues to debut early in the 2013 season, but he struggled to stay out of the minors and make an offensive impact. He was able to get playing time due to his exceptional defense but was plagued by inconsistency.
That has been the story of Bradley's career. He is one of the best defensive players in the league, but he is inconsistent at the plate. In 2015, when he was an All-Star, he slowed down during the 2nd half of the year.
This past season, he was batting below .205 into June, but he batted over .280 from mid-June to the end of the regular season. He was fourth in runs for the high-powered Red Sox.
Boston fans were calling for him to be benched, sent down to the minors, traded or even cut, but the team, specifically manager Alex Cora, stood by him.
"He's a different hitter," Cora said. "Halfway through the season he found it, he found his stroke, he's staying through the ball. He started making the move, like J.D [Martinez] calls it, whatever that means."
Despite a lack of faith in Bradley at times, the team knew the value of his defense and his offensive potential. This faith paid off, with Bradley's ALCS apperances catapulting this storied franchise to the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.