Brock Holt

Holt made his Major League debut on September 1, 2012. At the time of his promotion, he had hit a .322 average in 102 games with Altoona and .432 in 24 games for Indianapolis. On September 4, against the Houston Astros, Holt became only the second Pirates player since 1900 to have a four-hit game within his first four career games in the majors. The only other Pirates player to have a four-hit game so early in his career was Jack Merson, who went 4-for-5 in his second major league game on September 15, 1951. In 24 games, Holt batted .292 with a triple and 3 RBI.

Holt again started 2014 in Triple-A. He was called up to Boston on May 17, after an injury to Will Middlebrooks, and hit leadoff for the rest of the season. On May 31, against the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park, Holt hit his first Major League home run. On June 1, while starting at first base for the first time in his career, he went 4-for-4 with four doubles, a walk, and two RBIs against the Tampa Bay Rays.[14] On June 8, in order to allow Xander Bogaerts to play third base, Holt moved to left field. He immediately impressed, making a sensational catch on the warning track to rob Ian Kinsler of a hit. On July 9, against the Chicago White Sox, Holt drove in Daniel Nava in the bottom of the ninth inning for the first walk-off hit of his career. By the end of the season, Holt had started games at every position except pitcher and catcher.

In 2015, Holt made the opening day roster for the first time in his career. On June 16, Holt hit for the cycle against the Atlanta Braves at Fenway Park. He doubled, singled, and hit a home run off of Julio Teherán, and completed it with a triple in the 8th inning off of Sugar Ray Marimón. In doing so, he became the first Red Sox player to accomplish the feat in 19 years, since John Valentin in 1996. In July, Holt was chosen to represent the Red Sox in the MLB All-Star Game by Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost. Holt was the first player selected to an All-Star Game after starting at seven or more positions before the break. In the game, Holt entered as a pinch runner, replacing Mike Trout; Holt successfully stole second base, and later scored. He stayed in the game playing left field and had one at bat, striking out. For the 2015 regular season, Holt appeared in 129 games, batting .280 with two home runs and 45 RBIs. Defensively, he played 58 games at second base, 35 games in the outfield, 33 games at third base, 11 games at shortstop, 8 games at first base, and one game as designated hitter.

Following the announcement that Wade Boggs's number 26 was to be retired, Holt switched his jersey number to number 12 in 2016. On May 19, Holt suffered a concussion and was placed on the disabled list. On August 24, Holt returned to the Red Sox, covering third base. For the 2016 regular season, Holt appeared in 94 games and finished with a .255 batting average, 7 home runs, and 34 RBIs. In the 2016 American League Division Series between the Red Sox and Indians, Holt was named the starting third baseman over Travis Shaw. He batted .400 with a home run and an RBI as Cleveland swept Boston in three games.

Holt again spent time on the disabled list in 2017, due to a concussion and the effects of vertigo. After playing on April 20, Holt was out of the Red Sox lineup until July 16. During the 2017 regular season, Holt appeared in 64 games, batting .200 with no home runs and seven RBIs. In the 2017 American League Division Series against the Houston Astros, Holt played only in Game 2, pinch running and then staying in the game as second baseman; he did not have a plate appearance.

On September 11, Holt hit a pinch-hit, three-run go-ahead home run off of Ryan Tepera of the Toronto Blue Jays in the seventh inning, giving Boston a lead they would hold onto for a 7–2 win, making them the first team of the year to clinch a postseason berth. Holt finished the campaign with seven home runs and 46 RBIs in 109 games while hitting .277 and playing all infield plus the corner outfield positions during the season. On October 8, Holt became the first player in MLB history to hit for the cycle in the postseason, doing so in a 16–1 rout in Game 3 of the 2018 American League Division Series against the New York Yankees. The Red Sox would eventually win the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, giving Holt his second career championship title.

The 2018 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's 2018 season. The 114th edition of the World Series was played between the American League (AL) champion Boston Red Sox and the National League (NL) champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The Series was televised in the United States on Fox. This was the second World Series match-up between the two franchises, after the Red Sox defeated the Brooklyn Robins (later known as the Dodgers) in five games in 1916. The Red Sox beat the Dodgers in five games to win their fourth World Series title in 15 years dating back to 2004, and their ninth in franchise history. Steve Pearce won the World Series Most Valuable Player Award, while Alex Cora became the fifth first-season manager and first manager from Puerto Rico to win the World Series. The Series was notable for its third game which went for 18 innings, a World Series record. Additionally, the Red Sox became the first team to win two World Series exactly one century apart, as they had defeated the Chicago Cubs in 1918, while the Dodgers were the first team since the 2011 Texas Rangers, and the first NL team since the 1992 Atlanta Braves, to lose consecutive Fall Classics.