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A great-grandfather picked Red Sox jersey numbers for his lottery ticket ... and won $100,000

(Julio Aguilar)

Why do we play the lottery? The odds are so stacked against you, on any given drawing, that you'd be significantly more likely to be struck by lightning (or any other number of outlandish scenarios) than win a big Powerball jackpot.
84-year-old Jim Aylward Jr., though, didn't bother with the statistics. Basking in the glow of his Red Sox winning their fourth World Series title in 15 years just last week, he filled out a recent Mass Cash lottery ticket with five Boston players' jersey numbers.
And he won $100,000. Really
According to the Massachusetts state lottery, Mr. Aylward -- a great-grandfather who has five children, nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren -- specifically picked the jerseys of Rafael Devers, Andrew Benintendi, Jackie Bradley Jr., Rick Porcello and Steve Pearce for this drawing, and sure enough, the winning numbers were 11-16-19-22-25. 

"When the team started to get really good, those were my favorite players," Aylward told the Boston Globe. "I've been playing those numbers for quite a while."
And it paid off, just shortly after the team (aided heavily by the efforts of those specific players, we must point out) won the World Series again. 
Well done, Jim. Well done. 

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