Baseball Update and Notes

Yesterday was a day, Carlos Correa whacked the second ALCS game ending home run of his career (in #2 ALCS last year and he also had a game ending double in #2 ALCS in ’17, a year/season in which the ‘Stros won their lone title), to force a 6th game with “T.B.” ahead (3-2) vs Houston, the Atlanta Braves “bombed” perennial ‘offs failure, Clayton Kershaw in a big 6th inning en route to a (10-2) win and a (3-1) series lead, vs the top seed, L.A. Dodgers.

The Braves are in their 10th best of 7 NLCS (they were swept in 3 straight games by eventual title winning Mets (’69) and Cards (’82) teams in best of 5 NLCS) and have a (3-1) series lead for the second time.

In ’92 up (3-1) in the series vs Pittsburgh (Pirates) Atlanta needed Francisco Cabrera’s all-time type clutch two run single to win in game 7 while in ’99 they actually led the Mets (3-0) and needed an extra inning game 6 win to take the series.

Teams down 3 games to 1 in Braves’ NLCS are (4-1) in game 5 as Atlanta won games (5-7) to take the Cards in ’96 and forced a 6th game in a series in which they trailed (3-0) to San Diego in 1998. Both the ’96 Braves and ’98 Padres, who won that aforementioned ’98 NLCS in 6, lost to the Yankees in the subsequent World Series.

Only in ’01 when the Arizona Diamondbacks secured the second of three Sunday night series clinchers (they were (4-0) in Sunday games that post-season, certainly a mark that has not been topped and likely not matched (not researching it) for a post-season record on a particular day) that culminated in a World Series crown, did a team up (3-1) in a Braves’ NLCS win said series in 5 games.

Meanwhile the Houston Astros have joined the referenced above ’98 Braves and ’99 Mets as 3 of the four teams in the now 39 times a team has trailed (3-0) in a best of 7 (for that matter best of 9 series which were played in 1919, 1920 and 1921) to have forced a 6th game.

As cited both the ’98 Braves and ’99 Mets lost in 6 to teams that lost the subsequent World Series. One team, the only one to ever accomplish the feat in baseball or basketball annals, the 2004 Boston Red Sox, not only overcame a (3-0) ALCS deficit to “7” the Yankees, again the only such occurrence, but also proceeded to sweep the Cardinals in the subsequent World Series and win their first title in 86 years, Three other Red Sox titles have followed.

Above a program from the World Series played 110 years ago and won by the Philadelphia Athletics under Connie Mack and with an elephant as their symbol vs the Chicago Cubs (hence the bears in the picture).

That W.S. was the first of only three, in which a team trailing (3-0) won game 5 (the others were the Giants in 1937 behind the great pitcher, Carl Hubbell, but the Yankees titled in #5 and the ’70 Reds, now 50 years since “The Big Bopper, ” Lee May, later traded for Joe Morgan, whom we lost this week, hit a 3rhr, that meant no Orioles’ celebration on a day H. Gross’ father died. Alas, the O’s won #5 behind Mike Cuellar with Brooks Robinson the World Series MVP. Another “Big Bopper,” real name J.P. Richardson was tragically killed in a plane crash over 61 years ago that also took the lives of two other musical greats, Buddy Holly and Richie Valens.)

Jack Coombs won his 3rd W.S. game of 1910 as the A’s won game 5. In addition to the 3 (one the ongoing 2020 ALCS) LCS in which a team trailing (3-0), at least forced a 6th and the ’04 Red Sox incredible series win, two other teams, the ’16 Toronto Blue Jays and ’17 Chicago Cubs forced 5th games down (3-0) in an LCS.

Both the ’16 Indians who were 7’d by the Cubs, who won their first crown in 108 years in doing so and ’17 Dodgers, also 7’d, by you guessed it, the Astros, won game 5/LCS but lost the subsequent World Series.

No team has ever led an LCS (3-0), lost game 4 and won that year’s World Series. The Yankees lost that LCS, the ’98 Padres and ’99 Braves needed 6 games to win the LCS, they led (3-0) and then lost the World Series. Both the ’16 Indians and ’17 Dodgers won the referenced LCS in 5 games but lost in the subsequent World Series.

Let’s see what fate awaits the 2020 Rays.