Baseball Notes

After the 2018 and yes 1916 (Babe Ruth’s brilliant PITCHING led the Red Sox victory and first off what happened to the “Curse of the Bambino?!!) and more important, why would he have “cursed” Boston, as he won 3 titles there, just one less than he won in Yankees’ glory) World Series opponents won 10/8 games (first the Red Sox (6-2) vs the Yankees and last night, the 2020 “bubble” champion Dodgers (3-1) on Chris Taylor’s game ending home run, to really hurt Cards’ “puck line” bettors, the eight bastardized/division round opponents are known, with some intriguing series ahead.

In the first tilt of the round, the Houston Astros, again relegated to afternoon play, host the Chicago White Sox in a 2005 World Series redux. Tonight the Rays, still seeking their first title, despite being an exemplary, relatively low payroll franchise, albeit one with a horrible attendance mark, host the Boston Red Sox.

The National League series begin tomorrow on “F”our game “F”riday, (games 2 in the A.L.), with Milwaukee (Brewers) hosting the Atlanta Braves and then for the first time in a SCHEDULED post-season entity, (of course they clashed in exponentially seminal best of 3, unscheduled entities, with the Giants rallying to cop both pennant prizes, only to lose the World Series vs the Yankees) the 107 wins Giants face the 106 wins, wild card, defending champion Dodgers.

Alas, there were greats, who had died in the last approximate year, one mired in a pandemic, commemorated on the uniforms of the eliminated Yankees and Cardinals and while not on the Dodgers’ uniform, I will link ’65 World Series game 7, open the scoring for Sandy, home run hitting, Lou Johnson with stellar pitching greats, Edward “Whitey” Ford (Yankees) and Bob Gibson (Cardinals).

As I recall, in an extra/pandemic caused round, last year, the Cards had been eliminated by the Padres (oh was San Diego a 10 to 1 fave to make the 2021 ‘offs but they failed and now manager Tingler has been fired) on a Friday and that night news came that the great Bob Gibson had died.

The following Friday, news came that “The Chairman of the Board,” and 10 time World Series games winning, Edward “Whitey” Ford had passed away. That night the Rays eliminated Ford’s lone team, one he helped win at least 6 titles, namely the Yankees.

Glory, less than glory, death, commemoration or not in the case of Lou Johnson (which Dodgers, there are 2, are commemorated on their “still alive” uniforms?) and some final notes as I pack into one post, rather than “write” again tomorrow.

Ford won 10 World Series games but also lost 7. Gibson won #7 for the Cards in both 1964 and 1967 but lost to Mickey Lolich and Detroit (Tigers) in 1968. (Rabbi Wise, a brilliant man, later afflicted with Alzheimers was wrong on that one, emphatically picking Gibson as he drove a group of us to public school after morning services, about a month before I made parents Ida, Norman and grandmother Jenny proud with a Torah reading Bar Mitzvah).

My man Lou, who uttered “Sandy, you’re the greatest” in the ’65 World Series celebration, (Sandy Koufax pitched a 3 hit shutout in that #7), made the last out (2 out, 2 on) when Baltimore (Orioles) completed a sweep of the Dodgers, shutting them out in the last 3 games and for 33 plus straight innings.

News of Lou’s death came on the same Friday night that Mr. Gibson had passed on.