World Series Notes

The scheduled Sunday off day in the World Series meant/means in all likelihood there will be no Sunday World Series game for the first time since 1990 when there was a Sunday game 5 scheduled, but the Cincinnati Reds swept the heavily favored, defending champion, Oakland Athletics, clinching the crown on Saturday night in Oakland. (I remember reaching Billy Hatcher and perhaps Lou Piniella, respective World Series hitting and managerial excellence entities for a Cincy team that stayed in Oakland for at least part of that Sunday after winning what is to this point their last title).

This year no Sunday World Series tilt was scheduled. Last night’s game 3 postponement due to rain means the teams could play 5 straight days (tonight Tuesday-Saturday), and one more postponement likely would mean a Sunday game.

Assured is the fact that game 5 scheduled for Thursday night in Philadelphia will be played opposite another Philadelphia/Houston sports clash, that one matching the (7-0) Philadelphia Eagles, the lone NFL unbeaten team against the Houston Texans, whose (1-5-1) record is the league’s second worst (The Lions, sans an all the way title tilt game since 1957 are (1-6).

Houston manager Dusty Baker is in his 16th LCS or World Series as a player or manager. In half (8) of those entities, his team lost the series opener.

Only in the most recently completed such entity, the 2022 ALCS when Baker’s “Stros” swept the 3 time Baker as a player World Series opponent Yankees, was there a sweep. Thus 15 of 16 Baker LCS or World Series, both as a player or manager did not result in series sweeps.

In ’81 Baker’s lone title season to this point, that as a player, his Dodgers, beaten by the Yankees in both the ’77 and ’78 World Series, lost the first two games of that World Series but won the series. 6 of the 7 other times a Baker team lost either an LCS or WS opener, his team won game 2. The only time they did not was in the never should have been played 50 game neutral site ‘offs season of 2020 and in that ALCS in which Baker’s team lost the first two games, they lost the first three, only to become the only team to win the next 3 but lose the decisive 7th game.

Billy Hatcher, pictured above, as cited above, had a great 1990 World Series for the Lou Piniella managed Cincinnati Reds.

In 1986, playing in a classic NLCS for the Astros against the Mets that ended with a heartbreaking Astros’ loss in the last game 16 inning great game, Hatcher increased the intensity/glory of that tilt with a game tying extra innings home run.