Baseball Update And Notes

Three of the four baseball, best of five, division series yielded (2-0) leads/deficits.

In the N.L. , a third entity with the league pennant at stake between L.A. and Milwaukee is very likely, as both the Dodgers (5-3 down (3-0) in game 1 and holding on barely up (4-0), (4-3) in #2) and Brewers (up (9-1) in a game 1 (9-3) “ease” and (7-3) down (3-0) in #2), have (2-0) series leads.

L.A. won the first two at Philadelphia vs the Phillies while “Milw” tamed the Cubs in 2 home games.

In 1959, a best of 3 playoff, (technically regular season games), after the teams finished the “reg” tied manifested, in the L.A. Dodgers (in their second year after moving from Brooklyn, New York), winning 2 straight from the then Milwaukee Braves, who moved to Atlanta and began play there seven years later.

In 2018, the Dodgers in an NLCS, not “over the air’d” by Fox Network, (same this year, no matter the opponents), won in 7 vs the Brewers.

Meanwhile in the A.L. , the Toronto Blue Jays, afforded home advantage by virtue of a tiebreaker (having won the season series) routed the Yankees (11-1) and (13-7), up (11-0) in games 1 and 2, but beware the Yankees, who twice in their glorious history (still very good, but not that glorious after winning 4 titles, #’s (23-26) under Joe Torre from (’96-2000)– overcame (2-0) best of 5 series deficits, once after 2 home losses vs the then Oakland A’s in 2001 and in another Francona won/lost, in that case lost, 3 straight within a series vs Cleveland (then Indians) in 2017.

They also lost 3 straight, up (2-0) vs the Seattle Mariners, the last 3 in “Sea,” as there was a 2-3 and not a 2-2-1 format in 1995.

Speaking of “Sea,” they lost #1 in a non Skubal start but won in such in #2 and are (1-1) with Detroit, as the series shifts to Detroit and I believe its threatening weather, late this afternoon.

The ’59 Dodgers, champions in their second L.A. year, juxtaposed with Brooklyn’s vesion, which needed 52, still had some glorious Brooklyn players on the roster, including Carl Furillo, pictured above, who entered the pennant clinching L.A. Coliseum game 2 vs the Milwaukee Braves (that ended a slightly underachieving 4 seasons for a pretty special Braves team that lost the pennant to a Brooklyn clincher vs the Pittsburgh Pirates, that was slightly referenced on the fine, but of course, canceled t.v. show, “Brooklyn Bridge,” in ’56– won it all in ’57 and dissipated a (3-1) W.S. lead, losing the last 2 at home vs the Yankees in ’58, (about 36 thousand attended in a still there edifice, which seats 90 thousand or so but oh how the Dodgers have “drawn” in their L.A. years) as a pinch hitter, went 2 for 2 including the pennant winning hit in the 12th inning, snapping a (5=5) tie.