It was a truly enjoyable experience to see some of the movies involving “The Bowery Boys” (The Gorceys-Leo, Bernard, and David), Huntz Hall and Gabriel Dell on TCM two nights ago.
Additionally, TCM’s Alicia Malone imparted some good information about the history of the “Bowery Boys” films.
Leo Gorcey, the star, stopped working after his father Bernard Gorcey (Louie Dumbrowski was his character) was killed in an auto accident.
The names David and Dumbrowski evoked thoughts of Red Sox general manager, David Dombrowski, who a scant two days earlier won his second title (the other with the ’97 Florida Marlins).
Left to right, Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall, pictured above.
Among other events in 1968, both the “Cheese Man,” who still participates and contributes mightily to the temple and I celebrated our Bar (my dad said “Ba”) Mitzvahs.
Soon it will be the 50th anniversary of mine and a day shy of a month later, I will join the “Cheese Man” as he and his sister sponsor a celebration of his “Ba” Mitzvah.
I made my parents so proud on that day nearly 50 years ago and as with my other great teachers Rabbi Harry Goder and June Drusin, Rabbi Joseph Wise impacted my life in a great way as he told me I could and I did.
If only…… but on I will go!
The Red Sox triumph, clinching a fourth title in 15 seasons came on the exact 11 year anniversary of their 2007 clinching 4 game sweep of the Colorado Rockies on Sunday night October 28th.
In each of the last 4 and 5 of the last 6 years with this “calendar,” the World Series has ended on a Sunday (at night in ’18, ’12 Hurricane Sandy struck the next day, ’07 and ’01 at night–not in ’90 (Saturday) but in the glorious late afternoon in Detroit, the last Tigers’title to date in ’84).
Speaking of Sunday, 2 World Series games winner, David Price, then pitching in relief for the Tampa Bay Rays closed the door on the defending champion Red Sox as T.B. 7’d the Red Sox on a Sunday night to win the 2008 ALCS. The Rays were 5’d by the Phillies in the subsequent World Series.
This is really esoteric, at least out there. After only “splitting” (3-3) in the first 6 Red Sox World Series, the team whose manager’s surname is earlier in the alphabet (i.e. Cora vs Roberts in ’18) has won the last 7 Red Sox World Series starting with the recently deceased (Red) Schoendienst and “St. Loo” winning in 7, vs the Dick Williams managed, glorious “Impossible Dream” Red Sox in 1967.
Some more notes, so much World Series and post-season baseball here and please see “The Nap” on Broadway, as it is superb.
I hope and doubt 1918 will repeat after 2018 (the 86 year Red Sox title drought). Alas the Red Sox of 2018 are not in need of cash to produce a Broadway play (The play was “My Lady Friends and not as is often cited, “No No Nanette” (Wikipedia) and they sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees) thus I linked Broadway, “The Nap,” and the esoteric in continuing World Series notes.
Sadly, maybe peace is the “impossible dream.”
Click below to view Richard Kiley singing the great song, “The Impossible Dream” at the 1972 Tony Awards (another Broadway reference amidst the pile of notes and yes after “recent events” which were yes recent, but also all too real, tragic and indicative.
The Boston Red Sox won their fourth World Series crown in the last 15 seasons, evoking thoughts of a century earlier, when they won five in 15 World Series seasons (1903-1918, no W.S. in 1904), winning (5-1) at L.A, to take the Dodgers in 5 games, as they did vs the same franchise in the World Series, 102 years earlier.
Series MVP, Steve Pearce hit two home runs, including a 2 run blast T1, that gave Boston a lead they never relinquished behind pitchers David Price (he notched his second W.S. win, his third post-season start win in his last 3 starts in the fourth consecutive Red Sox win in a Price start), Joe Kelly and ace starter, Chris Sale, who fanned Manny Machado to end the incredible 119 wins Red Sox title season.
Mookie Betts (how far away from the ’86 W.S.– when in one Mookie Wilson at bat sans a Mookie hit, game 6 and eventually the title slipped away from the Red Sox, extending their title drought to 68 years in an excruciating baseball (not that important) manner– the Red Sox are now, actually owning the best W.S. percentage as (9-4) is slightly better percentage wise, certainly not accomplishment wise, than the vaunted Yankees’ (27-13) and J.D. Martinez also hit home runs, while David Freese led off the L.A. first with a home run, as all runs in the tilt were scored on home runs.
This was the fifth time that the Dodgers played in the World Series in consecutive years, losing both for the third time and the second one all five times.
Again, game 5 losing pitcher, Clayton Kershaw, failed in a post-season start, suffering the loss in a game in which L.A. was eliminated for I believe the third time.
Yet this is about a truly great season for the Red Sox, 108 regular season wins and but one loss in beating two 100 or more wins teams, the Yankees and defending champion Astros as well as the (92-71) Dodgers.
Hail manager Alex Cora, a bench coach with the Astros last season and this superb 119 wins Red Sox title team!
2018 World Series MVP, Steve Pearce, pictured above drew a game tying walk in game 2, hit a tying home run and 3 run insurance double late in game 4 and hit two home runs in #5.
The Boston Red Sox are on the precipice of their 4th World Series victory in 15 seasons, after scoring 9 consecutive runs T7-T9, down (4-0) and holding on for a (9-6) Saturday night victory at Dodger Stadium and a seemingly commanding (3-1) World Series lead.
Boston which endured an 86 year title drought, with a 1986 W.S. loss in 7 to the 108 wins, New York Mets, 32 years to the before yesterday’s win, won their first 5 World Series, all in a span of 15 years in which a World Series was played (1903-1918, again with no W.S. played in 1904 as John McGraw, the New York Giants manager refused to play an American League team. He relented the next year and Christy Mathewson’s great pitching led his Giants over the Connie Mack managed Philadelphia Athletics in the 1905 W.S.).
Back to the present with a few more esoteric notes, the Red Sox entered the seventh, trailing (4-0), having endured a bitter 18 inning defeat in #3, well less than 24 hours earlier.
However, these are the 108 wins Red Sox (Boston also lost a heartbreaking World Series to a truly great 1975 Cincinnati Reds team, that also won 108 regular season games), with the 3 recent titles and a (2-1) series lead.
Rich Hill had stymied Boston, pitching 6 scoreless innings before allowing one of the first two Bo Sox to reach in the 7th. He was lifted and eventually Mitch Moreland, who also hit a 3 run home run in a Saturday night win for his team, the Texas Rangers in the 2010 W.S. (The Giants of San Francisco won their first crown in 56 years, “5 ing” Texas in that W.S.), unloaded the pinch home run.
In the 8th Steve Pearce, who would all but wrap the game up with a 2 out, 3 rbi double T9, hit a one out home run to tie the tilt. Rafael Devers had preceded Pearce’s 9th inning 3 run double, with the “go ahead to stay” RBI single.
One more, unofficially, but with my research having been done, this is the eighth time in a best of seven World Series with this home/road configuration, that the team starting the Fall (in many cases,not so) Classic at home, has taken a (3-1) series lead with home wins in games 1 and 2 and a road win in game 4.
The last four were in “0” or “5” years (’15, ’10-blame Moreland’s homers 8 years apart for these notes, ’00 and ’95) with three in years ending in “8” (2018, ’88 and ’58) with the other in 1933.
Six of the seven previous teams up (3-1), in this pattern, went on to win the World Series (only ’95 which went 6 games, was not in five games).
I will note the exception was 1958, when the Yankees won #5 at home and the last two tilts in Milwaukee, to defeat the defending champion Braves in 7 games.
World Series in 1908, 1916 and 1929–perhaps among others, resulted in the winning team winning games 1,2, 4 and 5, to take the title, but with a different home/road configuration.
In 1916 it was the Red Sox vs the Dodgers franchise, then in Brooklyn and better known as the Robins.
Then the Boston team made the far less shorter trip Brooklyn to Boston (Braves Field not Fenway Park, though Fenway opened its gates in 1912) and wrapped the Robins in 5. (Wrappin Robin–anyone?)
Tonight 3,000 or so miles from home, the Red Sox hope to repeat a 5 game triumph over the same franchise, a “mere” 102 years later.
In my opinion, tonight’s game 4, the one after L.A. won a near 7 and a half hour plus, essentially must game 3, in 18 innings, when Max Muncy homered , is the key, likely “indicator” (i.e. winner of the game wins the series) game in the 2018 World Series.
Perhaps, after a truly horrible loss, in by far the closest of the three tilts thus far, the Red Sox will bounce back. In my opinion, they better or else!
Of course, if they do win, they will be in great position to win a fourth title in 15 seasons, relatively early in the 21st century and “title” 100 years after a 5th crown in 15 seasons in which a World Series was played (1903-1918, with no W.S. played in 1904, just as none was played 90 years later in 1994).
History backs the game 4 indicator of who wins a Dodgers post-season history, however, not as much recently.
A post below recalls the Mets “div” series win vs L.A. in 2015, ended an incredible 25 time streak, in which the winner of game 4 of a post-season series involving the Dodgers, won that series.
Starting and including that series, the game 4 winner of a Dodgers’ post-season series has gone (4-3).
Speaking of history, the Dodgers are now (9-0) in games 3 of a best of seven series (6-0) in W.S.–the last three of which they went on to win) when returning home down (2-0).
The opposition is (4-1) in such games, only the Dodgers game 3 win to go up (3-0) at Chicago, vs the Cubs en route to a 5 game triumph in last year’s NLCS, the lone exception.
Click below to view my post after the 25 game streak ended in 2015.
- New York Mets’ Win Ends a 25 Time Streak on October 16, 2015
Maybe this World Series, 102 years later will follow the pattern of the 1916 such entity.
Then as this year, Boston won the first two games at home before the Dodgers’ franchise then in Brooklyn and better known as the Robins for legendary manager Wilbert Robinson, won game 3 at home.
After that game 3, Boston won game 4 at Brooklyn and #5 at home to win the title. Of course games 4 and 5 will be at the Dodgers L.A. home.
Tonight for the ninth time in franchise history, the Dodgers having done so both in Brooklyn and Los Angeles, will play a home game 3 of a best of seven series, having lost the first two games on the road.
The Dodgers were victorious in the previous 8 such situations and in fact, the Dodgers or their opponent in such a situation, are (12-1), the only loss by the Cubs in last year’s NLCS to the Dodgers.
That situation is the only one before tonight after the post (shown below) I wrote with the facts on the first twelve times, either the Dodgers or their opponent returned home for game 3 of a best of seven series, having lost the first two games on the road.
Click below to view my post after game 3 of the 2013 NLCS, eventually won by the Cardinals (they lost to the Red Sox in the subsequent World Series).
- NLCS Notes; History Repeats on October 15, 2013
For the fourth time in their last five World Series, the Boston Red Sox have taken a (2-0) series lead. (They swept the St. Louis Cardinals and Colorado Rockies respectively in ’04 and ’07, were (1-1) with the Cards en route to a 6 game triumph in ’13 but lost in excruciating fashion to the Mets in ’86).
J.D. Martinez, a tremendous late off season addition, capped a 3 run Red Sox fifth with a 2 run single that produced the game’s decisive and final runs.
David Price pitched six innings, yielding 2 runs, in picking up his second straight post-season win as a starter, after failing to do so in his first eleven such starts. (Nine of the eleven, those numbers again!–resulted in Price taking the loss)
Boston, as is their wont, scored all their runs with 2 outs, an RBI hit by Ian Kinsler in the second and a bases loaded walk issued by Ryan Madson to Steve Pearce in the fifth, accounting for the other two runs.
Ten times, a team has overcome a (2-0) deficit in a best of seven World Series and six times (the Dodgers five times, winning in ’55, ’65 and ’81-losing up (2-0) in ’56 and ’78) it involved the Dodgers or Red Sox (in aforementioned ’86, the Red Sox won the first two games at New York vs the Mets only to lose the series in 7 games, the incredible sixth game played 32 years ago today).
Game 3 of this World Series is in Los Angeles on Friday night.
J.D. Martinez, pictured above.
The Boston Red Sox now (10-3) in World Series opening games, “doubled” the Los Angeles Dodgers (8-4), to take a (1-0) lead in the 2018 World Series.
In the tilt, Andrew Benintendi had 4 hits and scored 2 runs while Eduardo Nunez, who fielded and threw the clinching out in the “div” series for Boston, hit a 3 run pinch home run, B7, to account for the game’s final runs.
Now in alternate games this post-season, game 1, losing pitcher, Clayton Kershaw has been very good and pretty poor twice each.
Last year, after Kershaw won the W.S. opener (below I will post that and the preview citing Joe Green, Jack Molinas and the World Series scene from “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest), I warned of the positive Kershaw hype, this time I warn of the negative.
However, to this point, Kershaw has been a major post-season disappointment.
While the Red Sox won their sixth straight World Series opener and ninth in ten, after losing in two of their first three, the Dodgers fell to (6-14) in such tilts, having lost their first five and six of their first seven.
For the record the exceptions to the prevalent Red Sox trend cited above are Red Sox World Series opening game losses to Deacon Phillippe in the first World Series (1903), Grover Cleveland Alexander in 1915 and Bob Gibson in 1967.
Boston (Red Sox) (8-4) in previous W.S. lost both the World Series opener and said series, ONLY in 1967, that in 7 games when the great GIBSON, beat them for a third time that real Columbus Day Thursday, October 12th (no school as I watched at Michael Santasieri’s house).
More or less conversely, the Dodgers (6-13) in previous World Series won both the series opener and said series only twice in now 20 possibilities.
Twenty five years apart, the great Sandy Koufax won games 1 and 4 of a 1963 W.S. sweep of the vaunted New York Yankees and when they last “titled,” thirty years ago, riding Kirk GIBSON’s dramatic game ending home run in game 1 and subsequent Orel Hershiser pitching, to a 5 game triumph vs the Oakland A’s.
Click below to view posts both before and after game 1 of the 2017 World Series, as cited in the fourth paragraph above.
- “Opener” is Tonight on October 24, 2017
- “Slow it down,” regarding Kershaw’s greatness on October 25, 2017
Though current Los Angeles and Boston sports franchises have met in previous baseball and football final series/games, only in basketball, had/have the cities met in final round play until this World Series between Boston (Red Sox) and Los Angeles (Dodgers).
Eleven times, the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers have met for the NBA crown, Boston winning eight, including the first seven. Los Angeles won three of the last four.
The Celtics also defeated the Minneapolis Lakers in the 1959 NBA final series.
As cited yesterday the Red Sox defeated the Dodgers franchise, then in Brooklyn in the 1916 World Series.
Meanwhile the Patriots defeated the once and now again Los Angeles Rams, but then located in St. Louis in the 2001 season Super Bowl, the first of five crowns for Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, respectively the Patriots’ quarterback and coach, still there and as are the current Rams, a viable Super Bowl threat.
Altogether Boston franchises are (11-3) vs current Los Angeles franchises, (8-3) vs just in Los Angeles.
Also tonight for the ninth time in 12 Boston/Los Angeles final series and the 11th in 13 “current franchises” final series, the Boston team opens the series at home.
The 1969 Celtics and 1985 Lakers are the only teams in this history, to open on the road and win the title.
Andy B Sports 