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.
The Red Sox and Dodgers are meeting for just the second time in World Series play, the previous clash in 1916.
Boston won that series in 5 games with #’s 1,2 and 5 played in Boston, but not at Fenway Park.
Yes, it was at the larger Braves Field, that Boston clinched a second straight title and fourth in 14 possibilities, behind Ernie Shore’s pitching in game 5.
Once, Shore replaced a pitcher, whom I believe walked the first batter, argued with the umpire and was ejected from the game.
Shore then retired all 27 batters he faced, hurling a perfect game.
The pitcher that was ejected was Babe Ruth.
Babe hurled 13 straight shutout innings, starting his famed streak of 29 scoreless innings in World Series play, after allowing a first inning run to Brooklyn in game 2 of the 1916 World Series.
He got the win, hurling all 14 innings, still tied with two other games as the longest in W.S. history.
Boston (9-3) in previous W.S. openers went up (2-0) with that 14 inning game 2 win.
The White Sox rode Geoff Blum’s 14th inning home run in game 3 at Houston to a (3-0) World Series lead en route to a 4 game sweep and their first title in 88 years and their only one now in 101 years.
Kansas City (Royals) got a game tying home run, B9 of game 1 2015 W.S. from Alex Gordon and won the other 14 inning W.S. tilt, en route to a 5 game triumph vs the New York Mets, in the 2015 World Series.
The Los Angeles Dodgers won the franchise’s 20th pennant with a subsequent World Series, half the number of the Yankees, the only team with more, (the Giants also have 20 W.S. appearances), winning #7NLCS (5-1) in Milwaukee, in just the second Saturday night decisive game in major league baseball annals. (The first was last season when the Houston Astros won at home on a Saturday night/Fox tilt vs the Yankees before beating the Dodgers in 7 games to claim the first title in their 56 season history).
Cody Bellinger and Yasiel Puig, the latter a 3 run, smacked home runs while Chris Taylor made the game’s big defensive play, making a diving catch in left field and rekindling memories and creating an historic redux that would make George Santayana (“those who do not learn from history……”) proud.
It is the fifth time the Dodgers have won consecutive pennants (’52,’53, ’55,’56 ’65,’66 ’77,’78 and 2017,2018) and now they are just roughly 6 to 5 underdogs vs the 108 wins Red Sox in the World Series, which begins in Boston Tuesday night.
Click below to view the then Brooklyn Dodgers’ Sandy Amoros’ catch in game 7 of the 1955 World Series in a W.S. film narrated by Lew Fonseca.
The catch took place on a rare ball hit to the opposite field by the great period and especially so in the clutch, Yogi Berra of the vaunted New York Yankees.
Amoros had just been inserted into left field, replacing Jim Gilliam, who moved to second base. The move by manager Walter Alston came after George Shuba had batted for Don Zimmer in the top of the inning (6th).
John Podres went the route in a (2-0) Brooklyn win, giving them their only title.
Last night L.A. used 7 pitchers and manager Dave Roberts put Enrique Hernandez in to bat bat for Joc Pederson T3, then B3, moved Chris Taylor from second to left (the opposite of Gilliam’s position change 63 years and 16 days earlier) where B5, he robbed likely N.L. MVP, Christian Yelich of a game tying extra base hit with a diving catch.
Tonight there will be a decisive seventh game in the NLCS with the Los Angeles Dodgers facing the Milwaukee Brewers, in Milwaukee.
Again Fox gets a seventh game in an LCS or World Series, this a fourth straight and I believe fourth in five possibilities for the Joe Buck/ John Smoltz broadcast team.
In 12 “head to head” years (2007-2018), Fox LCS have gone a total of 74 games for an average of 6.16 games (7, 5, 6, 6, 6, 7, 6, 5, 6, 6, 7, 7) while TBS has just 61 games for a 5.08 average. (4, 7, 5, 6, 6, 4, 6, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5).
Additionally the Fox/ Joe Buck series winner is (10-1) in the subsequent World Series vs the TBS winner as only Buck’s favorite team, the Cardinals in ’11 won the World Series after winning a TBS LCS.
This will be the Dodgers’ first road 7th game in an LCS. The Brewers will be at home for the first time in what will be just their second game 7.
On a late Saturday afternoon in 1972 an L.A. team, the Lakers clinched a “semi” en route to their first L.A. based crown at Milwaukee vs the Bucks.
Tonight will be just the second home game 7 in Milwaukee sports, the other resulted in a Yankees World Series win vs the Braves in 1958. The year before the Braves won game 7 and the title at Yankee Stadium vs the Yankees as the great Ed Mathews stepped on third base for a force play to end it.
The Boston Red Sox won their 14th American League Pennant (13th with a subsequent World Series, they are (8-4) in previous W.S.–winning their first 5, 3 with Babe Ruth on their team. They lost their next 4, all in the maximum 7 games, two to 108 win teams, a lofty total the ‘2018 Red Sox achieved, during an 86 year title drought. They have won their last 3 W.S.) last night winning (4-1) at Houston eliminating the defending champion Astros.
Jackie Bradley Jr. was named ALCS MVP while David Price, whose stellar relief effort stymied the defending World champion Red Sox in game 7 of the 2008 ALCS, gained his first post-season victory as a starting pitcher.
The game 5 winner in a Red Sox LCS is (7-1) in the series, losing only in 2008.
Meanwhile the Astros (1-5) in game 5 of an LCS have never won both game 5 and said LCS.
It was a good follow up, 103 win season and “div series” sweep for the Astros while the Red Sox need 4 W.S. wins vs the Dodgers or Brewers (likely the former which leads (3-2), to complete a truly fabulous, even historic season.
There was no World Series in 1904, the year the franchise then known as the Boston Americans won their second A.L. crown.
Before both the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers won LCS games on Tuesday, they had played 9 times on the same day in LCS play, without both teams winning.
Now here are those numbers 9 and 11, as for two straight days both the Bo Sox and Dodgers won on the same day in LCS play and it is now likely, but far from certain, that the teams will meet in the World Series for the first time in 102 years.
Jackie Bradley Jr. has delivered big two out hits in all 3 Red Sox wins (games 2-4) vs Houston (Astros) and despite another “Mitch Williams type–walk people,” poor effort from Kimbrel, the Red Sox are on the precipice of their 4th World Series appearance in 15 seasons, in which they hope to emerge with a 4th title.
A tremendous play by Boston left fielder Andrew Benintendi on a “bid” by the tremendous Astros’ player Alex Bregman, saved Boston, but Kimbrel’s “arsonist by walking people not with matches act, “angers” another AB, this one me.
Meanwhile I do not call for an “overthrow” of Kimbrel and I did burn this morning’s coffee.
L.A. (do I hear Boston/L.A.– down the not too distant road perhaps Pats/Rams and past and maybe future Celtics/Lakers–Bruins/Kings anyone?) won game 4 when Cody Bellinger delivered the winning hit in the bottom of the 13th.
The last time the Dodgers won it all in ’88, they won a late, late #4 NLCS at New York, vs the Mets and a quick turn around day tilt in #5, before winning that LCS in #7, beating a very ineffective Ron Darling.
The Dodgers did the same in a quick turnaround #5 yesterday, with Clayton Kershaw winning the game.
The great Babe Ruth pitched great vs the Dodgers franchise, then in Brooklyn in the aforementioned 1916 World Series.
Few if any athletes were as great and celebrated as Joe DiMaggio.
He played with class, never without great effort. After all as he said, “someone might be watching me play for the first time.
Enjoy the great “Yankee Clipper” on a 1955 episode of the iconic television show, “What’s My Line.”
Click below to view Mr. DiMaggio on that 1955 episode of “What’s My Line.”
Left to right Dominic and Joe DiMaggio.
Andy B Sports 