The Dodgers are scheduled to open their division series/quarterfinal series, almost certainly in Washington, vs the Nationals on Friday October 7th, 6 days hence, of course, weather permitting.
Continuing our exact date/calendar notes, bad weather caused the Dodgers not to play a post-season game exactly 28 years earlier, when game 3 of their 1988 NLCS, at the New York Mets, had to be postponed.
If as scheduled, the Dodgers play again an almost certain road post-season game a week hence on Saturday October 8th, it will correspond with their game 3 loss at the Mets, exactly 28 years earlier.
After that game A.B. Giamatti, then the National League President and eventually the commissioner whose passion vs Pete Rose, is the biggest of many horrible reasons a truly great player is denied entry to the Baseball Hall of Fame, suspended Dodgers’ reliever Jay Howell.
That night on my cable television show, (the game was in the daytime), I spoke with Don Drysdale, the great L.A. pitcher and then in his first year as a Dodgers’ broadcaster, and among other things, he voiced some optimism about the Dodgers’ chances to win that NLCS, despite being down 2 games to 1.
L.A. is scheduled to be at home (Wash needs one of four of theirs or L.A.’s decisions, to go their way to secure home advantage, in their upcoming series vs L.A.) for game 3 of the division series on Monday October 10th.
This will correspond with the Dodgers’ game 5 win at Shea Stadium giving them a (3-2) series lead in a series they would eventually win in 7 games, en route to their last W.S. win to date, exactly 28 years earlier.
The Brooklyn Dodgers’ lone World Series triumph achieved in (same calendar) 1955 not only was glorious but also a reminder of how early, relative to today with 4 tiers of post-season play,the season ended.
Though the Dodgers, in Los Angeles starting with the 1958 season, are in the post-season, there will be no corresponding exact day post-season game with 1955.
When John Podres pitched a complete game shutout and Gil Hodges drove in both Brooklyn Dodgers’ runs to finally lift Brooklyn into the “Promised land” the last game the 7th game of the World Series in which Sandy Amoros helped save the crown with a great catch on a ball hit by the great Yogi Berra, it was October 4th, as is the case this year, a Tuesday.
The Dodgers’ first game, a quarterfinal game, almost certain to be in Washington vs the Nationals, will not take place until Friday October 7th.
There will be some corresponding Dodgers’ post-season games with their 1988 title run. A look at some possible such games in my next post.
Among the contenders for the 4 remaining post-season spots, at least one, likely two, but very unlikely three, team(s) with a title in a year with the 2016 calendar, will qualify for post-season play.
Either the San Francisco Giants or St. Louis Cardinals, very unlikely both, will be in post-season play.
As the New York Giants, the Giants’ franchise won the World Series in 1921, a year with this calendar, beating the Yankees, in the latter’s first World Series appearance.
The Baltimore Orioles with a bigger qualification lead than the Giants going into the final weekend of play, twice before won titles in years with the same calendar as 2016. Those World Series wins were achieved in 1966 and 1983.
The Cardinals, trailing the Giants for post-season qualification by a game, with 3 remaining games, won the last title contested in a year with the 2016 calendar, a 7 game triumph vs a 2016 division winner, the Texas rangers.
The Seattle Mariners, trailing 2 teams by 2 games and another by a half game in a bid for one of two A.L. wild card berths, have never made a World Series.
Meanwhile none of the titles won by the three other contenders, the very likely to qualify New York Mets, and Toronto Blue Jays (2 each) nor the unlikely to qualify, Detroit Tigers (four) were won in a year with the 2016 calendar.
Click below to view Neil Sedaka’s sing the song, “Calendar Girl”
There have been 16 previous major league baseball seasons, since World Series play began in 1903, with the 2016 calendar (i.e. today September 30th, a Friday).
Among the six playoffs teams already known (all division winners, the 4 bogus wild card entries will be known after this weekend or perhaps beyond, and I will include the contenders for that and thus a title, which I believe to be so wrong, but alas the so called “law,” in this 2 part “calendar/who won the World Series” post), only the Dodgers have ever won the World Series in a year with this calendar.
The Dodgers won their lone title while based in Brooklyn in 1955 and won their last title to date in 1988, each of those years having the same calendar as 2016.
Of course neither the Texas Rangers (nee the expansion Washington Senators), nor the Washington Nationals (nee Montreal Expos), have ever won a title.
None of the combined 12 titles won by the Red Sox, Cubs and Indians (8 by the Red Sox and two each by the Cubs and Indians) were won in a year with the same calendar as 2016.
Given the obvious fact baseball fans want to see the World Series played and the pretty well known fact that largely due to their excellence over the years but also due to their at least perceived arrogance (at times they go hand in hand) a good number of fans truly dislike the New York Yankees, it is “safe” to say at this point in time, nearly half the World Series results in years with this calendar, have been highly disappointing to virtually all non Yankees fans.
16 previous baseball seasons have expired with this/the 2016 calendar, five ending with Yankees’ World Series wins (1927, 1932, 1938, 1949 and 1977, by the way the Yankees were (20-3) in those World Series games, as Yankees’ fan Larry David might say, “preeety good”) and two (1904 and 1994) with no World Series played.
Larry David, pictured above.
Did you notice I tried regarding ESPN?
I cited the fact that the monolith, originally a tame idea, but now a “Frankenstein type monster” set loose upon the good standards and practices of sports reporting, was televising a pair of WNBA games, on one of their many channels.
The fact I did so is good on both our parts, for them to televise and publicize the WNBA (“for a price Ugarte” or ESPN, too bad it will not cease to exist in the next, or near next scene as was the fate of “Ugarte,” played by the great Peter Lorre, in the film, “Casablanca,”) and for me to promote the giant network I despise, all to help the WNBA.
However, today the ESPN incompetence went too far. They actually put forth a graphic comparing the win percentage for the New England Patriots, in games started by the great Tom Brady, and those that were not.
The terrible concept became a beyond misleading attempt at disseminating information, when Wendy Nix (too bad we can’t NIX the idea of putting incompetent broadcasters on the air) the on air “talent”, proved what I already “guessed,” that she will read what it says without the acumen to know it is ridiculous, (poor Gail Gardner got caught, but so few of them, men included, know anything, save being able to get “made up” and read from a teleprompter) by stating the win percentage was about the same, with no regard to the number of games played.
Obviously, Brady has played many, many more games than his substitutes, enough said if you have even a kernel of knowledge.
A journey awaits me via bus, subway, automobile and then perhaps train, a long day, but those of you at home tonight are in for a treat, no not more “AndyB” posts, criticizing sportscasters, but the work of a comedic great, the recently deceased, Gene Wilder starting at 8 p.m. Eastern Time on TCM.
At that time, “Role Model. Gene Wilder” a tribute special will air. That will be followed by one of Mr. Wilder’s excellent roles, that in “Young Frankenstein” which will be shown starting at 9:15
The special will be repeated at 11:15, followed by two more good movies with Gene Wilder, “Start The Revolution Without Me” and “The Cisco Kid.”
Enjoy as TCM pays tribute to Gene Wilder, showing some of the great work he left us.
Maybe get some tootsie rolls to enhance your enjoyment, also evoking memories of Gene Wilder (pictured above) in their commercials. However, with this or just about anything, you will not get it from a “taker.”
Both seek and more important, be “givers.”
Last Sunday, after the Kansas City Chiefs’ “ho hum” victory in a game, vs the New York Jets ended, CBS shifted this market to its coverage of an eventual Indianapolis Colts win and cover, vs the San Diego Chargers,
Unfortunately I heard Kevin Harlan (Marty Glickman, who delineated every 3 yards or so, is causing seizmic shock, turning over and over in his grave as Harlan continually does everything, but delineate yardage on his radio calls. In addition to causing the earth to move, Harlan’s failure to provide essential game information in a timely manner, is an affront to listeners, but Westwood One lets him do so!) on the telecast.
On television, Harlan could not, by definition, (he was not) be as offensive as on radio, when the listener is at his mercy, but he came darn close.
First, he blurted out no team had ever started (0-3) and made the NFL playoffs. He was corrected, but he is working NFL games, the one last Sunday involving the (0-2) Colts, could not he have done some research?!!
There were other blunders and analyst Rich Gannon was annoying as well (his talk regarding the last play, an example, as there was no realistic of it working, not the impression he gave, and it was going to be a lateral play (he was way off in his theory), which it was–details on demand, I promise).
The details are saved for Harlan, who took playing it safe, to an absurd level when with the possibility of one more play given to the Chargers down 4 points, from roughly their own 20 yard line, he said T.Y. Hilton’s touchdown catch MAY have given the Colts their first victory.
At worst, say “barring a last play miracle touchdown,” but Harlan used the word “may” as a gauge of the probability of an S.D. win.
Whether he is NOT telling us how many yards were gained, or having a clue regarding probability, Harlan’s performance is disgraceful.
Tonight’s Thursday night NFL tilt matches a pair of (1-2) teams, the Cincinnati Bengals and Miami Dolphins, neither of whom have covered the spread in victory and done so only once in defeat.
Miami covered easily, in defeat, at Seattle(Seahawks), in the first week.
A more pleasant, if not important association between these two AFL expansion teams, in addition to that very fact, is their Slot 3/divisional round clash in the 1973 NFL playoffs.
Miami, under coach Don Shula, won the game and went on to win their second straight Super Bowl, to date, the only two in franchise history.
Cincinnati was coached by Paul Brown, who guided the team into the playoffs for the second time that season.
The great Paul Brown, pictured above.
There were many posts here during the season regarding the A.L. Central Division.
Cleveland (Indians) won it, clinching their eighth, “one eighth” division title, two nights ago.
Few so called baseball sites that I found anyway, gave the tiebreaker scenarios among the three division winners in the A.L. as far as playoffs seeding.
I did research the fact both of the other division winners Texas and Boston won the season series vs the Indians. Thus Cleveland loses in any tiebreaker scenario, including a 3 way one.
I know Boston has not clinched the division yet but I will take the chance and call them “division” winners.
Actually the chances of them (Boston) not winning the division are greater than what was referred to as a “may” by the so annoying CBS announcer, Kevin Harlan at the end of last Sunday’s Colts/Chargers game.
I will cite that and other “horrors/Harlan” I heard in the short time the telecast aired in this market last Sunday, in one of two “attack mode” posts tomorrow.
Have to vent folks, but I will do so with no personal “attacks.”
The best of five, semi-final round of the WNBA playoffs begins tonight with all four remaining teams in action, with both tilts to be televised on ESPN Two.
In the opener the defending champions and top ranked Minnesota Lynx are 6 plus point game, and near 3 to 1 series favorites vs the 8th seed, Phoenix Mercury. These two franchises have combined to win 6 of the last 9 WNBA crowns and are meeting in the ‘offs” for the 4th straight season.
Led by a truly excellent player, Diana Taurasi (apparently, if one trusts what one reads (13-3) in WNBA so called “elimination” games and also unaware her Mercury team were favorites, not underdogs at the New York Liberty, in the Mercury “elimination” game victory last Saturday) the Mercury beat both the Indiana Fever and third seed, Liberty to advance to the semis.
Meanwhile the “Chi” Sky are very high, concerning odds that is, as the second seed L.A. Sparks are huge 10 point game and roughly 12 to 1, (man to man, woman to woman, human to human), “faves” in the series.
The Sky defeated the Atlanta Dream to advance. Atlanta had beaten the Seattle Storm, both in one game entities.
Andy B Sports 