He can still be correct but based on recent, if not all his history, Mr. Christopher Russo will be wrong again. I actually say this in a light manner, but what a week of bad predictions for Russo!
Both he and Peter Gammons, the latter picked the L.A Dodgers for last place in 1988, when they last won the World Series, picked the Orioles. It was the Blue Jays.
Russo then picked the Mets, it was the Giants.
Next he picked the Giants in 5 vs the Cubs. It could still happen, but it is very unlikely. By the way, no reason the Cubs should not win the Madison Bumgarner start in game 3 and certainly no reason for the next “Chi” home game to be game 1 of the NLCS, on Saturday October 15th.
I “knew”/at least felt strongly, that the Cubs would win the “Costas” game 2, that is one reason seemingly illogical, why there fortunate win in game 1 was so important.
Alas, though correct thus far, as stated I was not about to “suggest” giving huge odds with “Chi,” but would have taken the Cubs if they were down (1-0).
The great pitcher, Mordecai Brown pictured above. Hopefully before, during or after the MLB Network telecast of the Cubs win vs the Giants last night, an even more important Cubs’ win vs the then New York Giants, exactly 108 years earlier was cited. If it was not, that is shameful!
Mr. Brown hurled the Cubs to a pennant clinching win in that “make up” game, which itself is quite a story, on October 8, 1908, the last year in which they won the World Series.
Both the Cleveland Indians and Toronto Blue Jays have (2-0) leads in their division series series and if each team wins as is likely, but far from certain, the Cleveland Indians, who also have never opened a World Series at home, would open a League Championship Series at home, for the first time.
The Indians and Blue Jays have combined to go (9-0) in as many games, all significant, four vs Boston and after the first four last Saturday and Sunday respectively got the Jays into the ‘offs and Cleveland home advantage vs Boston, the next four have made a Jays/Indians ALCS, opening in Cleveland, somewhat likely.
Of course anything can happen and there is precedent for an opposite result or two, involving the teams.
Certainly it is less likely the Texas Rangers now (1-11) in home division series games, will battle back to win vs Toronto, as the next two games are in Toronto.
However, though it, as so much in their history went against them, perhaps, the Rangers can rally around the fact that last year they won the first two games in Toronto, only to lose there, in the decisive 5th game of that division series.
There is plenty of precedent and hope for the Red Sox. Most of all the franchise broke an 86 year title drought, winning 3 titles in a 10 season span led by the great David Ortiz, now perhaps to be playing his final game. They are not the “cursed” Red Sox of those 86 years, sans a title.
They also return home as was the case after falling down (2-0) in division series they eventually won AT CLEVELAND in 1999 and at Oakland in 2003. Boston also won 3 straight vs the Indians, after falling down 3 games to one, in the best of seven ALCS in 2007.
It is not much of a call now, albeit far from certain, but Cleveland which opened the ALCS on the road in their four previous ALCS appearances vs four different teams, (Seattle in ’95, Baltimore in ’97 which were ALCS wins by the Indians and in losing efforts vs the Yankees in ’98 and the aforementioned 2007 ALCS vs Boston) is quite likely to open their 5th at home, vs the Toronto Blue Jays, a week from yesterday.
Sixty years ago today, Don Larsen pitched the only no hit game in World Series history, a perfect game vs the Brooklyn Dodgers, in the pivotal fifth game of the 1956 World Series.
The Yankees took a (3-2) series lead winning vs Sal Maglie, long a Dodgers’ rival with the New York Giants, who allowed 2 runs, 5 hits in a nice effort, and went on to win the title (9-0) in game 7.
Larsen, whom I met around the time of the 50 year anniversary of his gem, talked about his efforts vs the Yankees in the 1962 W.S. another 7 game triumph for the “Bombers,” an incredible 20th in a 40 year span (1923-1962), that one vs Larsen and the S.F. Giants.
Amidst the continuing baseball division series, and a full day of NFL action, the WNBA Finals, a truly good matchup between the defending champion and top seeded, Minnesota Lynx and the second seed Los Angeles Sparks.
The Lynx are about eleven to five favorites, bidding for a fourth league title in six seasons.
I believe the Sparks will provide a great challenge to the Lynx and may even pull off an upset victory.
It is unfortunate the WNBA Finals have so much other “sports competition,” especially vs big time pro football tomorrow. Tune in, the games are well worth watching.
Of course I would never give 13 to 5 odds that the (103-59) N.L. top seed, Chicago Cubs will win the upcoming best of five division series vs the ever dangerous, three straight even year titles (2016 is an even year) (87-75) S.F. Giants.
If S.F. gets as much as a split in “Chi” in the first two, they might become series favorites and certainly will be favorites in game 3, no matter how the series stands at that point, with Madison Bumgarner as their starting pitcher.
However with some historical precedent, and face it the Cubs should be decent sized favorites, I truly believe the Cubs will win this series.
I predict they will win the game 2 Bob Costas game (even Beano Cook,, who despised baseball after 1960, said hearing Costas in an old ballpark (surely Wrigley Field qualifies) was a delight), as they did with Costas filling in for Vin Scully, at Wrigley Field, against the Giants in game 2 of the 1989 NLCS.
Of course that was their only victory in that series.
I also believe the Cubs at (1-1) in the series, will win the Madison Bumgarner started game 3 tilt.
Do not “lay” it, maybe wait, if the Cubs are down (1-0) or even (1-1) and slight series “dogs” or slight favorites at (1-1), but I say the Cubs move on vs a great post-season team, but not a great team, the S.F. Giants.
Believe me, I could cite more mistakes and make comments, but today it is “Jack Webb time,” just the facts.
In the top of the 6th inning of the Giants/Mets wild card round game two days ago, broadcaster Howie Rose stated Roy Halladay of the TORONTO BLUE JAYS had pitched a post-season no hitter. There is one problem with that statement, Halladay “authored” his post-season no hitter, as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies. (By the way tomorrow is the 60th anniversary of the only other post-season no hitter, Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series.)
On the MLB Network show, “High Heat,” host Christopher Russo, more than once referred to the Giants/Mets wild card game’s losing pitcher Jeurys Familia’s outing as a “blown save.” The problem there, is the score was “zip-zip,” when Familia entered in the top of the ninth inning, thus it was not a blown save.
Maybe ESPN New York radio host Michael Kay had the famed professional “wrestling” matches of Bobo Brazil vs “Dr.” Bill Miller on his mind yesterday. Kay saw fit to rip into umpire Bill Miller, as undeserving of being assigned a wild card game tilt.
He seemed to have mistaken Giants/Mets game umpire Mike Winters for Miller. Having heard only a bit, I checked to see if Miller was involved in the A.L. wild card game the night before. He was not.
Maybe the umpires deserve criticism, but it is much tougher to umpire, a thankless but good pay job, than to sit and criticize them. Doing so without the facts correct, exacerbates Kay’s “people in glass houses should not throw stones” status on this matter.
The division series beginning today matching the Los Angeles Dodgers and Washington Nationals is a redux of the 1981 NLCS when current Wash manager Dusty Baker played for L.A. and the Nationals were the Montreal Expos.
L.A. prevailed in the decisive 5th game in Montreal and went on to win the title, in what was a strike marred baseball season. It was the lone title Baker achieved as a player.
Washington is the fourth different team Baker has managed to a one eighth division title, something no other manager has accomplished.
If “Wash” is fortunate enough to advance, Baker will manage against a team he managed far into the post-season tournament, only to suffer an agonizing defeat.
In 2002 Baker’s S.F. Giants, who of course have won the last three “even year” titles and are facing the Chicago Cubs, a team sans a title in 108 years, so it is not just Baker, who failed, dissipated a 5 run lead in game 6 of the World Series and lost in 7 games to the Angels.
A year later, the Baker managed Chicago Cubs dissipated a (3-1) NLCS lead, which included losing despite a 3 run eighth inning lead, at home, in game 6.
Sixty five years and two days later in nowhere near as dramatic nor important situation, a baseball Giants player (this time Conor Gillaspie all these years after Bobby Thomson) hit a last inning New York area, three run home run in a Wednesday game, that enables the Giants to avoid elimination and advance in the baseball post-season.
After their (3-0) road win at Citi Field vs the Mets, the Giants will now face the Chicago Cubs, a team that finished 16 games ahead of them in the regular season.
Somewhat incredibly, the Giants have won 9 straight so called “elimination” games, 6 en route to the 2012 title, 2 en route to the 2014, Madison Bumgarner led title in 2014 and another behind Mr. Bumgarner’s brilliant pitching last night.
Three time world champion pitcher, Madison Bumgarner pictured above.
The American League top seed Texas Rangers begin their 7th division series, hosting the Toronto Blue Jays in game 1, beginning at 4:30 P.M. Eastern time.
It is the second straight season in which the teams are clashing in the division series. Toronto won the decisive 5th game at home last year after the visiting team won each of the first four games.
Texas is a miserable (1-9) in home division series games, (1-10) in pre LCS home games, having lost at home to the Orioles in the first A.L. “play in” game in 2012.
The Rangers are (2-4) in previous division series winning vs Tampa (Bay Rays) in both 2010 and 2011 en route to World Series losses in both years.
The “Y” in the “TTY,” the New York “Y”ankees. The Yankees en route to World Series wins in each of those seasons beat Texas in the division series in 1996, 1998 and 1999.
Texas won game 1 of the first such series in 1996 and the Yankees went (9-0) vs Texas in those 3 series, (6-0) in Texas after that game.
The Division Series matching the two seed, Cleveland Indians and the 8 to 5, favorites, despite being the three seed, Boston Red Sox, is the fourth between the teams.
They split the two played in back to back years in 1998 and 1999.The Indians won in four games in the also best of five, 1998 division series while the Red Sox came back from a (2-0) series deficit and won the decisive 5th game in Cleveland in 1999. Both series winners lost to the eventual World Series winning, New York Yankees in the A.L.C.S.
A (100-44) Cleveland team, in the “work stoppage” marred 1995 season, won vs Boston in three straight games, in that first year of this atrocious extra round of post-season games. After beating the Seattle Mariners in the A.L.C.S , the Atlanta Braves beat the Indians in the World Series.
The last Indians’ title was achieved against the Braves’ franchise, then the Boston Braves, in 1948. Since that time, the Braves have moved to Milwaukee and Atlanta. Before winning the World Series, the 1948 Indians won an unscheduled one game playoff at Boston’s Fenway Park, to claim the pennant.
Andy B Sports 