Yesterday in a day game, the Toronto Blue Jays ended the Cleveland Indians’ winning streak at 14 games.
The streak coincided with two straight and far more important wins by the Cleveland Cavaliers that gave the city of Cleveland its first sports’ title since 1964.
Cleveland has a nice lead in the A.L. Central and as baseball approaches the halfway point in the 2016 season, let’s see how the Indians play from here on out.
In addition to the 4 LCS “replays” there are 3 World Series repeats this weekend.
In the one world Series of the three that did not result in a 4 game sweep the Philadelphia Phillies are meeting the current World champion, Kansas City Royals.
The Phillies won their 1980 W.S. clash in six games but the Royals around so much lees time than the Phils have as many World Series crowns.
In 1998 the New York Yankees swept the San Diego Padres in the world Series. They are meeting this weekend in San Diego.
In 2005, the Chicago White Sox won their first title in 88 years, sweeping the Houston Astros, then in the National League.
The teams are meeting this weekend in an American League regular season series in Houston.
The great Frank “Tug” McGraw leaps for joy as the Phillies win their first World Series in 1980.
The NLCS redux involves the venerable National League franchise, the St. Louis Cardinals, who vanquished this weekend’s opponent, the Milwaukee Brewers, in six games in the 2011 NLCS.
The Brewers were for many years an American League team and they are the only team to play in both an ALCS and NLCS.
The ALCS rematch is one that evokes memories of the classic Boston Red Sox 7 game triumph, nearly 30 years ago vs the Angels in the 1986 ALCS.
Seven of the 15 weekend major league baseball match ups involve teams that met once and only once either in League Championship Series or World Series play.
Looking at NLCS history involving teams clashing this weekend, the New York Mets defeated the Chicago Cubs in 4 straight games in last year’s NLCS, after losing all 7 regular season tilts between the two clubs. The Mets have won the first two “reg” games this season, in the current series at Citi Field.
The Miami Marlins then known as the Florida Marlins, a name under which they won 2 World Series titles (other than the Yankees (5) only the Boston Red Sox and S.F. Giants 3 each, after respective 86 and 56 year title droughts, have won more World Series since the Marlins began play in 1997), defeated the Atlanta Braves in a pretty big upset for baseball, in six games in the 1997 NLCS.
In our next post, a look at another NLCS redux, this involving a team that moved from the American League to the National League and the one ALCS redux (it was a classic one), this weekend.
Click below to view “The Staple Sisters” sing “Let’s Do It Again.”
Staple Singers – Lets Do It Again
On Canada Day, the Cleveland Indians made it 14 straight victories winning (2-1) at Toronto, Ontario, Canada vs the Blue Jays, in 19 innings.
They looked less than great and blew some golden opportunities in extra innings, but they won.
In 16 days of play, (June 16th-July 1st), the two Cleveland teams playing have gone (16-0), winning 2 games including the Cavs’ title clincher on June 19th and on 14 different days, winning one game.
On June 23rd, there were no games involving Cleveland teams.
Watching You Tube’s version of the 1969 NFL Title game won by the Minnesota Vikings at home vs the Cleveland Browns, I noticed some interesting announcing information.
Play by play for the 1969 NFL Title tilt was handled by the great Ray Scott.
Interestingly, in the last year of the AFL, its great, long time TV analyst, Paul Christman was the analyst for the last NFL title game. That amazed me.
Pat Summerall was involved in pre and I guess post game coverage.
Sadly the last year of the AFL, in which he worked the last NFL Title game, was the last year of Paul Christman’s life.
A great player and football analyst, Paul Christman pictured above.
Of course anybody “listening” to me regarding the Cleveland Indians has a “Brinks truck” at their residence around this time, not the case here because I seem to “never” listen.
However, be it winning bets or even the Indians’ impressive 13 game win skein, the first three the weekend leading up to the Cleveland Cavaliers’ title clinching Sunday night win, they have not pulled away in the A.L. Central
Obviously since I thought the Indians and definitely not the Kansas City Royals would win the A.L. Central, it still is Cleveland until further notice.
Yet neither the Royals nor the Detroit Tigers have gone away. There is still a race in the A.L. Central.
This is worth running again. Add that Adam Silver further enhanced Cleveland’s chances suspending one of Golden state’s top players, Draymond Green for game 5.
There is much one can say about this game, the odds, such machinations about the insidious subculture of gambling but more than anything as one who once loved sports and as with too many people in this society fell victim to the “title means all or way too much attitude,” it is the glaring difference in the road to the finals Cleveland took and the Thunder/Warriors winner will have taken when the NBA finals begin—that truly irks and consumes me.
The Warriors won 73 games and have to deal with a team as good as the Thunder, the alternative was a 67 win San Antonio Spurs team.
All this is worth repeating especially regarding a not so “noble” Cleveland title.
Once there were epic works such as Hamlet. Now LeBron James gives us horrible double negative grammar and an obscenity laced speech at a parade Cleveland did not deserve. Go Indians, this is not anti’Cleveland but anti the sickening NBA, its commissioner, its best player (James) and yes some not so “noble” people, in fact the opposite.
Last night, in a tremendous game in a league, (WNBA), which knows enough to seed its teams, thus avoiding the rather cheap title just won by the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Eastern Division leading New York Liberty, won in overtime at Minnesota, vs the defending champion, Minnesota Lynx.
This was the third straight loss for the Lynx, after winning in a battle of unbeaten teams at Los Angeles vs the Sparks nine days ago.
L.A. won the return meeting in Minnesota and the Lynx lost as big favorites at Washington vs the Mystics last Sunday, and now as 10 plus point favorites vs a good Liberty team in Minnesota.
The Washington Nationals, “scolded” here after a 7 game losing streak, a win but overall sloppy play, did rally in the first game and won all 3 home games vs the New York Mets, to increase their N.L. East lead.
Now the question is will the Nationals pull away, or go back to the slow pace, that has kept the Mets and Miami Marlins in the N.L. East race.
On paper, this weekend, the Nationals should, (usually not a good word especially in sports predictions), do well vs the Cincinnati Reds. Let’s see.
Calvin Coolidge, pictured above.
The only time a Washington D.C. (for that matter Washington state team as the Seattle Pilots in their one year and Mariners in their previous 38 completed seasons never have won or even appeared in a World Series) team won the World Series was in 1924, a year Calvin Coolidge won the presidential election.
