In hours, the Boston Red Sox, they of venerable Fenway Park begin a series at also venerable Wrigley Field in Chicago, vs the Cubs.
They met in the 1918 World Series and for 86 years that was the last time the Red Sox had “titled.”
At that 1918 point, the end of the last war, (what a joke–alas military man “Ike” knew), months away, it had been 10 years since the Cubs won the W.S. (they won in 1907 and 1908).
It would become 108.
Now each team’s drought is pretty long over, the Red Sox, still a contender and with 4 titles since 1918 or 2004 (you choose) and by far the better “near misses,” are the better franchise, however, this is a virtual exhibition series in a nice place.
Maybe that is all it need be.
Babe Ruth, is shown above, having hit a home run at Wrigley Field for the Yankees vs the Cubs in the 1932 World Series.
Mr. Ruth also played at “Fenway,” for the Red Sox, starring primarily as a pitcher.
Greats Lou Gehrig congratulating “The Babe,” and catcher Gabby Hartnett are also shown above.
Another esoteric note regarding 3 straight titles involves Hartnett.
In 1938, the Yankees became the first of 15 major North American sports league teams to win a third straight title, something the Avalanche, within the last week of time, denied the Tampa Bay Lightning.
10 of the 15 times a team made it 3 straight titles and as noted here “those #’s!) 9 of 11 times a team was denied a third straight crown, the winning coach or manager had a last name which started with an earlier letter in the alphabet than the rival “losing” coach or manager in the final round entity.
Such was not the case in ’38 as Yankees’ manager, Joe McCarthy’s “M” is later in the alphabet than Gabby Hartnett’s “H.”
It now stands that less than 60 percent of the teams bidding for the “rare air” accomplishment of 3 straight major North American sports leagues titles were successful.
The ‘Lanche 6 game triumph denied the Lightning a third straight crown, the 11th time a team bidding for a third straight title was denied. 15 times they were successful.
Really esoteric and maybe a bit scary, that I would even check, however I note 9 of the 11 (those #’s again!) winning coaches in the final round entities in which a team was denied a third straight crown, had/have last names, that start with earlier letters in the alphabet than the rival coach.
It was a touching scene when “Col” coach, Jared “B”ednar embraced and talked a bit with 2 time “C”up winning “c”oach, Jon “C”ooper of T.”B.” It is close, as was the series, but it is “B” before “C. ” In fact “before” is part of an all-time phrase involving the two letters.
Others times the above situation manifested:
Baseball (2)
Miller “H”uggins and the Yankees denying John “M”c Graw and the N.Y. Giants 1923 World Series
Walter “A”lston and the L.A. Dodgers ” ” Ralph “H”ouk and the New York Yankees 1963 World Series
Football (2)
Ray “F”laherty and the Washington Team denied George “H”alas and the Chicago Bears in the 1942 NFL Title Game
Paul “B”rown and the Cleveland Browns denying Buddy “P”arker and the Detroit Lions 1954 NFL Title Game
Basketball (2)
Chuck “D”aly and the Detroit Pistons denying Pat “R”iley and the L.A. Lakers 1989 NBA Final
Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs denying Eric Spoelstra and the Miami Heat 2014 NBA Final
Hockey (2)
Hector “Toe” “B”lake and the Montreal Canadiens denying Jimmy Skinner and the Detroit Red Wings in the 1956 Stanley Cup Final
Scotty “B”owman and the Montreal Canadiens denying Fred “S”hero and the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1976 Stanley Cup Final
Twice the later alphabet coach prevailed. Both times a Toronto team “titled,” and remember the city of Toronto has won its last 6 final round entities (the Leafs doing so (’62-’64 and ’67), while the Blue Jays won both their final round/World Series appearances, winning it all in ’92 and ’93. Toronto last lost in a final in 1960, when Montreal under Blake, won a still and likely not to be broken 5th straight NHL title) In the 1967 NHL final, “Punch” “I”mlach and the Toronto Maple Leafs denied Hector “Toe” “B”lake and the Montreal Canadiens.
The other later in the alphabet coach to prevail in denying an opponent a third straight crown in a final round entity is the alliterative named, Nick “N”urse, who did so vs current champion, then and now Golden State Warriors’ coach, Steve Kerr in the 2019 NBA final.
George Wilson pictured above, played on 4 title winning Chicago Bears’ teams (’40,’41,’43 and ’46) and the ’42 team denied a third straight crown in the title tilt.
Apparently, he was an assistant coach on 2 Lions’ title teams (’52 and ’53) and the aforementioned ’54 team, that was denied a third straight crown.
He later coached the Lions to their last title and in fact, final round entity in 1957.
Last night in Tampa, the Colorado Avalanche got the tying goal from Nathan MacKinnon and the go ahead to stay/last goal and most of all Stanley Cup winning goal from Arturri Lehkonen in a (2-1), game 6 win that gave the ‘Lanche their first title since 2001.
Darcy Kuemper stopped 22 of 23 shots (the great Steven Stamkos “opened” for the Lightning, still on a great run having won 2 titles, made 4 final rounds and 7 semis in a twelve year period (2011-2022), for the Avalanche, who are now (3-0) in final round play. (Only the Bulls (6-0) have a better final round mark and they last made a final in 1998).
It is the first time both the NBA and NHL final rounds ended with game 6 title clinchers won by the road team in 74 possibilities (1947-2022 with no NHL season in 2005 and only antiseptic, “bubble play” in 2020, when I believe, “technical” road teams the Lakers and Lightning secured titles with game 6 wins).
Colorado went (16-4) in the ‘offs, (9-1) on the road, clinching all 4 series there. Cale Makar won the Conn Smythe Trophy.
The Avalanche, (logo above) nee the Quebec Nordiques, join the Baltimore Orioles nee St. Louis Browns (their last crown was in same calendar 1983) and New Jersey Devils (originally the Kansas City Scouts, but coincidentally their last pre Devils location was Colorado, as the Rockies) as teams/franchises that not only changed cities/locales, but also nicknames, to gain a third title. (All 3 teams/franchises have 3 crowns, having won none in its previous location).
Ondrej Palat, who as cited here, after Tampa Bay advanced to the final with a game 6 win, had two goals in the last 90 seconds to win semis games 3 and 5 vs the Rangers, scored with 6:22 remaining in the third period, lifting the two time defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning (3-2) at Colorado (Avalanche) forcing #6 in Tampa Sunday night. The ‘Lanche still lead the final three games to two.
Jan Rutta opened for T.B, which has not trailed in regulation time for 3 straight games after being routed in #2 and trailing in that tilt for nearly 58 minutes.
Nikita Kucherov scored on a 4 on 3 power play as the Lightning regained the lead in the second period.
Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 35 shots for the Lightning, who are now (4-0) facing elimination since they were “shockwaved” out of the 2019 ‘offs, being swept in 4 straight, by the Columbus Blue Jackets.
In more than two thirds of the 22 final rounds in this century/at least call it the “two thousands,” 15 times a team has staved off elimination at least once (it did not happen in ’02, ’07, ’10,’13,’15, ’17 and ’18).
Ondrej Palat, pictured above.
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Nazem Kadri returned to action and scored an overtime goal, many did not realize, lifting the Colorado Avalanche (3-2) in #4 and into a seemingly commanding three games to one NHL final round lead.
Colorado (2-1) in games 4 of NHL final rounds and likely to be (3-0) in final round entities came back from (1-0) and (2-1) deficits with tying goals by Nathan MacKinnon, his first of the series and Andrew Cogliano , in the second and third periods respectively.
Hopefully, but though “Col” is at least an eight plus to five favorite, I hesitate to say likely, the ‘Lanche, picked by the great Scotty Bowman to title, will wrap in 5, Friday night at home.
If they do so, the span between the if accomplished 5 game, Friday night, home title clincher of 8 years since Alec Martinez and the L.A. Kings won #5 on the aforementioned Martinez’ OT goal, will be one third the span of I guess the only other Friday night 5 game clincher, that one achieved by the Edmonton Oilers on the road at Boston in 1990.
Five was operative for Edmonton as it was their 5th crown in 7 seasons and was achieved without the presence of their great player, Wayne Gretzky, who had been dealt to L.A. (Kings).
Nazem Kadri, pictured above.
Tonight in Tampa, the Colorado Avalanche seek a (3-1) final round series lead vs the two time champion, Tampa Bay Lightning.
It was not quite as “easy as ABC, for ABC since “Col.” scored first for the third time in as many tilts, (Gabriel Landeskog “cashing” for his “first goal prop” backers for a second time in the 3 tilts— (I think it was the great Joan Baez, on a Dick Cavett Show that aired over 50 years ago, that I recently heard talk about her son Gabriel. Alas she talked of him being in a world of no war, but it was not to be!!), but Tampa Bay did ease (6-2) in #3, defying the “Monday game/final round leader increases its lead or titles” trend.
Only the 1985 Kansas City Royals have ever trailed (2-0) in both its leagues semi-final and title rounds and won both series to gain the crown. The Lightning trailed the New York Rangers (2-0) in games and by a (2-0) score in a home #3, but won the series in 6 games, winning 3 games by one goal.
I do have (unofficially) some notes on previous NHL final rounds when a (2-0) series became a (2-1) entity. It was done with pen and napkin, juxtaposed with the computers around me and in this world.
13 teams down (2-0) then (2-1) in a best of 7 NHL final (the first and this is the 83rd, was played in 1939 and there was no NHL season in 2005), won game 4 to get even, with four going on to title (twice the Montreal Canadiens did so (’66 and ’71 with their ’66 triumph the only one done by the “route” of 2 home losses to start the final) while the ’09 Penguins and ’11 Bruins also did so).
Eleven times a team down (2-0) and then (2-1) in an NHL final lost #4 and none of those teams won the final.
7/11 manifests as those 11 teams that fell down (3-1) in the above referenced situation, managed only an aggregate 7 wins the rest of those 11 series. The ’87 Flyers and ’06 Oilers did get to a 7th game before losing to the same franchise Oilers and Hurricanes respectively.
In fact, no NHL team has ever overcome a “straight” (i.e. a (3-1) deficit without it having been a (3-0) series deficit) (3-1) NHL Final deficit. The 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs overcame a (3-0) final round deficit and won the crown in game 7 vs the Detroit Red Wings, at home in game 7.
Patrick Maroon, bidding to be on a 4th straight title team, had a goal and an assist for the Lightning in their game 3 win.
This past weekend, three World Series rematches were played, one between two teams, the Houston Astros and Chicago White Sox, who are now in the same league.
In 2005 the White Sox swept the Astros in 4 straight games. That is their lone title in 103 completed baseball seasons from (1918-2021, with no World Series or completed season in 1994). They have made just 3 World Series appearances in that span and just 2 in 101 seasons from (1920-2021).
Meanwhile the Astros have made three consecutive odd year World Series (winning in 2017, losing in 2019 and 2021) and their one other was the sweep at the hands of the White Sox.
The White Sox won their first two World Series (1906 and 1917) before losing the infamous 1919 W.S. and also the 1959 entity. Their win in 2005 gives them a (3-2) World Series record, Houston as cited is (1-3).
There have been four World Series meetings between the Boston REd Sox and St. Louis Cardinals, teams that met over the past weekend.
“St.Loo” won the first two, “rhyming” 7 game series wins in 1946 and 1967, with Harry “The Cat” Breechen and Bob Gibson, respectively, winning 3 World Series games for the Cardinals.
Boston won the last two, ending an 86 year title drought, sweeping the Cards in 2004 and 6’ing them in the 2013 Fall (Not so) Classic.
102 years ago the Cleveland franchise defeated the Dodgers, then in Brooklyn 5 games to 2 in the 1920 World Series that is best remembered for Cleveland’s Bill Wambsganss turning an unassisted triple play, in game 5 of that best of nine series.
Bill Wambsganss, pictured above.
The Colorado Avalanche, (2-0) in previous NHL final round play, eased to a (7-0) win over the two time defending champion, Tampa Bay Lightning in game 2, to take a (2-0) lead in the 2022 NHL final round series.
Valeri Nichushkin, who had the big assist on what likely will be the series most important play, the Andre Borakovsky Overtime goal in game 1, had 2 goals in #2, “opening” early, with Borakovsky getting an assist.
Again the Avalanche had 3 first period goals and this time there was no “T.B.” comeback.
In the game 2 rout, “Col,” winners of 7 straight games, (14-2) in the ‘offs, (Pk in #3 in a bid to be (6-0) on the road in these ‘offs and now over 5 to 1 series favorites–the “Col” beats T.B. “exact result” was plus 270 when Col led Edmonton (3-0) and the Rangers led T.B. (2-1) in the semis–mirrors, tooth pain and missed “opps”) also got goals from Josh Manson (made it (2-0) and he has had some big Avs goals in these ‘offs), Borakovsky (3-0), Darren Helm (5-0) and “see” his “qtr” series clincher vs the Blues, the ’19 champs, who have handed the very likely 2022 champions their only 2 losses of these ‘offs and then 2 “garbage time” tallies from Cale Makar.
Meanwhile Darcy Kuemper needed only 16 saves to record his first shutout of these playoffs.
Valeri Nichushkin, pictured above.
Tonight is game 2 of the 2022 NHL final with the home team, Colorado Avalanche seeking a “hold serve” (2-0) series lead vs the two time champion Tampa Bay Lightning.
The ‘Lanche rode Andre Burakovsky’s overtime goal, scored within 2 minutes of overtime (they had to get the affiliates to the “bleed it leads” local news) to a (4-3) series opener win.
I will have more but for now it is safe to say that a game 1/Cup final overtime win augurs well for the Avalanche, at least historically, as almost every team that won a best of 7 final round opener in overtime prevailed in the series to take the crown.
Andre Burakovsky, pictured above, also had goals 2 and 3 for the eventual champion Washington Capitals in game 7/semis, also vs Tampa Bay (Lightning).
What a great run and it continued this season with at least a final round appearance, this has been for the Lightning!
Andy B Sports 