191 NL - Games of Monday, 12 May

Giants 10, Robins 6: New York pounded Brooklyn pitching for twenty-one base hits, four each from Larry Doyle and Ross Youngs, to come from behind and win at a canter at Ebbets Field and nudge the Robins out of the top spot in the standings. The home club certainly had their moments with the bats and legs, as Tommy Griffith hit his League-leading third home run and Ivy Olson stole three bases, and they led by a score of 6-3 through five innings. But the Giants' bats exploded for six hits and five runs in the top of the 6th, as Rube Marquard (16 hits allowed in 5.2 innings) just could not find a way to stop the onslaught. A pair of insurance runs in the 9th allowed the visitors to withstand their own four fielding miscues and Jesse Barnes to go the route allowing eight hits and issuing no free passes. Benny Kauff and Heinie Zimmerman also had big days for NY, with three hits apiece. [box]

1919 NL Players of the Week - 11 May

The Batter and Pitcher of the Week in the National League across a light slate of games played during the week of 5-11 May are (boldface denotes a League-leading total) . . .

1919 NL - Games of Sunday, 11 May

Reds 4, Cardinals 3: Cincinnati scored three times after two were out in the bottom of the 9th inning to flip the script against St. Louis. Cards starter Jakie May had been in control the entire afternoon, allowing just three hits and a walk over the first seven frames, but three straight base hits in the bottom of the 8th both trimmed the STL lead to 3-1 and were a harbinger of things (soon) to come. May retired the first man in the last half-inning before Larry Kopf drew a walk and Manuel Cueto singled. When May got pinch-hitter Ivey Wingo to fly out to right for the second out, it appeared as if he would put the finishing touches on his outstanding day's work, but it was not to be. The command issues that often vex May, but which he had held at bay today, resurfaced at the worst possible time when he walked pinch-hitter Pat Duncan and then put a fast one into the bicep of Morrie Rath to force home a run and move the tying and winning runs both into scoring position. At this point, with five of the last six Reds having reached base against the 23-year-old lefty, Branch Rickey decided a change of course was due. In came relief specialist Oscar Tuero for May, to face the struggling (.135) Greasy Neale. After a long tussle between the two, the two-sport star turned on a full-count offering and whacked it into the gap between the left- and center-fielders for two bases, two runs and one unlikely victory as the men from St. Louis continue to find ways to come up with the short end of the stick. [box]

1919 NL - Games of Saturday, 10 May

Reds 1, Cubs 0: The pitching was again in the ascendancy at Weeghman Park as the two clubs staged their second low-scoring affair in as many days although, in the end, the result was the same. It was Cincinnati's lower order that won the day in Chicago today, as Jake Daubert doubled in the 4th inning and Bil Rariden singled him home for the only run of the game. Daubert, who had three hits and a pair of stolen bases on the afternoon, hit for two bases with one out in the inning and scored when the Cincinnati catcher struck a dying quail that just got over the head of Cubs' shortstop Charlie Hollocher and safely onto the outfield grass. The rest of the day's responsibility was shouldered by young Rube Bressler - the 24-year-old lefty was making his first appearance of the season, and he made it a memorable one as he held Chicago to six hits and a walk in a duel with "Hippo" Vaughn. The Cubs got two aboard in both the 5th and the 7th, but Bressler was up to the challenge on both occasions and finished with a flourish by retiring the final eight men to face him. [box] [broadcast]

1919 NL - Games of Friday, 9 May

Reds 2, Cubs 1: Greasy Neale doubled and Heinie Groh tripled with one out in the 10th inning to break a low-scoring deadlock and propel Cincinnati to a tense victory in Chicago.  The home club had scored early, getting a 1st-inning run when Charlie Hollocher singled, stole second, and scored on Turner Barber's base hit, but the Reds drew even in the 5th in much the same fashion - Rath pilfering second after reaching on a fielder's choice, then scoring when Groh singled with two away. But, apart from those two incidents, the pitchers were in command as Ray Fisher and Pete Alexander took turns leaving the batters frustrated. The closest either side came to scoring in the late innings was when Rath singled and Neale reached on an error with two outs in the 7th, but Alexander retired the dangerous Groh on a fly ball to center. Rath's hit was the last one Cincinnati would record until the fateful 10th when Neale lined one down the right field line for two bases and Groh then muscled one through the left-center gap and all the way to the fence to score the lead run. Fisher allowed a one-out single to Barber in the bottom of the inning, but retired Dode Paskert and Fred Merkle on weak ground balls to turn that lead run into a winning one.  [box]

1919 NL - Games of Thursday, 8 May

Robins 5, Phillies 4: Brooklyn survived a frenetic final two innings to escape with a one-run victory in Philadelphia. The Robins held a slim 2-1 lead going into the 8th inning behind the fine pitching of Jeff Pfeffer, but the Phillies tied the game on Fred Luderus' two-out RBI single. Brooklyn answered loudly in the bottom half when the heart of their order (Tommy Griffith, Zack Wheat and Hi Myers) went single-single-home run. The lead seemed safe at 5-2 when two of the first three Phils went out in the 9th, but Gavy Cravath launched a pinch-hit homer to make it a one-run game again; Pfeffer stood firm, however, and fanned Leo Callahan for the game's final out. Griffith and Wheat had three hits apiece and Myers had three RBI. [box]

1919 NL - Games of Tuesday, 6 May

Braves 6, Giants 5: Joe Riggert pounded out five hits, the final one a two-out triple that scored the go-ahead run in the 11th inning as Boston survived a late New York rally to win at Brush Stadium. Riggert, who also swiped two bags on the afternoon, singled in the 7th for his third hit to drive Ray Powell in from second and give the Braves a 4-1 lead which looked comfortable in the hands of starter Dick Rudolph.  But the Giants touched "Baldy" up for four singles, two walks and three runs in the 8th inning to force the tie. Boston got two men aboard in the 9th but failed to score, and the first two Braves in the 11th also went down without incident. Red Smith then singled and Riggert launched one to the wall in the deepest part of the ballpark which eluded the grasp of Benny Kauff until the Boston centerfielder stood on third and the Braves had broken the deadlock. Al Demaree then forced three straight groundouts in the bottom half of the inning to put the Giants away quickly and earn the visitors the win. [box]

1981-82 Stanley Cup Finals - Game 2

Vancouver was smarting from their Game One shellacking, and it was realistic to at least begin to wonder what they could do to force a different style of play. even if outcomes seemed a little too much to ask. Staying out of the penalty box would be a start, as the Isles raked them over the coals on the power play in the series opener, as would be avoiding the early deficit that put them on the back skate three evenings ago. The capacity crowd in Uniondale is already looking forward to a coronation, but what will they get once the puck hits the ice?

1981-82 Stanley Cup Finals - Game 1

Perhaps Roger Neilson and the Canucks, as the decided underdogs in the Stanley Cup Finals, felt as if their only hope was to try to bridge the talent gap by being physical and knocking the Islanders off our their skill stride. At any rate, they came out of the dressing room with a chip on their black-and-gold shoulders, pushing and shoving as the clubs lined up for the opening face-off.

1919 NL - Games of Monday, 5 May

Pirates 1, Cardinals 0: Babe Adams pitched a four-hit shutout to run his season-opening scoreless streak to eighteen innings and the Pirates held on for the win after George Cutshaw's 2nd-inning home run. There was little to choose at Robison Field this afternoon between Adams and Bill Doak, but what little there was came in the first swing of the 2nd inning when Cutshaw sent one of Doak's offerings into the left-field seats for four bases. The visitors didn't threaten Doak again until the 9th, when he escaped a jam by intentionally walking Walter Schmidt to retire Adams on a fly ball with the bases juiced and two away. St. Louis, struggling for offense in the season's first fortnight already, could do nothing against the impregnable Adams - they managed a pair of two-out singles in the 1st inning, but were then held completely in check as the Pirate right-hander retired twenty of the final twenty-one Cardinals who dared bring a bat to the plate to face him. [box]

1919 NL Players of the Week - 4 May

The Batter and Pitcher of the Week in the National League for the week of 19 April - 4 May are (boldface denotes a League-leading total) . . .

1919 NL - Games of Sunday, 4 May

Giants 7, Phillies 6: Ross Youngs had four hits, stole four bases, drove home the tying run and scored the winning one in the bottom of the 9th of a wild affair at Brush Stadium. the 22-year-old outfielder's eventful day began in the 1st inning when he singled with one out, stole second, took third on Hal Chase's single and scored on a sacrifice fly from Larry Doyle. He singled and scored again in the 3rd as New York scored three times to push its lead to 4-0 but Philadelphia, which had been punchless for seven innings against Rube Benton, came to life with a vengeance in the 8th. The first three Phillies reached safely against Benton, the third of those being Fred Luderus' two-run triple that chased Benton from the box. Gavy Cravath grounded out against Jesse Winters to bring home another and the visitors went into tho the 9th needing just two runs to tie the game. Bevo LeBourveau led off with a pinch-hit single and went to third one out later when Cy Williams hit safely. Dave Bancroft then grounded one up the middle, and Doyle had no play other than to flip to Al Baird for the force while LeBourveau scored the tying run. But the Phillies were not satisfied with the tie; Luderus ht a slow tapper down the third-base lane which Doug Baird scooped but rushed a wild throw to first, with Bancroft moving to thrid and the batter to second. John McGraw then ordered and intentional pass to Cravath to load the bases, and Irish Meusel pinged a bloop hit into center field for two runs and a Philadelphia lead. Gene Packard took the pill for Jack Coombs in the last of the 9th and Lew McCarty greeted him with a base hit. George Kelly sacrificed the tying run over to second and the dangerous George Burns grounded out to shortstop with the runner unable to advance. That brought Youngs to the plate and he fisted one over the second base bag and into shallow center, allowing McCarty to score the tying run. Youngs then pilfered second and kept on going to third when Bert Adam's throw skipped past second base. Hal Chase then stood in and, like the man before him, didn't make the most solid contact but found the outfield grass in front of CF Williams as Pep scored for the third time on the day to make the Giants winners. [box]

1919 NL - Games of Saturday, 3 May

Giants 5, Phillies 0: Lew McCarty belted a pair of home runs and drove in three runs to support the shutout pitching of Jean Dubuc as New York won at home. The Giants' catcher slugged for four bags in the 4th with one runner on base to extend a one-run NY lead to 3-0, and again in the 6th with the sacks empty for the final run of the game. Dubuc allowed only three hits and a walk to Philadelphia as the visitors were whitewashed for the second straight day by the New Yorkers and saw their season's batting average fall below the .200 mark. [box]

1919 NL - Games of Friday, 2 May

Robins 7, Braves 6: Brooklyn scored four times in the bottom of the 9th to force a tie, and then Lee Magee coaxed a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the 11th to complete an improbable comeback in front of the Ebbets Field faithful. Boston had jumped out to a 3-0 lead behind a pair of RBI from Ray Powell, and then piled on three more in the 8th (Joe Riggert two-run triple) to distance the Robins by a score of 6-1. But the home side got one back in the 8th on Magee's two-out RBI double, and then the first three men reached in the bottom of the 9th to score two runs and chase Boston starter Dick Rudolph. Larry Cheney did't provide much in the way of relief as he walked the first man he faced and then two singles which tied the score. The extra frames were quiet until Lew Malone started the last of the 11th with a single and then Rabbit Maranville fumbled Ernie Krueger's ground ball. Ivy Olson walked to fill the bases, and Cheney could not find a way to fool Magee as the Brooklyn keystone man watched a fourth ball go past to force the walk-off run home. Joe Kelly, Powell, Olson and Magee each had three hits on a day that saw twenty-seven safeties struck. [box]

1919 NL - Games of Thursday, 1 May

Reds 2, Cardinals 0: Edd Roush doubled in a pair of runs and Hod Eller whitewashed the punchless Cards on four hits as Cincinnati won for the sixth time in seven games to start the season. Bill Sherdel put in a fine performance on the mound for St. Louis, despite four errors behind that included a pair by Rogers Hornsby, but he couldn't hold back the red-hot (.393, League-leading ten RBI) Roush; the Reds' center-fielder hammered one over the head of RF Jack Smith with two men on and two out in the 5th to score the only runs of the contest. Meanwhile, the Cardinals were helpless against Eller - they stroked singles in each of the first two innings, and stolen bases that put those runners into scoring position, but failed to score on both occasions and then managed just two hits over the final seven frames. Eller set down twelve men in a row at one stretch and fanned six while walking only two. [box]

1919 NL - Games of Wednesday, 30 April

Giants 15, Braves 8: New York erupted for nine runs in the 8th inning to turn a narrow deficit into a comfortable win in Boston. The Braves scored four times in the 1st behind two singles, two walks and a three-run triple by Walter Holke, but New York closed to within 6-5 by scoring twice in the 7th when they started the inning with four straight singles. In the 8th, a single and double started the frame and then, after a strikeout, three straight singles scored four runs; two batters later, Lew McCarty delivered the coup de grace with a bases-loaded triple that made it an eight-run inning. George Burns had four hits and scored three times, Hal Chase had three RBI and McCarty had four. [box]

1919 NL - Games of Tuesday, 29 April

Cubs 3, Cardinals 2: Dode Paskert's sacrifice fly sent Max Flack home with the winning run in the bottom of the 13th inning as Chicago outlasted St. Louis after escaping defeat at the last regulation hurdle. The winless Cards got out front first, scoring twice in the 2nd when Gene Paulette and Joe Schultz singled and later scored on Jakie May's two-out triple. But that was the last noise that St. Louis would make against Hippo Vaughn, and Chicago had room to work its way back into the game. Les Mann homered to lead off the 4th to cut the deficit in half, but May matched Vaughn's zeros through the middle innings; he pitched out of a bases-loaded mess in the 8th, but would not be so fortunate in the 9th. After a walk, a single and a sacrifice, the Cubs had the tying and winning runs in scoring position with one out and Branch Rickey decided to walk Mann to load the bases and set up the force at any base. But May could not keep the ball over the plate, and Paskert worked a walk that tied the game. One batter too late, perhaps, May got Fred Merkle to bounce into a 5-2-3 twin killing to send the game to extra frames. St. Louis got two on with two outs in the top of the 13th without scoring and the home team got to work quickly in the bottom of the inning. Max Flack drew a walk to start, and stole second base immediately. Charlie Hollocher singled him to third and, one out later, Paskert lifted the ball to deep center field and the Cardinals could only watch as the winning run tagged for home. [box]

1919 NL - Games of Monday, 28 April

Braves 5, Giants 4: Buck Herzog's single capped a two-out bases-empty rally in the bottom of the 9th inning as Boston brought the city to its feet with the climax to a game that saw them trail early, take a mid-game lead and then throw that away in the late innings.  The Giants scored twice before the Braves even touched their bats, with a walk, stolen base, single and double leading to a pair of 1st-inning runs. It was tough sledding in the early innings for the Boston hitters against Red Causey, but they finally made a mark in the 5th when Walter Holke led off with a free pass, stole second and took third on a wild throw, and scored on Art Wilson's base hit. It was in the next inning, though, that the Braves really figured Causey out - Herzog started the inning with a triple and and Ray Powell singled him across, then a walk and Jim Riggert's knock scored another. When Larry Doyle failed to corral Rabbit Maranville's grounder with two outs and Bostons on second and third, another run crossed the plate and it appeared as if the home side were in the clear behind Dick Rudolph, who had held the Giants scoreless since the opening inning. But, in the 8th, NY struck back after the first three men reached on safe hits and Benny Kauff hit a run-scoring fly ball that tied the game. Fred Toney retired the first two Braves in the 9th, but pinch-hitter Johnny Rawlings singled, as did Joe Kelly, and a wild pitch moved the runners up by ninety feet. With Rawlings dancing off of third base, Herzog rapped one down the line and off the first-base bag into shallow right field to end the game. [box]

1919 NL - Games of Sunday, 27 April

Cubs 2, Cardinals 0: Max Flack drove home the Cub's first run, and scored their second, as Lefty Tyler shut out the winless Cardinals at Weeghman Park. Flack's two-out single scored Bill Killefer from second in the 3rd inning, and then he singled, stole second and went to third on Frank Snyder's wild throw in the 8th before Charlie Hollocher brought him across with a two-out base hit. Tyler scattered six hits and two walks, allowing a runner into scoring position with fewer than two outs only once and retiring ten of the final twelve Cards to close out the game. [box]

What If? 1930 Athletics vs 1977 Phillies

The 1930 Philadelphia Athletics won 102 games, and the second of three consecutive American League pennants, but this was probably the least dominant of those teams; they may not have even been the best club in the AL that season, as Washington actually had a better Pythagorean record despite finishing eight games back. They still had peak Cochrane (137 wRC+), Simmons (171 wRC+) and Foxx (157 wRC+) in the middle of the lineup, and Lefty Grove (185 ERA+) had one of his greatest seasons, but the supporting cast wasn't quite as good in 1930; Grove, especially, was left on an island when the pitching staff got much less quality from George Earnshaw and Rube Walberg.

The 1977 Philadelphia Phillies won 101 games, but were denied the franchise's first trip to the World Series in almost thirty years by the Dodgers in the National League Championship Series. Those 101 wins were a franchise co-record until 2011 and, while the the 1976 team might have been a little better, this was still one of the all-time great Phillie teams. They had the best offense in the NL that year behind Mike Schmidt (155 wRC+) and Greg Luzinski (157 wRC+), and big platoon seasons from Bake McBride (152 wRC+) and Richie Hebner (130 wRC+), but the pitching relied on Steve Carlton (153 ERA+) and a deep, effective bullpen that pitched almost 400 innings of sub-3 ERA baseball while bailing out the rest of a mediocre starting rotation.

So What If these two clubs met for Philadelphia bragging rights? Would the A's roll behind Grove and their Hall of Fame hitters, or would the Phillies use the long ball and their pen to weather the storm  . . .

1919 NL - Games of Saturday, 26 April

Pirates 1, Cubs 0: Fritz Mollwitz singled home George Cutshaw in the 5th inning to give the Pirates the lead, and Babe Adams made it stand up by holding Chicago to five hits and retiring nine of the final team men to face him. Adams and Phil Douglas locked up in a pitcher's duel from the outset, with Douglas allowing only one Pittsburgh hit over the first four innings while Adams was giving up but two. In the 5th, though, Cutshaw led off the inning with a double down the right-field line and moved to third base on a groundout before Mollwitz hit a shot towards first base that caromed off the bag and into shallow right field for an RBI single. Pittsburgh would get just one safe hit against Douglas the rest of the way, but that would be enough as the Cubs failed to place a mark against Adams; Charlie Pick doubled with one out in the 5th, and Charlie Hollocher tripled with two away in the 6th, but in neither case could the Chicagos find a way to push the runner across home plate. Adams got six straight ground balls to skip through the 7th and 8th, and when Hollocher was caught trying to steal second after singling with one gone in the 9th that was the final gasp for the home club.  [box]

1919 NL - Games of Friday, 25 April

Cubs 2, Pirates 1: After ten innings of scoreless baseball, the two clubs traded blows in the 11th with Chicago having the final say on Pete Kilduff's two-out RBI triple. Erskine Mayer and Speed Martin were insoluble for the better part of two hours in front of a tense Chicago crowd; double play grounders erased an early threat for each team and Pittsburgh left the tying run at second in the 9th while Mayer was setting down ten Cubs in succession over the late innings. The pitching protagonists were still plying their trades as the 11th inning got underway, and the Pirates cracked Martin's code first - with one out, George Cutshaw walked, stole second, and scored on Tony Boeckel's base hit. But Les Mann led off the bottom half with a two-bagger and Chicago was still in the hunt. He was bunted to third by Dode Paskert and scored the tying run when Fred Merkle lofted fly ball to medium-deep left field. Charlie Pick singled to keep the line moving, and Kilduff laced one over the head of Southworth which the Pittsburgh outfielder could not chase down before Pick had scampered home as Kilduff was sliding safely into a cloud of dust at third base. Merkle and Boeckle each had three hits. [box]

1919 NL - Games of Thursday, 24 April

Giants 10, Phillies 0: New York rapped seventeen hits and took advantage of four Philadelphia fielding errors, yet Rube Benton needed almost none of it as he spun a two-hit shutout at the Phillies. The home team managed only singles in the 1st by Davey Bancroft and the 7th by Gavy Cravath, and could coax only two free passes from the hard-throwing left-hander while sending just four men over the minimum 27 to the plate. Although they didn't quite know it yet, the Giants put the game away with two-spots in the 2nd and 3rd, Benton chipping in with an RBI single and Hal Chase hitting for three bases and scoring a run. The Phils began to phail in the phield in the late innings, making errors in the 5th, 7th and 8th that led to five unearned runs as NY piled on to reach double digits on Heinie Zimmerman's two-run single in the penultimate inning. George Burns had four of the Giant hits, and Zimmerman, Larry Doyle and Art Fletcher had three apiece. [box]

1919 NL - Games of Wednesday, 23 April

Phillies 5, Giants 4: Gavy Cravath blooped a game-winning hit into left field with one away in the bottom of the 9th as Philadelphia avoided an epic collapse in its home opener at the Baker Bowl. The Phillies held a 4-1 lead into the 9th inning behind the fine pitching of Elmer Jacobs, six stolen bases and a two-run home run by Cy Williams but Jacobs couldn't finish off New Yrok. Art Fletcher led off the final inning for the visitors with a home run and Lew McCarty followed with a single to bring the tying run to the plate. That run was represented by pinch-hitter George Kelly, and "High Pockets" drove a ball into the left-field sets to tie the game before Jacobs had recorded an out in the inning. The young right-hander retired the next three men, and then his teammates went to work. With Jean Dubuc taking the mound in relief of Jesse Barnes, Phils backstop Bert Adams drilled a one-out triple past to outstretched glove of CF Bennie Kauff and the slugging Cravath was called upon to hit for Jacobs. The long ball was not the biggest worry for the NY outfield, but they were paying deep enough for the five-time home run king that his dying quail fell onto the grass well in front of the charging George Burns and Adams skipped home with the winning run. [box]

1919 NL - Games of Saturday, 19 April

Robins 5, Braves 1: In the first game of the season-opening Patriot's Day doubleheader, Leon Cadore sent ten Boston batters back to the bench having failed to connect with his varied offerings, and Ernie Krueger's two-run single was the key blow in a four-run 2nd inning that represented almost the entirety of the afternoon's plate-crossing while powering the visiting Brooklyns to victory. Dick Rudolph ran into difficulty as soon as he toed the slab in the top of the 2nd, as Zack Wheat walked and stole second, and then scored on a base hit by Hi Myers. But the Beantown hurler wasn't off the hook yet - Ivy Olson singled, and then Myers beat the throw to third when Ollie O'Mara bunted to first and Walter Holke threw across the diamond looking for the force. That loaded the sacks for Krueger, who grounded one sharply off the glove of Rudolph and into center field to score two runs; the frame's fourth tally later hit the books on Jimmy Johnston's groundout. This would be more support than Caddy would need on a 50-degree afternoon in the Hub, as he allowed but one Brave safety in the first six innings and coasted home looking as if his year away from the game on the front lines in France had done nothing to diminish the promise he had shown in his first big-league season in 1917. Ivy Olson had three hits to pace the Robins.  [box]

Uniforms of the 1919 National League

For a little visual background, here are the uniforms worn by the clubs in the 1919 AL (courtesy of the National Baseball Hall of Fame Uniform Database) . . .

1919 National League preview

Let's take a brief look at how the eight contending clubs shape up for the 1919 season in the National League, in order of their 1918 finish . . .

World Series Time Machine: 2003

During the 2003 baseball season, Roger Clemens won his 300th game and notched his 4000th strikeout (in the same contest!), three players (Palmeiro, Bonds and Sosa) joined the 500-homer club, and Bill Mueller became the first player to hit grand slams from both sides of the plate in the same game. In the Fall Classic, the American League Champion New York Yankees (101-61) face off (again) against the National League Champion Florida Marlins (91-71) . . .

World Series Time Machine: 1970

During the 1970 baseball season, the Seattle Pilots franchise hurriedly decamped to Milwaukee, Tom Seaver whiffed 19 Padres including ten in a row, and three venerable National league ballparks (Forbes Field, Crosley Field, Shibe Park) closed their gates for the last time. In the Fall Classic, the American League Champion Baltimore Orioles (108-54) face off (again) against the National League Champion Cincinnati Reds (102-60) . . .

World Series Time Machine: 1942

Playing under the shadow of US military participation in World War II for the first time after FDR had issued a "Green Light" letter to the game in January, Paul Waner joined the 3000-hit club, Branch Rickey was named president of the Brooklyn Dodgers, and Babe Ruth took Walter Johnson into the stands at Yankee Stadium in an August exhibition to raise money for the Army-Navy relief fund. In the Fall Classic, the American League Champion New York Yankees (103-51) face off (again) against the National League Champion St. Louis Cardinals (106-48) . . .

World Series Time Machine: 2011

During the 2011 baseball season, MLB took over operations of the Dodgers as the franchise teetered on the edge of bankruptcy proceedings, Mariano Rivera became the first pitcher in MLB history to make 1000 appearances with one team, and Tony La Russa became only the second man to manage in 5,000 big-league games. In the Fall Classic, the American League Champion Texas Rangers (96-66) face off (again) against the National League Champion St. Louis Cardinals (90-72) . . .

World Series Time Machine: 1985

The 1985 baseball season saw Pete Rose (4192 hits), Nolan Ryan (4000 Ks) and Rod Carew (3000 hits) reach legendary milestones, Von Hayes become the first player in MLB history to homer twice in the 1st inning of a game, and Tibetan fireballer Sidd Finch fool the baseball world. In the Fall Classic, the American League Champion Kansas City Royals (91-71) face off (again) against the National League Champion St. Louis Cardinals (101-61) . . .

World Series Time Machine: 1966

The 1966 baseball calendar saw Ted Williams elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame (despite being left off of twenty ballots!), Willie Mays pass Mel Ott to become the National League's all-time home run leader and, in one of the most consequential developments for baseball in the second half of the century, the election of Marvin Miller to lead the Major League Players Association. In the Fall Classic, the American League Champion Baltimore Orioles (97-63) face off (again) against the National League Champion Los Angeles Dodgers (95-67) . . .

World Series Time Machine: 2002

The 2002 baseball season saw Shawn Green become the 14th player to hit four home runs in a major-league game (with a record 19 total bases), Mike Bordick set the all-time record for consecutive errorless games and chances by a shortstop, and the sudden, tragic death of pitcher Darryl Kile. In the Fall Classic, the American League Champion Anaheim Angels (99-63) face off (again) against the National League Champion San Francisco Giants (95-66) . . .

World Series Time Machine: 1923

The 1923 baseball season saw the opening of Yankee Stadium, the 100th career shutout for Walter Johnson while Ty Cobb was taking the top spot on the all-time runs scored list, and the recently-proud Philadelphia Athletics suffering the dual indignities of being no-hit twice in a span of four days and being defeated for the twenty-fourth consecutive time by pitcher Carl Mays. In the Fall Classic, the American League Champion New York Yankees (98-54) face off (again) against the National League Champion New York Giants (95-58) . . .

World Series Time Machine: 1959

The regular season of 1959 ended a bit late, as it required the fourth pennant tiebreaker in the game's history, but there was certainly enough going on to justify a few extra days on the schedule: the White Sox scored eleven runs in an inning, on a single hit; a record 93,000 fans (a mark which would stand for almost fifty years) packed the Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles for "Roy Campanella Night"; Harvey Haddix pitched perfect ball into the 13th inning; and the Red Sox became the last big-league team to break the color barrier when Pumpsie Green appeared in a game in July. In the Fall Classic, the American League Champion Chicago White Sox (94-60) face off (again) against the National League Champion Los Angeles Dodgers (88-68) . . .

World Series Time Machine: 1993

The final season of two-division play brought expansion to Denver and Miami (and almost 4.5 million fans through the turnstiles in the former), a four-homer 12-RBI game from Mark Whiten, a record-tying four five-hit games from Tony Gwynn, saw Dave Winfield become the first player to reach the 3000-hit club at an indoor venue and witnessed a legendary NL West divisional race. In the Fall Classic, the American League Champion Toronto Blue Jays (95-67) face off (again) against the National League Champion Philadelphia Phillies (97-65) . . .

World Series Time Machine: 1937

Joe Medwick became the game's fourth Triple Crown winner in five seasons, Augie Galan became the first NL player to ever homer from both sides of the plate in the same game, and Carl Hubbell completed a streak of 24 consecutive winning decisions that had begun the previous season. Less auspiciously, the Cincinnati Reds ended the season with a fourteen-game losing streak, and on May 6th the airship Hindenburg flew over ballgames at Ebbets Field and Polo Grounds just hours before exploding in Lakehurst, New Jersey with the loss of 36 lives. In the Fall Classic, the American League Champion New York Yankees (102-52) face off (again) against the National League New York Giants (95-57) . . .

World Series Time Machine: 1925

The game continued its transition from the dead ball to the live ball and, boy, had things become lively - overall batting averages had climbed above .290 in both Leagues and teams were now averaging more than five runs per game (despite Babe Ruth missing the first quarter of the season following an emergency ulcer operation). In the Fall Classic, the American League Champion Washington Nationals (96-55) face off (again) against the National League Pittsburgh Pirates (95-58) . . .

World Series Time Machine: 2010

The 2010 baseball season was something of a "Year of the Pitcher", with six no-hitters (including two perfect games, and one that should have been), the most shutouts in forty years, and a record-tying fifteen pitchers notching at least 200 strikeouts. In the Fall Classic, the American League Champion Texas Rangers (90-72) face off (again) against the National League Champion San Francisco Giants (92-70) . . .