World Series: Did You Know?

Derek Jeter's best chance to lead the Fall Classic in batting average came in 2000. But he fell short. But Derek need make no apoligies. He was always there with the big hit in the clutch for New York. The Yankees needed Mr. Clutch to come through and Derek did. He always knew how to be the man of the hour.

But in his first eleventh hour, the 1996 World Series, Derek batted just .250 against Atlanta. The Braves won the first two games and Derek and Mariano Rivera were looking at this as just a bad experience. Rivera failed to get a save and Jeter wasn't coming through. But, New York turned on the jets and swept through the next four games. Now, all they needed to do was turn on the Jeter in the World Series.

Derek did just that in his next trip their. Better still, the Yankees swept through the San Diego Padres for another jewel in the crown. Jeter made sure it was a sweep as he hit .353. This thing was a group effort all around for New York however. Jeter finished fifth among his teammates in batting average. New York had so much depth, it wasn't easy for the opposition. But it wasn't easy for Derek to stick out, either!

It was much the same the next year. Another Fall Classic, this time against Atlanta. This was another sweep, just like in 1998, but unlike the 1996 World Series. Jeter, if you can believe it, hit exactly .353 again this time. However, Scott Brosius, who'd been the MVP of the 1998 World Series, was out for another. He hit .375. If you can believe it, despite the sweep, it was Atlanta's Bret Boone who trumped 'em both. All Bret did was hit a resounding .538 for the World Series. Derek was well back of that!

But the next year, Atlanta was on a mission of the three-peat. And Derek was on a hitting rampage. After three games, he was hitting .462 to Paul O'Neill's .583. But they both had company. Actually, Tino Martinez was hitting .429, which meant he had MVP credentials with that.

But it would come down to O'Neill and Jeter. In game four, it was the Yankees with a 3-2 win over their cross-town rivals, the Mets. Jeter had a home run and a triple, and boasted his average to 444! However, O'Neill had two hits of his own in only four at-bats. That "dropped" his average up to a still-astonishing .563. Still making Boone look like nothing! The Yankees were up three games to one. They needed just one more win and this Subway Series was theirs!

And they got it, but the problem was Jeter had just one hit in game five. But what a hit it was! Another home run. Bernie Williams also went yard. But it was Paul O'Neill with no hits. Brought down to earth. Alas, that couldn't stop him from ending this Fall Classic with a batting average of .474. Derek was left empty-handed again. His final batting average was .409.

But that didn't stop him from taking home MVP honours. It was a proud first for Derek. He'd hit two key home runs in the last two games. Other than Williams, the only other Yankee to go yard was Brosius. Certainly, they and O'Neill were key contributors. Jeter didn't hit as well as O'Neill, or even Bubba Trammell or Todd Zeile of the Mets, who each batted .400. But Derek, as always, had provided the lift that the Yankees had needed. He may not have had the highest batting average, but his play did give the Yankees high hopes!

World Series: Did You Know?

Todd Pratt, who was never an everyday player, also was hit twice in one game in the Fall Classic. But it was lost in a 12-inning classic. That is a record he shares to this day with five other players. It was Pratt's first World Series game.

Pratt, penciled in at catcher for the New York Mets in game one of the 2000 World Series for the Mets, was calling the pitches. Mike Piazza, was DH'ing. The New York Mets were staring across to their cross-town rivals the Yankees in this one. It had been a long time since the last subway series. 1956. The Yankees were in that one, too!

Pratt had played a career-high 80 games that year, and hit .275. Andy Pettitte, the Yankees left-hander, was the pitcher that Pratt had to face. Pettitte was coming inside on this righty, eh?

Pratt led off the top of the third for the visitors of Yankee Stadium. And, on of all things and 0-2 pitch, he got plucked. He made it to second on a bunt by Mike Bordick, but that's as far as he made it. The game was still scoreless.

Pettitte wasted no time the next time Pratt came to the dish. The top of the fifth brought the Mets' catcher back to the dish. It went to 0-2, and Andy fanned him. Pratt needed to come through with a man on second. He was the second out. And when Bordick fanned, the inning was over. The Yankees then scored twice in the bottom of the sixth.

The game was still scoreless in the top of the seventh when Pratt came up again, but this time he came through. But not with a hit. And not with a hit by pitch, either. There were two on and only one out, and Todd looked at three balls. Pettitte then marched it to a full count. Pratt fouled off a pitch, then took ball four. That loaded 'em up. A clutch single by Bubba Trammell scored two to tie it. A bunt and another single scored Pratt, and it was 3-2, Mets!

With one out in the top of the ninth, it was still 3-2, Mets. Marino Rivera was now pitching for the Yankees. With one out, Pratt was back to the plate. And soon, he was on first. Rivera hit him on an 0-1 pitch. When Kurt Abbott (Who had come into the game to field) doubled, things were looking up. But Mariano got the next two batters out, and both runners were stranded. The Yankees, no strangers to dramatics, tied it in the bottom of the frame on a sac fly by Chuck Knoblauch. If only one of Pratt's teammates had done then when it was second and third in the top of the frame, the Mets would have still been ahead at this point. But it was not to be.

The game continued on into extras. In the top of the 11th, Pratt batted. Facing Mike Stanton (Former Brave), he fanned. The Yankees got runners to second and third in the bottom of the inning, but failed to score.

The New York Yankees sent the crowd home happy when a single by Jose Vizcaino won the game in the bottom of the twelve. Just like Carlton Fisk in game six of 1975, only not with a home run.

Pratt did not play another game in the 2000 World Series. The Yankees ended up winning it. And, as it turned out, this was the only Fall Classic game Todd Pratt ever played in. But if you'r going to play in only one game on baseball's grandest stage, it's it good idea to set a record in it, right? Even some physically painful ones!

References

Enders, Eric. 100 years of the World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005. Print.

Fonseca, Lew, director. The World Series. Major League Baseball Productions, 1943. DVD.

Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen, and Michael L. Neft. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, 1992. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print.

Nemec, David et all. 20th Century Baseball Chronicle: A Year-by-year History of Major League Baseball. Collector's Edition. Lincolnwood, Ill: Publications International, 1993. Print.

Seaver, Tom, and Martin Appel. Great Moments in Baseball. New York, NY: Carol Pub. Group, 1992. Print.

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. Mar. 09. 2014.

World Series: Did You Know?

The 1923 World Series was the first one Babe Ruth won as an exclusive positioned player! And right now, the watch from that series is going to be auctioned!

The Babe was coming off back-to-back Fall Classic setbacks in 1921 and 1922 to the rival Giants. In the 1915 World Series, The Babe appeared in just one game, but the Boston Red Sox won it anway. The next year, it was just a single mound appearance. Again, a Red Sox World Series win. It was a little better in 1918, as he appeared in 3 games, including the clincher as a defensive replacement. Boston won, but they would not win another World Series for 86 years!

That's because it was off to New York for Babe Ruth, where a pair of losses in the early 1920s must have put a littler damper on The Bambino. Was this bad timing? 1923 would be different. And Ruth made sure of it.

It was the third straight Subway Series.

Ruth got a triple and scored a run in game 1, but like the previous World Series, the Yankees came up short by a single run.

However, in game 2 against the Giant's Hugh McQuillan, Ruth helped the Yankees tie the Series. After the Yankees' Aaron Ward and the Giants' Irish Meusel traded home runs in the 2nd inning, it was Ruth up to the plate to lead off the top of the 4th. The Babe would take McQuillan deep to right on a tremendous blast. 2-1, Yankees.

Great plays from great players inspire. And the Yankees were inspired as they tacked on another run that inning to make it a 3-1, Yankee lead in this Fall Classic.

Ruth was not done. The very next inning, he came to bat against Giants' reliever Jack Bentley. Again, Ruth went deep to right. Another big blast. The Yankees went on to win, 4-2 and square the series at a win apiece.

In game 3, however, the Giants' Art Neft shutout the Yankees, 1-0. Neft, a clutch Fall Classic performer of his time (Think Bob Gibson), tamed the Yankees on just 6 hits and 3 walks. Art was careful with Ruth in this game, however. He walked him twice after Ruth connected for a first-inning single! The Babe was putting fear into the Giants in this series. In any event,  the Giants were back up, 2 games to 1.

But again, the Yankees tied it. In game 4, the Bronx Bombers used a 6-run uprising in the top of the 2nd to put the game out of reach, right there. Babe Ruth, for the second straight game, had just a hit and two walks (plus he fanned twice), but he scored two runs. The Yankees won this game handily, 8-4. Series tied at 2.

In game 5, once again the Yankees scored 8 times, but this time the Giants only scored a single tally. For the third straight game, The Babe had just 1 hit. But for the second straight game, he scored 2 runs. The Yankees were now just one win away from a World Series crown!

Neft tried to extend the series to a 7th game. And he almost did that. Keeping the Yankee hitters off-balance with some good stuff, he took a 4-1 Giant lead into the top of the 8th. But guess how the Bronx Bombers' got that one run? Why, a Babe Ruth home run, of course!

Neft was humming along with a 2-hitter though 7 innings. But in the 8th, the Bombers scored 5 times off Neft and reliever Rosy Ryan. Ruth was not a part of this (in fact, he fanned against Ryan) but the Yankees now had a 6-4 lead. There was no further scoring from either New York team.

Babe Ruth had played in all 6 games of the 1923 World Series. He played right field except for some time at first in game 3. In the 6 games he batted .368, hit 3 home runs (tops in the tournament), scored 8 runs (tops) and walked 8 times (first). And those three home runs were very timely, which is symbolic of his watch from his first New York triumph going on the block right now!

World Series: Did You Know?

The first Subway Series involving New York teams was in 1921.

The arrival of Babe Ruth to the Yankees in 1920 truly had ushered in a new era of prosperity for the only American League team based in the Big Apple.

So the Bronx Bombers were there with Babe Ruth and 98 wins. Opposing them were the New York Giants with 94 wins. Would it be an even match-up? For a time, yes! The World Series was still a best-of-9 affair, and this one certainly had the potential to go the distance. That would give everyone a good long look at the Babe in his prime.

Carl Mays was the pitcher for the Yankees in game 1. He was also acquired by New York from Boston, coming over in a July 1919 deal. Here, he made the deal, a steal!

Mays finished with a fine complete game 5-hitter. Babe Ruth got into the action and got an RBI to put a stamp on the Boston Red Sox's bad deal. Here were two fine Red Sox, who shared the spotlight in an opening act.

The Yankees were stealing some of the Giants' thunder for good measure. Although both teams used the same ballpark (The old Polo Grounds), the Giants were the home team here. The next game would see the Yankees bat in the bottom of every frame.

In game 2, Ruth was pitched to very carefully. Actually, he ended up with just 1 AB. The Giants walked Ruth 4 times and the rest of the Yankees 3 times. But what a pitcher's duel this game was!

Art Nehf of the Giants gave up just 3 hits and 3 runs scored. Of those, only 1 was earned. The 7 walks he issued were his only glaring problem. But Waite Hoyt outshone him by tossing a 2-hitter, and getting the shutout. More importantly, the American League pennant winners were up 2-0.

But the Giants would come back to win the two games.

The Yankees led 3-0 after 2 1/2 innings of game 3. But then the wheels came off the chariot. The Giants outscored the Yankees 13-1 the rest of the way!

Ross Youngs, the Giants' rightfielder, led the way with 4 RBIs. But he had plenty of company there as leftfielder Irish Meusel had 3, as did second basemen Johnny Rawlings.

Ruth, for his part, did have 2 RBIs, but he and his teammates might have tried a little too hard with the wheels in this game. Ruth and Bob Meusel (Irish's brother) were both caught stealing in this game.

In game 4, Ruth had his signature moment. It came in the bottom of the 9th, as he hit a solo home run off Phil Douglas. The problem was, the Yankees trailed 4-1 when Ruth went yard. An even bigger problem was that was the last run the Bronx Bombers were to score. The first Fall Classic Battle Of New York was now tied 2 games apiece.

The Yankees were back "on the road" in game 5. But they were also back in the winner's circle. Indeed, the Yankees came out on top 3-1 to take a 3-2 lead in the Series.

Ruth, continuing his clutch play, proved his versatility in this game. When he faced Neft again in the top of the 4th, the game was tied at 1. But The Sultan Of Swat surprised everyone with a bunt, and made it to first! When Bob Meusel followed with a double. Another run by the Yankees that inning made a winner out of Hoyt again. Hoyt gave up 10 hits in 9 innings, however.

Just when things had started to look up for the Yankees, however, disaster struck. Ruth was out for this game and perhaps more. Indeed, he had a bad knee and now a scraped elbow was making it hard to continue.

The Yankees started the game looking like they didn't need him. As the "home team", they scored 3 times in the bottom of the 1st and 2 more times in the bottom of the second. But the Giants had tied the game in the top of the 2nd, and the Yankees offence was out of gas after the two-run second inning. The Giants were just getting started. Irish Meusel, High Pockets Kelly and Dave Bancroft all had 2 RBIs in this game for the Giants. The World Series of 1921 was now deadlocked again, 3-3.

Game 7 was one of the best game 7's that you will see from a pitcher's perspective. Alas, this was a winner-take-all game 7. And Babe Ruth did not play.

The Giants, playing at their home and batting in the bottom of every frame, took this one 2-1. Douglas, who used a spitball among his arsenal, won over Mays despite giving up 8 hits to Carl's 6. Irish Meusel again did some damage with an RBI in the 4th that tied the game.

Leading 4-3 in the Series, and needing just one more win to end it, the Giants turned to Nehf again. Nehf had pitched well in the Fall Classic, but was 0-2. His performance in game 8 would change that!

Nehf went out and fired a 4-hit shutout of the Bronx Bombers. It was a heart-breaking loss for the Yankees, as Hoyt pitched his third straight complete game. He gave up just 6 hits and 1 run. But he took the loss.

Babe Ruth did make a dramatic appearance in this game. He pinch-hit in the bottom of the 9th, but could only ground out. The Yankees would not go quietly as Aaron Ward drew a walk. Then, Frank Baker hit a hard smash that looked like a sure hit to centre. Rawlings, at second, got a piece of it to keep it in the infield. He threw to first then got Baker. Ward tried to make it to third on the play. A fine throw by Kelly got him at third. A spectacular play to end a memorable first World Series, New York exclusive!

References

Enders, Eric. 100 years of the World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005. Print.

Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen, and Michael L. Neft. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, 1992. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print.

Nemec, David et all. 20th Century Baseball Chronicle: A Year-by-year History of Major League Baseball. Collector's Edition. Lincolnwood, Ill: Publications International, 1993. Print.

Retrosheet. Web. 15 Jan. 2014.  <www.retrosheet.org>

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 15 Jan. 2014.

World Series: Did You Know?

The 1906 World Series was also the first ever Subway Series. Amazing to think it wasn't the Yankees, Dodgers or Giants. Baseball fans associate the term "Subway Series" with thee Big Three from New York. But it was first the Big Two from Chicago.

So the all-Chicago affair of '06 was and upset, a pitcher's series, a classic, and a first! Sadly, it was also the only time both Chicago teams (which are still around more than 100 years later) would meet in October.

The Dodgers didn't reach the World Series until 1920, so it lessoned the odds a little. The New York Yankees had to wait a little longer. The Giants, meanwhile, did enjoy some early success.

And it should be noted that in 1889, the Giants did face a team from Brooklyn in a 9-game series. Seems sort of fitting that the Giants won it. Brooklyn was known as the Bridgerooms at this point. Soon they'd be the Superbas. The name "Dodgers" wasn't used until the next century.

Then the New York Giants won the World Series in 1905, but seemed stuck in the mode of runner-ups for a time. They lost the 1911, 1912, and 1913 World Series. A loss to the Chicago White Sox in 1917 seemed to seal their fate!

After Brooklyn lost to the Boston Red Sox World Series, it was only the Yankees who hadn't made it. Brooklyn even made another appearance in the 1920 World Series. They lost it, again. Would there ever be a Brooklyn / New York World Series? A new arrival in the Bronx that very game year would make that and a Yankees / Giants Fall Classic a strong possibility. Guess who showed up in pinstripes in 1920, poised and ready to help the Yankees win?

That would be Babe Ruth!

References

Enders, Eric. 100 years of the World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005. Print.

Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen, and Michael L. Neft. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, 1992. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print.

Nemec, David et all. 20th Century Baseball Chronicle: A Year-by-year History of Major League Baseball. Collector's Edition. Lincolnwood, Ill: Publications International, 1993. Print.

Retrosheet. Web. 14 Jan. 2014.  <www.retrosheet.org>

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 14 Jan. 2014.