Baseball Playoff Backstories

Quick hitter for you baseball fans out there. I used to be one of those, that is until the Mets eviscerated me. Like clockwork.  Yet again. 

First round of baseball is always fun. Especially for longtime fans of the game when it comes to certain matchups. Check it. 

4-seed Yankees vs 5-seed Red Sox 

This one does not need a lot of explanation. It needs way less than it gets, actually. Yanks/Sox, blah blah blah. These two teams are bitter foes to much fanfare in general, but nevermore than in the postseason. 1978 went one way, 2004 went another. They actually squared off in the early rounds of the 2018 and 2021 postseasons, but when those match-ups don’t feature Bucky or Papi or have the fireworks of the old days, it gets plenty of mass media attention for those 3-5 days and then gets quickly dispensed in the minds of those outside of the Northeast. 

Little known fact: the Yankees and Red Sox both made the playoffs in the same season for the first time in 1995 – the first-ever year with wild cards. What you don’t recall, unless you’re rob, is that the Sox got skunked by the Tribe in three, mainly because they trotted out Zane Smith, Erik Hanson, and Timmy Wake. (The Rocket was presumably still having another trip to the buffett at Wendy’s SuperBar.)

What you do recall is this: (sorry, Teej):

   

But all eyes are on this series now. 

3 Dodgers vs 6 Reds 

Did You Know??? Between 1972 and 1978, the Dodgers and Reds finished 1-2 in the AL West every single year. The Big Red Machine won the division 4 years, the Big Blue Wrecking Crew 3. It also happened in 1970, 1985, 1988, and 1990 – with those years being split 2-2 each. Sparky vs Tommy, Charlie Hustle, Steve Garvey, Joe Morgan, Ron Cey, George Foster, Dusty Baker, Johnny Bench, Reggie Smith, and many more… and that was just the hitters. What a terrific rivalry with some (red) legs to it… that faded from view as soon as the league restructured itself in 1994. LA stayed West, Cincy went Central, and that was that. 

They have never played each other in the playoffs. Get some. 

3 Guardians vs 6 Tigers 

In 2024, Cleveland beat Detroit in the ALDS, 3 games to 2. Before that, these two teams had never met in the postseason. Until the advent of the wild card in ‘95, they never could have. They also never finished 1-2 in division in the 70’s like the Reds and Dodgers, so there wasn’t the same rivalry. 5-6 was more the norm. Cleveland was turrrrible for the entire 1970’s and 1980’s with two exceptions: on the 1987 Sports Illustrated cover that touted them as the best team in the AL (that was April; they went 61-101) and in Major League (1989). 

The Tigers were marginally better, taking the division in ’73 and ’87 and winning it all in 1984. (Never since; a drought longer than the Mets’! Yes!) But there was never a close pennant race between these two clubs until 2013, when Detroit eked out a 1-game title. Of course, Cleveland got dispatched in a 1-game WC and the Tigers lost to the Red Sox in the ALCS . . . who went on to win the Series . . . again . . . neat. 

This year the Tigers blew a midseason division (and league) lead that was miles and miles long, and the Guardians took the AL Central by a game. 

Detroit took Game 1 yesterday. Game 2 starts now. Go. 

4 Cubs vs 5 Padres 

Oh, man. Here is all you need to know. The Cubs had last won in 1908 when they squared off against the upstart Padres in the National League Championship Series 1984. The Cubbies were the best team in the NL that year, winning 96 games and making believers of the Northsiders. They won Game 1 of the best of-five against San Diego, 13-0. Took Game 2 as well. Off to the west coast, where the Pad Squad took Games 3 and 4 – the latter on a 9th inning homer. 

In the deciding Game 5, the Cubs were up 3-2 in the bottom of the 7th with ’84 Cy Young winner Rick Sutcliffe on the hill. (Sutcliffe had been shipped out by Cleveland early in the season after posting a 4-5, 5.15 numbers, only to go 16-1, 2.69. Oh, the Tribe.) 

With a man on, a grounder as routine as it gets went to the normally sure-handed Cubs 1B Leon Durham. (Durham was a 2e9 in Strat-o-matic that year. Very solid.) 

It went like this.

   

Should’ve been handled, cost them the lead. Then Sutcliffe imploded (single/double/single) and that was that. Drought extended. 

This is the first postseason match-up between these two clubs since. Giddyup.

So there is baseball life after seeing your favorite team collapse from playoff shoo-in to afterthought. 

Still sucks.