New York Yankees (94-60) v Pittsburgh Pirates (97-57)
Best-of-seven, Yankees with the home-field advantage.
NEW YORK YANKEES S+ PAGE
PITTSBURGH PIRATES S+ PAGE
Hard to believe that this is just the second World Series to be contested by these two great clubs, with the other being a decade ago. It almost feels like two armies who have been skirmishing forever finally digging in for some direct combat.
No doubt their job will have been made tougher by the loss of Willis Flournoy, especially with Dolly Cooper now under a bit of an injury cloud as well, but theirs is still a top-notch staff, both rotation and bullpen. Then, of course, there is their monster lineup. Not a weak hitter among them and the Babe coming off the bench to break your heart. For mine, keeping them as much in check as you could ever hope to starts with keeping Agustin Bejerano quiet. He is their undisputed sparkplug and an absolute menace on the basepaths from all reports.
For us, we just need to go about our business. If there’s one particular concern, it is Ted Radcliffe, who does tend to struggle against these high-power offences, mainly because of his control issues. Men on base against this mob usually spells big time trouble, so the pressure will really be on Bill Foster and Duke Derringer to win their games in case Ted gets beaten up in his.
The neutrals must be salivating at the prospect of this matchup. I wish I was. To be honest, my mouth is as dry as the Sahara in high summer.