[Highlander]

1949 St. Louis Cardinals vs 2014 Los Angeles Dodgers

The real life Cardinals finished at 96-58, 1 game behind the Dodgers. This was a really tight real life season.....the Yankees and Dodgers led their leagues at 97-57, while the Cards and Red Sox were both at 96-58. In my first round, the Cardinals were tied with the Yankees at 83-79, but won the run differential tie breaker +33 to -21.

The 2014 Dodgers were 94-68 in real life, losing to the Cardinals in the Division Series. They were pretty dominant, however, in round one with a record of 104-58. Clayton Kershaw is a beast for this version of the Dodgers.

In the opening 1949 season, the Dodgers won handily at 90-72. The prediction was that, based on their success in 1949, that the Dodgers would also be successful in their home year. That turned out to be the case, as LA put up an even better 94-68 record to move on to the 3rd round with a 184-140 total record.


1919 Cincinnati Reds vs. 1940 Detroit Tigers

The real life Reds led baseball in 1919 with a 96-44 record and then won one of the most famous World Series of all time over the White Sox. They had a close call in the 1st round at 84-78.

The 1940 Tigers were 90-64 in real life, but then lost the World Series to the Reds in 7 games. In the first round, they also had a close season with an 85-77 record.

The 1919 season looked close a the beginning, but as the season went on, the Tigers pulled ahead to finish at 94-68. The Reds fared no better in the 1940 season as the Tigers again finished at 94-68 to move on to round 3 at 188-136.

It's been a bit amazing to see teams from somewhat close eras play to exactly the same record in both seasons. It also seems to be hard for teams to play better outside of their own year than they did in their own year......so far! (hint, hint)

1955 New York Yankees vs. 1985 St. Louis Cardinals

The 55 Yankees finished their real life season at 96-58, but lost the World Series to the Dodgers in 7 games. They didn't have much trouble in the 1st round, again winning 96 games to advance.

The 1985 Cardinals were 101-61 in real life but, like the 55 Yankees, lost the World Series in 7 games....only they lost to the Royals. In the first round, they advanced by going 94-68.

In the 1955 season, things were very close. Both teams went back and forth, but the Cardinals prevailed with a record of 83-79. That didn't bode well for the Yankees as the matchup headed to the 1985 season. However, Yankees bucked the the trend of teams doing worse when playing out of their year. They finished the 1985 season at 91-71 to advance to round 3 at 170-154.

Mickey Mantle was a major factor for the Yankees in that 1985 turn-around. He really thrived in that 85 season, going .353/.445/.679 with 29 D, 5 T, 47 HR, 120 R, 125 RBI and 11.6 WAR. The 85 Cardinals were really a team different from their era. They were built around a lot of speed, defense and pitching. I guess it's not a surprise they did better in an earlier year than their own. The Yankees joined the Expos as the only two franchises to have two teams in the final 60 so far. I am sure a few others will join them!

Up next, we'll see a matchup of 1960 and 1997, among others!