1933 Pittsburgh Pirates vs. 1930 Washington Senators
The real 33 Pirates are (I think) the first team with less than 90 wins to make it this far. They were the 2nd place team in the NL that year, but the AL had two 90 game winners so they were included to even things up at just 87-67. Somehow, they came out on top....with a 94-68 record! 7 more wins than they got in real life.
The 1930 Senators were also a 2nd place team in real life, finishing at 94-60. They were 8 games behind the A's.....those A's teams of the 20's and 30's have not fared well so far! In the 1st round, the Senators went 85-77 to make it to this point.
There haven't been many matchups with the the years this close and the two I can think of were both kind of blowouts. The Pirates took a pretty big lead in the 1930 season by going 89-73. Then, for the 3rd OOTP season in a row, they got more wins than in real life by going 92-70 in the 1933 season. The Pirates....who barely made it into the whole competition....advance to the 3rd round 181-143.
1920 Cleveland Indians vs. 1910 New York Giants
The Indians had the most wins in baseball back in 1920 at 98-56, then went on to win the World Series over the Brooklyn Robins. In the 1st round, however, they only went 89-73....but it was enough to get them here!
Back in 1910, the Giants were just 91-63, 13 games behind the Cubs. However, they went 98-64 in the 1st round to show that they were deserving of advancing to this round.
An early era matchup for sure, the underdog Giants (at least based on real life success) jumped out to a big lead in their home season, going 94-68. The Indians hoped to regroup as the matchup moved to 1920....and they did a bit....but it was still an 82-80 win for the Giants. Overall, the NYG went 176-148 to advance in a bit of a surprise.
2006 New York Yankees vs. 1946 Detroit Tigers
The 2006 Yankees were not one of the many Yankees teams I might have predicted to be representing their year. Looking back, though, they tied the Mets at 97-65 for the best record in baseball. Like the Mets, they disappointed in the playoffs and lost to the Tigers in the Division Series. In the 1st round, they were one of the better teams I saw at 104-58.
The 1946 Tigers finished in 2nd place at 92-62, 13 games behind the Red Sox. They were certainly not the first choice to make it through the opening round, but their 86-76 record was just enough!
Based on round 1 results, it seemed like the Yankees were a big favorite coming into this matchup. However, it was the Tigers that jumped out to the early lead in their home season at 86-76. It wasn't a big lead, but a little surprising nonetheless. The 2006 season saw the Yankees wanting to live up to their dominant showing against their same-year opponents in Round 1.....and they sure did. A 101-61 record totally erased the Tigers' lead and gave the Yankees a huge 177-146 margin to go on to round 3. Their weakness in earlier years, however, may come back to bite them in round 3. We shall see!
1996 Cleveland Indians vs. 1921 Cleveland Indians
The 96 Indians were one of a number of great Indians teams in the 90's. This one went 99-62 in real life to lead baseball in wins, but stumbled in the playoffs, losing to Baltimore in the Division Series. They went 94-68 in the 1st round to get here.
The 1921 Indians are also from a strong era of Cleveland baseball, as we just saw the 1920 team make an appearance. The 21 version finished 2nd to the Yankees at 94-60. In the 1st round, the went 92-70 to get to this matchup.
This is the first "same-franchise" matchup we've seen other than with the Yankees......and many of those ended up very close. The 1921 team wanted to make sure that didn't happen in their home year and jumped out to a 91-71 lead. The 96 team, however, came right back with a 91-71 season of their own to tie it up. Run differential was checked next and the 96 team came out on top by 45 runs overall.
1964 Philadelphia Phillies vs. 1934 New York Yankees
The real 64 Phillies were tied for 2nd in real life at 92-70 with the Reds....one game behind St. Louis. In the 1st round they went 89-73 and were tied with the Giants....but a +48 run differential (compared to just +8 for the Giants) got them here.
The real 1934 Yankees were also a 2nd place team, finishing at 94-70. They were 7 games behind Detroit. In the 1st round, they went 93-69 to advance.
Not much to say about this matchup, other than it was a blowout. The Yankees came right out with a 92-70 record in the 1934 season and then really piled on in the 1964 season, going 104-58. The matchup ended with a 196-128 margin. We've had a few other blowouts like this and it is still hard to tell if the winner is that good or the loser was lucky in round one and not really that good. The Phillies have fared pretty poorly overall in this contest....unless I missed one, they have 2 more chances to redeem themselves.
1912 Boston Red Sox vs. 1917 Cleveland Indians
The 1912 Sox were 105-47, then won the World Series against the Giants. They barely scraped by in round one, however, at 84-78....which was kind of surprising.
The 1917 Indians are the latest in the run of Cleveland teams we've seen recently. This team is fortunate to be in round 2.....because they barely made it into round one. They are our 2nd team with a win total in the 80's, at 88-66. Their 83-79 record in round 1 shows that they continue to just scrape by.
Nothing like a matchup of teams in the teens to get the ball flying out of the park! OK.....clearly that wasn't the case. There were a few "twins" playing in this matchup against themselves, though, including Tris Speaker and "Smokey Joe" Wood. That made it fun to see which version would come out on top. The Red Sox got out to a slim 84-78 lead in the 1912 season. They followed that up with an 87-75 record in the 1917 season to complete the sweep and advance at 171-153.
2005 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim vs. 1995 Cleveland Indians
The 2005 Angels were 95-67, then lost in the LCS to the White Sox. Not the top choice for the team from 2005 to get here, but a definite contender. They went 91-71 in round 1 to seal the deal.
The 95 Indians are the second time we see the Albert (Don't Call Me Joey) and Manny show, as the 96 team squeaked out a close one earlier. This Indians team went 100-44 and then lost to the Braves in the World Series. Not a surprise they made it here, though, and their 98-64 record in the 1st round shows they deserved it.
On paper, this seemed like another blowout with the Indians looking like the far superior team......and it was! Cleveland went 90-72 in the 1995 season and then went one better in 2005 going 91-71 to advance at 181-141. Wonder if Albert and Manny will face themselves in the next round? That might be just too much Manny!!
1986 California Angels vs. 1973 Cincinnati Reds
I always like this Angels team when I was a kid. They had a bunch of "old guys" who used to be really good. Reggie Jackson, Bobby Grich, Don Sutton, Brian Downing, etc. But then they mixed it together with Wally World. In real life they were 92-70, then lost to the Red Sox in the LCS.....which led to one of the more famous World Series ever. It's hard to believe the Red Sox and Mets both got beat by this old bunch. In fact, the Angels tied the Mets with 89-73 records, but the +81 to +45 run differential went the Angels' way and they advanced here.
We've seen other versions of this Reds team already. The Big Red Machine.....1972, 1973, 1975.....and one more later on. They were one of the best dynasties ever and one of them could go all the way. This 73 team went 99-63, then lost to the Mets in the LCS. They went 95-67 in the 1st round. That shows this may not be the best version of these Reds, but they are still formidable.
This matchup ends up an old team from the 80's versus a young team heading towards becoming a dynasty. The Angels seemed like underdogs in this one....but they took it to the Reds in the 73 season with a record of 86-76. Kind of a shocker! Then, in the 86 season, the Reds did bounce back some, but only to a record of 82-80. Not enough to overcome the lead the Angels built in the first season. The old men of California move on 166-158! I guess even though the team is from the 80's, many of the players were stars of the 70's so that 73 season was perfect for them!
That's all for this group of matchups. 24 to go before we hit round 3. The next group of matchups will start with the teams from 1970 and 1976 (bet you can at least guess the 76 team!). The Pirates and Dodgers will get a little love in the next group....and there will also be a couple of appearances by some team called the Yankees! It's about time!
