National Baseball League

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Mike Francesa: Alright, Mike and the Mad Dog back with ya. I gotta tell ya, this is unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable. The Yankees were up three games to none. They won Game 2 by six runs, Game 3 by TEN runs, 22-12! Everybody thought this thing was over. We were talking about parade routes. Now? It's Game 7.
Chris "Mad Dog" Russo: Mike, it's a DISASTAH! A DISASTAH! How do ya lose THREE STRAIGHT World Series games after leadin' three-nothin'? You kidding me? They're squeezin' the bats so hard they're turnin' 'em into toothpicks!
Francesa: They scored... let me make sure I have this right... zero runs. Four hits. At Yankee Stadium. Facing elimination? You don't win championships like that.
Mad Dog: Jose Vargas! Jose Vargas looked like Lefty Grove out there! Seven innings, three hits, two walks, one strikeout. Didn't even have to overpower 'em. Just kept getting lazy fly balls. Popups! Weak contact! The Yankees never mounted one serious threat.
Francesa: Their best chance came in the seventh. Carter walks. Castillo singles. First and second, nobody out. You're thinking, "Here's where the Yankees finally break through."
Mad Dog: And then... poof! Carver grounds out, Kassebaum pops up, Mortensen strikes out. Nothin'! Absolutely NOTHIN'! That's the series right there.
Francesa: Meanwhile Alex Leal deserved a better fate. Eight and two-thirds innings. Two runs, only one earned. One of those runs scores because of a passed ball by Rafael Castillo. That's the difference in the game.
Mad Dog: That's the cruel part! Leal pitched WINNIN' baseball! But where's the offense? Where's Rick Carter? Where's German Cavazos? Where's everybody?
Francesa: Cavazos went 0-for-4. Carter 0-for-3 with a walk. Kassebaum 0-for-3. Hernandez 0-for-3. The middle of that lineup disappeared.
Mad Dog: Josh Thomas got two hits! Steve Carver got one! That's IT! Four lousy hits in nine innings! Mike, after scoring 31 runs in Games 2 and 3 COMBINED, they've scored six total in the last three games! SIX!
Francesa: That's what pressure does. It changes everything. Every at-bat starts feeling like it's worth the entire season.
Mad Dog: And now the pressure's ALL on New York! Milwaukee's got the house money! They were DEAD three days ago! Buried! We were writing obituaries! Now they're one win away from one of the greatest comebacks the sport has ever seen!
Francesa: Think about Milwaukee's history. They've never won a World Series. Not one. This franchise has carried that burden for years. Now they're one victory from erasing every disappointment they've ever had.
Mad Dog: They'd wipe out every demon! Every October heartbreak! Every "maybe next year!" Gone! They'd be legends forever if they finish this.
Francesa: And for the Yankees...
Mad Dog: Don't even SAY it.
Francesa: If they lose tomorrow, it'll be remembered alongside the biggest collapses in baseball history. You don't blow a 3-0 World Series lead very often. Especially not after winning Games 2 and 3 by scores of 9-3 and 22-12.
Mad Dog: Twenty-two to twelve! TWENTY-TWO TO TWELVE! They looked unbeatable! Now they can't buy a run! Baseball's the craziest sport there is.
Francesa: Momentum has completely flipped. Milwaukee believes. The Yankees are hoping.
Mad Dog: One game. Winner takes the championship. Loser lives with it forever.
Francesa: Tomorrow at Yankee Stadium, either the Yankees capture championship number eight... or the Brewers complete one of the most stunning World Series comebacks anyone has ever seen and finally win title number one.
Mad Dog: Mike, I cannot WAIT for Game 7. This is why October is the greatest month in sports.

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New York Yankees: 1943 World Series Champions (8th title)
1909 1912 1937 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943

Mike Francesa: Alright, Mike and the Mad Dog back with ya. The World Series is over, and the Yankees... survive. That's the word. They didn't dominate this series. They survived it. They win Game 7, 5-3, and they win their eighth World Series championship. Folks, this dynasty just refuses to die.
Chris Russo: Mike, are you kidding me?! Yesterday we were burying 'em! We were saying, "What's wrong with the Yankees? They've forgotten how to score!" They went fifteen straight innings without a run! Fifteen! Then all of a sudden, BOOM! Sixth inning, three runs! Yankee Stadium finally wakes up!
Mike: They absolutely had to. Jose Vargas shut them down in Game 6, and Justin Tate had them frustrated for five innings today. You could feel the tension. This 136-win team was staring at one of the biggest collapses baseball has ever seen.
Chris: And let's not forget why! They were up 3-games-to-0! Three-nothing! Milwaukee wins Game 4, wins Game 5, shuts 'em out in Game 6, and suddenly everybody's saying, "Oh my goodness, are they gonna blow this?" Mike, it would've been the biggest choke in baseball history!
Mike: It would've. No question about it.
But in the sixth inning, the Yankees finally got the breakthrough. Mark Martinez starts it. Rick Carter absolutely delivers with that two-run triple into the gap, and then Rafael Castillo brings him home with the sacrifice fly. Just like that it's 3-0.
Chris: Yankee Stadium is ROCKIN'! They're finally breathing again! You figure, "Alright, Truelove's cruising, game over."
Then Milwaukee says...
"Not so fast!"
Mike: That's where I give the Brewers enormous credit.
Justin Truelove had been outstanding for six-plus innings, but Milwaukee absolutely refused to quit. Andy Carone gets things going. Jonah Cork walks. Mark McDonald drives in one. Vinny Aparicio comes in, and Danny Davila rips that huge two-run double. Three runs score. Tie game.
Just like that, after everything New York had gone through to finally score, it's 3-3.
Chris: Mike, I thought they were gonna do it! I really did! I thought Milwaukee was about to finish the miracle! Three straight wins, tie Game 7, Yankees are stunned, the crowd is dead silent...
You could almost FEEL Yankee history slipping away!
Mike: Instead, championship clubs respond.
Bottom of the eighth.
German Cavazos triples.
Rick Carter is intentionally walked.
Steve Carver lines the go-ahead single.
Then Raul Trejo uncorks the wild pitch that scores Carter with the insurance run.
Those are championship plays capitalizing on championship mistakes.
Chris: And then Mike Schneider says, "Enough."
Two scoreless innings.
Four strikeouts.
Bases empty in the ninth.
Game.
Series.
Dynasty continues.
Mike: The Yankees finish it off exactly the way great teams do. Even after blowing the 3-0 series lead to 3-3, they never panicked in the biggest inning of the season.
Eight championships now.
Five straight World Series titles.
Six championships in seven seasons.
Quite simply, one of the greatest dynasties this fictional baseball universe has ever produced.
Chris: But Mike, I don't want Milwaukee walking off this field hanging their heads.
This franchise came into today 0-for-3 in the World Series.
They were down three games to none.
Everybody figured they'd roll over.
Instead?
They won three straight!
They shut out the Yankees in Game 6!
They erased a three-run deficit in Game 7!
They had the greatest dynasty in baseball absolutely terrified!
They came THIS close to completing the greatest comeback any of us would've ever seen!
Mike: They absolutely deserve credit.
They don't get the trophy.
They're now 0-4 in World Series appearances, which is heartbreaking.
But this wasn't another failed appearance. This was a statement that Milwaukee belongs among baseball's elite.
Jose Vargas was magnificent.
Danny Davila had a terrific series.
Their pitching gave the mighty Yankees everything they could handle.
They simply ran into a champion that found one more answer.
Chris: And that's baseball! One inning! One wild pitch! One big hit from Steve Carver, and history changes forever!
Instead of talking about the biggest collapse ever...
...we're talking about another Yankee championship parade!
Mike: Final score, Yankees 5, Brewers 3.
The Yankees are the 1943 World Series Champions, capturing their eighth title, their fifth consecutive championship, and their sixth in the last seven seasons. Milwaukee walks away without the trophy, but after pushing perhaps the greatest dynasty in baseball to the absolute brink, the Brewers leave with something just as valuable—respect. That comeback fell one game short, but it will be remembered as one of the gutsiest World Series performances this league has ever seen.

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