SERIES #6 - (4) 2001 MARINERS v (13) 1986 RED SOX

In this installment, we head to the Connie Mack Bracket for the match-up between the 4th seeded 2001 Seattle Mariners and the 13th seeded 1986 Boston Red Sox.  This is the lone representative for the Seattle franchise.  They are also the highest ranked team in the tournament not to win a World Series title.  This is one of four Boston teams to be represented.  Let's take a look at how the team's compare.

2001 Seattle Mariners

The 2001 Seattle Mariners tied the 1906 Chicago Cubs for most wins in a single season with 116.  They defeated a 102 win Oakland A's team in the West Division of the American League by a full 14 games.  In the playoff, they opened up by defeating the Cleveland Indians three games to two in the League Division Series to advance to the ALCS.  Unfortunately for the Mariners and their fans, that would be the end of the road as they were defeated handily by the New York Yankees four out of five games to end their magical run.

Ichiro Suzuki took the league by storm in 2001, leading the league in batting with a .350 mark while stealing 56 bases.  He won both the Rookie-of-the-Year and Most Valuable Player awards.  Veterans Bret Boone (.950 OPS, 37 HR, 141 RBI) and Edgar Martinez (.966 OPS, 23 HR, 116 RBI) also had big seasons.  The team offense as a whole led the American League in runs, batting average, on-base percentage and stolen bases.

The Mariners pitching was also excellent, leading the AL in both ERA an WHIP.  The staff was led by 38-year old Jamie Moyer (20-6 3.43 ERA) and second year starter Freddy Garcia (18-8 3.05 ERA).  Five starters actually won double-digit games.  The bullpen was also the best in the league.  Arthur Rhodes (8-0 1.72 ERA), Jeff Nelson (4-3 2.76 ERA) and Norm Charlton (4-2 3.02 ERA) provided the setup work.  Kazuhiro Sasaki recorded 45 saves as the closer.

1986 Boston Red Sox

For three consecutive batters in game 6 of the 1986 World Series, the Boston Red Sox were within one strike of winning their first series title since 1918.  In each instance, the result was a single by a New York Mets batter.  Everybody remembers Mookie Wilson's dribbler going between Bill Buckner's legs.  Boston lost that game, which forced a Game 7.  In the sixth inning of the deciding game, the Red Sox held a 3-0 lead, only to lose in the end 8-5.  It was one of the most agonizing defeats in the history of sports.

Boston made it to the series by going 95-66 for the best record in the American League.  They played a classic ALCS against the California Angels, eventually winning that series in seven games to advance to the Fall Classic.  The team was led by a 23-year old Roger Clemens, who won his first of seven Cy Young awards.  He also secured the MVP award in 1986 for a season that saw him go 24-4 with a 2.48 ERA while striking out 238 batters.  The offense was paced by Wade Boggs, who led the American League in hitting with a .357 average.

PREDICTION

The Red Sox have one thing going for them, and that's Rocket Roger.  But he will only be able to pitch in two games at most.  Seattle is just too strong in this spot.  It's a team with no real weakness.  We'll give the Sox one win with Clemens on the hill but that's it.  Mariners will advance.  MARINERS 3-1

Game 1

Fenway Park

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Seattle 2001 (1-0)	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	5	1		8	9	0
Boston 1986 (0-1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	1		3	6	0
	W: F. Garcia (1-0)   L: S. Crawford (0-1)

HR: E. Martinez (1, 9th inning off J. Sellers 0 on, 0 out)

Boston elected to throw a curveball right off the bat in the series, electing to start veteran Tom Seaver in game one over Roger Clemens.  If the future Hall-of-Famer could steal the opener, the Sox would be looking good heading into game two with the '86 MVP on the hill.  Unfortunately for the Red Sox, Freddy Garcia didn't want to cooperate.

Seaver, for his part, pitched quite well, throwing into the 7th while allowing only five hits and two runs.  The Sox could only muster a pair of hits off Garcia through the first six innings, but they tied the game up in the bottom of the 7th when Garcia finally started to tire.  But the Mariners struck for five big runs off of the Boston bullpen in the 8th to take control.  Garcia went the distance for the win.  Boston now needs Clemens in the second game at Fenway to avoid going in a 2-0 hole.

Game 2

Fenway Park

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10		R	H	E
Seattle 2001 (1-1)	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0		2	8	0
Boston 1986 (1-1)	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	1		3	10	0
	W: R. Clemens (1-0)   L: J. Nelson (0-1)

20-game winner Jamie Moyer had the unenviable task of dueling Roger Clemens in game two, but the crafty left-hander was up to the task.  Seattle struck first in this one, manufacturing a run in the 3rd to take an early lead.  But Boston came right back with one of their own in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game back up.  The Mariners pushed another run across in the 6th off of Clemens, only to see the Sox respond again in the bottom half with a run of their own.

Moyer pitched into the 8th, but after a leadoff double by Rich Gedman, he was relieved by Arthur Rhodes.  Wade Boggs was issued an intentional pass to setup the force play.  Both runners moved up a base when Bill Buckner grounded out for the first out of the inning.  With runners on second and third, Jim Rice was intentionally walked to load the bases.  Ed Romero was called upon to pinch-hit, and he laid down an attempted suicide squeeze bunt.  But the lead runner was gunned down at the plate to keep the game tied.  Dwight Evans struck out with the bases loaded to end the inning.

The game headed to the 9th still tied 2-2.

Neither team scored in the 9th to send the game to extra-innings.  Clemens, still on the hill for the Sox, struck out two batters in the 10th to keep the game tied.  Jeff Nelson relieved Rhodes for the M's.  Buckner opened the inning with a single.  After Jim Rice flew out to deep right, Dave Henderson stepped up and drilled a double to left, scoring Buckner and knotting the series at a game apiece.  Clemens goes the full ten innings, striking out 15 Seattle batters.  The series heads out West for the final games.

Game 3
Safeco Field

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Boston 1986 (1-2)	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0		3	8	0
Seattle 2001 (2-1)	0	0	0	0	1	3	0	0	X		4	7	0
	W: A. Sele (1-0)   L: B. Hurst (0-1) SV: K. Sasaki (1)

HR: R. Gedman (1, 1st inning off A. Sele 1 on, 0 out)
HR: D. Wilson (1, 6th inning off B. Hurst 2 on, 1 out)

Boston hit the ground running in this one.  Leadoff hitter doubled off Seattle starter Aaron Sele to open the game, then came home when second hitter Rich Gedman blasted a deep drive to right to give the Sox a super fast 2-0 lead.  Boston starter Bruce Hurst was crusing along through four, but was touched for a single run in the 5th to tie the game at one apiece.

Sele had settled down at this point.  He set the Sox down in order in the 6th.  The Mariners would take the lead for good in the bottom half of the inning when catcher Dan Wilson cracked a three-run homer.  Boston pushed a single run across in the 7th to cut the lead to one, but Arthur Rhodes and Kaz Sasaki closed out the final two innings to put the Mariners up two game to one in the series.  They look to close it out in game four.

Game 4
Safeco Field

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Boston 1986 (1-3)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0		2	7	0
Seattle 2001 (3-1)	2	0	6	2	0	0	0	1	X		11	11	0
	W: P. Abbott (1-0)   L: O. Boyd (0-1)

HR: D. Bell (1, 3rd inning off B. Stanley 2 on, 2 out), M. Cameron (1, 8th inning off S. Stewart 0 on, 1 out)

The Mariners would not be denied in game four.  They scored two in the first to take the early lead off Boston starter Oil Can Boyd, then plated six in the 3rd and two more in the 4th to seal the deal.  Seattle starter Paul Abbott was strong in this one, tossing the complete game, giving up only seven hits and two runs.

Series Recap
This one pretty much played out as expected.  Boston almost turned the series on it's head though in the first game by throwing Tom Seaver on the mound to start the opener.  The game was actually tied, at Fenway, heading into the 8th inning.  If the Sox could have pulled that one out heading into game two with Roger Clemens on the hill, the outcome of the series could have been different.  But as it was, they lost game one.  Clemens came back and won game two, but Seattle was just too much at home and closed the series out in four.  Freddy Garcia earned series MVP honors for going the distance in the opener.  The Mariners advance to play the 1954 Cleveland Indians in the second round

SERIES #5 - (6) 1965 DODGERS v (11) 2001 DIAMONDBACKS

We head back to the McGraw Bracket for a match-up between the 6th seeded 1965 Los Angelas Dodgers and the 11th seeded 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks.  This is one of three representatives from the Dodgers franchise, and the lone entry for Arizona.  Let's look at how the team's matchup.

1965 Los Angelas Dodgers
Most observers would remember the 1960s Dodgers teams for their pitching, and that observation would be spot on, especially in the case of the 1965 team.  The Dodgers ranked 8th out of 10 teams in the National League in runs scored in '65, scoring only 3.75 runs per game, more than a quarter of a run per game less than the league average.  Despite this fact, the team won 97 games to finish the year two games ahead of rival San Francisco, earning them their third World Series birth in seven years (they would actually go to the Fall Classic again in 1966 for four in eight).

This was a team built around their pitching, and in 1965 their pitching was sensational.  The Dodgers led the league with a remarkable team ERA of 2.81.  Their starters pitched 58 complete games, with 23 total shutouts as a team.  Future Hall-of-Famers Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale led the staff.  Koufax went 26-8 with a 2.04 ERA, completing 27 games and striking out a career best 382 batters in 335.2 innings of work.  His strikeout total was a modern day major league record at the time, and it stood until Nolan Ryan struck out 383 batters in 1973, besting Koufax by one.  The mark still ranks second on the all-time list to this day.  He won the Cy Young Award in 1965, garnering every single vote to win the award unanimously.  He finished second to Willie Mays in the MVP vote.  Drysdale, for his part, won 23 games with a 2.77 ERA.  He also hit seven home runs at the plate to help his cause.  Drysdale finished fifth in the MVP vote.

The Dodgers dispatched the Minnesota Twins in the World Series four games to three.  To nobody's surprise, Koufax was the MVP, tossing a shutout in the decisive game seven, allowing only one run in total in the series in 24 innings pitched.

2001 Arizona Diamondbacks
The 2001 version of the Diamondbacks is the lone representative from the Arizona franchise.  An expansion team in 1998, the team won 100 games in only their second year of existence in 1999.  But that team was defeated in the Division Series by the New York Mets.  After missing the playoffs in 2000, the team won their division in 2001 with a 92-70 and finished only one game back of having the best record in the National League.

After dispatching the St. Louis Cardinals in five games in the Division Series, the D-Backs made quick work of the Atlanta Braves in the NLCS, winning four of five to earn their first, and to date only trip to the World Series.  Awaiting them was the American League Champions, the New York Yankees.  In what would be a terrific Fall Classic, Arizona won game seven of the series in dramatic fashion.  Trailing 2-1 heading into the 9th inning, the Diamondbacks scored two runs off future Hall-of-Famer Mariano Rivera to win the game 3-2, earning the franchise the ultimate prize in only their fourth year of existence.

This was another team built on dominant pitching, at least the top two in the rotation.  Randy Johnson won his third consecutive Cy Young Award in 2001 (he would win it again in 2002), winning 21 games to only six losses and posting an ERA of 2.49.  His 372 strikeouts were the most of his illustrious career, and rank third all-time in a single season behind only Nolan Ryan and Sandy Koufax.  His strikeout per nine inning rate of 13.4 is the most of all-time.

Curt Schilling couldn't match Big Unit's production, but he had an incredible season nonetheless in 2001.  Finishing second in the Cy Young vote, Schilling won 22 games compared to six losses with a 2.98 ERA.  He also struck out more than a batter an inning, retiring 293 batters via the K in only 256.2 innings.  The tandem of Schilling and Johnson combined to win 43 of the teams 92 wins, or 46.7% of the team's victories.  Needless to say, the duo was paramount to the team's success in 2001.  The pair led the Diamondbacks to 98 wins in 2002, combining for 47 wins between them (47.9%), but Arizona fell to St. Louis in the first round of the playoffs that year.

PREDICTION
In a very intriguing match-up, this series should be dominated by pitching.  It's hard to bet against a team throwing Sandy Koufax out there two times in a five game series, but the Diamondbacks can actually match the pitching prowess of the Dodgers in this one.  Factor in the fact Arizona is better offensively and I see an upset in the making here.  Don't be surprised if the D-Backs pull off the surprise.  DIAMONDBACKS 3-2

Game 1
Chase Field

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Los Angeles 1965 (0-1)	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0		2	9	0
Arizona 2001 (1-0)	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	1	X		3	5	1
	W: C. Schilling (1-0)   L: S. Koufax (0-1)

What promised to be a pitchers duel turned out to be just that as both starters went the distance for their respective teams.  In the end, Curt Schilling out-dueled Sandy Koufax to take the 3-2 victory in game one of the series.  Luis Gonzalez doubled in the bottom half of the 8th inning, driving in Junior Spivey in what would be the game-winner.  Koufax, for his part, only allowed five hits while striking out nine, but timely hits, including a 3rd inning two-run homer by Spivey, proved to be his downfall.  The teams are back at it tomorrow with another marvelous pitching matchup scheduled - Randy Johnson versus Don Drysdale.  Tough task for the Dodgers trying to avoid going down 2-0 heading home.



Game 2
Chase Field

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Los Angeles 1965 (1-1)	3	0	2	1	0	0	1	0	0		7	14	1
Arizona 2001 (1-1)	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	3	0		5	6	2
	W: D. Drysdale (1-0)   L: R. Johnson (0-1) SV: R. Perranoski (1)

Knowing they needed this win in the worst way, the Dodgers responded, scoring three runs in the 1st inning off Arizona starter Randy Johnson, a lead they would never relinquish.  Johnson did not have his good stuff in this one, lasting only four innings while allowing ten hits and six runs to cross the plate.  His counterpart, Don Drysdale, went eight strong, allowing only six hits and three earned runs while striking out ten D-Backs.  Maury Wills was the catalyst for Los Angelas, going 4-5 with two runs scored and two stolen bases.  The series heads to LA for the next three.



Game 3
Dodger Stadium

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Arizona 2001 (2-1)	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	6		8	13	0
Los Angeles 1965 (1-2)	3	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0		4	7	1
	W: G. Swindell (1-0)   L: R. Perranoski (0-1)

Los Angelas jumped out again in this one with three in the 1st off Diamondbacks starter Albie Lopez.  They scored another in the 4th and took a 4-1 lead into the 8th.  Arizona manufactured a run in that inning when Reggie Sanders singled home Mark Grace to cut the lead to two runs.  The Dodgers were set down in order in the bottom of the inning by Greg Swindell, and the game headed to the 9th with LA up 4-2.

Ron Peranowski had relieved Dodgers starter Claude Osteen the inning prior by getting the last out of the inning to preserve the lead.  That would be the only out he would get in the game.  Peranowski opened the 9th by giving up back-to-back singles to Craig Counsell and Jay Bell.  He followed those up with a walk to Luis Gonzalez to load the bases.  The next batter, Matt Williams, proceeded to smack a bases clearing double to give the D-Backs a 5-4 lead with nobody out in the inning.  Bob Miller relieved Peranowski, and he opened up by giving up back-to-back doubles to Mark Grace and Reggie Sanders.  By the time the inning was over, Arizona had plated six runs to take a commanding 8-4 lead.  Miguel Buatista retired the Dodgers in order in the bottom of the 9th, and the Diamondbacks had stolen a game away from home.  It's do-or-die for Los Angelas now as they now trail two games to one.

Game 4
Dodger Stadium

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Arizona 2001 (2-2)	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0		1	5	1
Los Angeles 1965 (2-2)	2	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	X		5	10	0
	W: S. Koufax (1-1)   L: R. Johnson (0-2)

Game four featured the dream pitching match-up of Sandy Koufax against Randy Johnson.  Both pitchers came into the game on short rest.  Koufax had pitched eight inning in game one.  He enters the game on three days rest.  Johnson was the game two starter for the Diamondbacks, but he only went four innings in that affair and is back in game four on only two days rest.


The Dodgers once again jumped out to an early lead, plating two runs in the bottom of the 1st.  The game remained 2-0 until the 5th when Arizona pushed a run across against Koufax.  Johnson began to struggle in the 6th.  Jim Gilliam opened the inning with a single.  Willie Davis was then hit by a pitch, followed by a walk to Ron Fairly to load the bases.  With the game on the line, Johnson just didn't come through, giving up a double to Lou Johnson, clearing the bases and giving the Dodger all the runs they would need.  Koufax cruised the rest of the way, allowing only five hits while striking out 15 D-Backs to tie the series at two games apiece.


Game 5
Dodger Stadium

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Arizona 2001 (2-3)	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0		2	7	0
Los Angeles 1965 (3-2)	0	2	0	0	8	1	0	0	X		11	15	0
	W: D. Drysdale (2-0)   L: C. Schilling (1-1)

The fifth and final game of the series started out similarly to the previous three games, with the Dodgers jumping out to an early lead.  This time it was a two run blast by Lou Johnson in the 2nd inning which got the scoring started.  Arizona came back with one of their own in the 5th to get within one, but that was as close as this one would get.  Los Angelas exploded for eight runs in their half of the 5th and never looked back, eventually winning the finale 11-2 and advancing into the next round of the tournament.  Don Drysdale went the distance for his second win in the series.

Series Recap
This series promised to be about pitching, and although at times it was good, the bats for each team were on display as well.  Only game one could be considered a pitchers duel, a 3-2 victory by Arizona.  In each of the other four games, the winning team had at least 10 hits.  The Diamondbacks gave Los Angelas all they could handle in the series, but in the end it was the Dodgers bats that sealed the series victory.  They averaged nearly six runs a game in the series after averaging less than three runs per game in the 1965 season.  Lou Johnson was the offensive star for the Dodgers, going 8-21 with a pair of homers and eight RBI.  Maury Wills, Jim Gilliam and Ron Fairly all hit above .400 for the series.  Don Drysdale though is selected as the series overall MVP for his two wins, including a complete game victory in the finale.  He also knocked a home run in that game for good measure.  Up next for the Dodgers is a date in round #2 with the winner of the first round match-up between the #3 seeded 1969 New York Mets and the #14 seeded 1984 San Diego Padres.

SERIES #4 - (2) 1998 YANKEES v (15) 2008 RAYS

Back to the American League, this time in the Earl Weaver Bracket for the #2 versus #15 match-up pitting the 1998 New York Yankees against the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays.  This is the lone representative for the Tampa franchise.  Let's take a look at how the two stack up.

1998 New York Yankees


Some experts like to say that the 1998 Yankees squad was the best team in the past half-century.  You would be hard pressed to argue against them.  This Yankees team set a franchise record for wins with 114, losing only 45.  For a franchise that has won 27 World Series titles to go along with 40 League Pennants, to set a record of any sort is quite an accomplishment.  They finished 22 games ahead of their closet rival.  This particular team also breezed through the postseason on their way to the title, going 11-2 and sweeping the San Diego Padres in the Fall Classic.


The offense was dynamic, as Bernie Williams (.997 OPS, 26 HR, 97 RBI), Tino Martinez (.860 OPS, 28 HR, 123 RBI), Derek Jeter (.864 OPS, 19 HR, 84 RBI) and Paul O'Neill (.882 OPS, 24 HR, 116 RBI) all had big seasons.  The team led the league in runs, scoring a whopping 964 times.

David Wells pitched a perfect game on May 17 against the Minnesota Twins that year.  He won 18 games on the season.  David Cone was the "ace" of the stafff, going 20-7 with a 3.55 ERA.  Mariano Rivera was himself, collecting 36 saves to go along with a 1.91 ERA.

2008 Tampa Bay Rays
A decade after the Yankees dominance, along came a Tampa team searching for its first postseason birth in franchise history.  The team actually came into existence in 1998, and had never even had a winning record in their ten years before 2008.  A couple things happened to turn things around.  First, several young players started to become relevant.  Carl Crawford, BJ Upton, Evan Longoria were all home-grow talents that finally began realizing their potential.  On the mound, Scott Kazmir, Matt Garza and Edwin Jackson all came into the fold via trade.  The team went 97-65, winning the AL East.  After defeating the White Sox and Red Sox in the ALDS and ALCS respectively, they fell in the WS in five game to the Philiadelphia Phillies.

The other thing that made this franchise relevant was the hiring of manager Joe Maddon at the beginning of the 2006 season.  Maddon had been a career minor leage skipper until Rays management gave him his shot with the big club.  After a couple of seasons of growing pains, Maddon began working his magic in 2008.  He had managed several of the young players in the minors, and his influence on them developing cannot be overlooked.  Since the Rays went to the World Series in '08, the team has never failed to finish a season with a winning record, going to the postseason in three of the next five years.


PREDICTION
As exciting as the young Rays were in 2008, this is a horrible spot for them.  The 1998 Yankees squad is considered one of the favorites to take down the entire tournament.  No reason to believe they cannot dispatch Tampa here with ease.  YANKEES 3-0

Game 1
Tropicana Field

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
New York (A) 1998 (1-0)	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		1	4	0
Tampa Bay 2008 (0-1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	3	0
	W: D. Cone (1-0)   L: M. Garza (0-1)

This game was all about David Cone, who scattered three hits, walked none and struck out nine en route to a gem of a complete game shutout performance.  Only one Rays hitter made it to second base.  It was about as dominating a pitching performance you could put together.  A Chad Curtis solo blast in the 2nd inning was all the offense needed for the Yankees as they win 1-0 and go up 1-0 in the series.

Game 2
Tropicana Field

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
New York (A) 1998 (2-0)	0	1	0	3	1	0	0	1	0		6	9	1
Tampa Bay 2008 (0-2)	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0		2	9	1
	W: D. Wells (1-0)   L: S. Kazmir (0-1)

David Wells accepted the challenge from teammate David Cone and came out firing in this one.  While he didn't quite match the mastery of Cone's game one performance, Wells still went the distance, allowing only two runs while striking out 14 Tampa Bay batters.  He actually started the game by striking out the side, and closed it out by striking out the side in the 9th.  This game was all about the swing and the miss as New York hitters also struck out 14 times.  The Rays didn't plate their first runs of the series until the bottom half of the 6th inning, going 14 straight scoreless to start the series.  Not good.  Series shifts to the Bronx for game three where the Yankees will look to close it out.

Game 3
Yankee Stadium

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Tampa Bay 2008 (0-3)	0	1	0	0	0	1	2	0	1		5	8	1
New York (A) 1998 (3-0)	1	1	3	0	0	2	0	6	X		13	15	3
	W: A. Pettitte (1-0)   L: J. Shields (0-1) SV: R. Mendoza (1)

The Bombers broke out their bats in this one, rapping out 15 hits and 13 runs and sending New York into the second round with a 13-5 victory over the Rays.  Tampa actually found their bats as well, knocking three HRs, but it wasn't nearly enough.  Andy Pettitte pitched into the 8th inning to pickup the win.

Series Recap
The 1998 Yankees were never challenged in this match-up, never trailing and dominating the Rays on all fronts.  They outscored Tampa 20-7 in the three game series sweep.  The Rays struck out 29 times against Yankee hurlers.  If not for their three HRs in the finale, their offense would have been historically pathetic.  David Cone gets the nod as MVP for his game one gem.  Chad Curtis garnered consideration, going 3-7 with five runs, a homer and six walks.  Bernie Williams also contributed, hitting .455 with a 2B, 3B and three walks.  It's onto round #2 for the Bombers as they face the winner of the match-up between the 8th seeded 1993 Toronto Blue Jays and the 9th seeded 1974 Oakland A's.