[Highlander]

The 2016 Cubs vs. The 1986 Mets

Game 1- Lenny Dykstra got 2 hits, 2 runs and stole 3 bases while Sid Fernandez held the Cubs to 1 run over his 8 innings to lead the Mets to a 3-1 win. Dwight Gooden, of all people, got the save. Kyle Hendricks pitched well for Chicago, giving up just 1 earned run, but he took the loss.

Game 2- This game was a 1-1 pitchers duel between Jon Lester of the Cubs and Ron Darling of the Mets….until the 8th inning, when the Cubs defense fell apart leading to 2 unearned runs. That was all that was needed and the Mets went on to another 3-1 win to take a 2-0 lead in the series.

Game 3- The Mets were down 4-1 heading into the 9th inning. John Lackey was rolling for the Cubs….but that all came to an end, as the Mets put up 5 runs in the top of the 9th, highlighted by a bases clearing triple by Mookie Wilson. Jesse Orosco pitched 2 innings to get the win for NY as they take a commanding 3-0 lead in the series.

Game 4- Kyle Hendricks got the start for the Cubs after a great one in a losing effort in game 1. He came through again with a strong out that was just enough to keep the Cubs alive. Kris Bryant’s 2-run triple got the scoring going for the Cubs and they went on to win the game over Sid Fernandez, 5-3.

Game 5- Jon Lester pitched a 4-hit shutout for the Cubs as they continued to rally back against the Mets. Dexter Fowler hit 2 triples to help lead the Cubs to a 4-0 win over Ron Darling and the Mets to send this series to game 6.

Game 6- It’s not often a team goes out to a 3-0 lead in a series and it ends up going 7 games. This is going to be one of those rare times, however, as the Mets’ bats have turned ice cold all of a sudden. John Lackey followed up Lester’s shutout with one of his own as the Cubs won this game 2-0. Bob Ojeda took the loss for the Mets.

Game 7- Kyle Hendricks went to the mound for the Cubs in this one to try to extend the Mets’ scoreless streak. If you only looked at his earned runs, you’d think he did it…..but the Cubs defense was the story in this game as 4 errors, including one by Hendricks himself, led to 4 unearned runs and a 4-3 win for the Mets. Wally Backman got 3 hits for NY which helped him earn the series MVP as the Mets move on to the World Series.



1939 Yankees vs. 1948 Indians

Game 1- The Yankees struck first with 2 unearned runs in the 1st off of Bob Feller and with Marius Russo on the mound, it seemed like the Indians were in trouble. However, they scraped across a single run in the 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 7th while Bob Feller shut things down. Cleveland won it 4-1 as their version of Joe Gordon got off to a hot start going 4-4 with a HR and 3 RBI.

Game 2- After each team scored a single run in the 1st, the Yankees exploded for 8 runs in the 3rd off of Satchel Paige. He walked 5 to help their cause. The Yankee bats just kept hitting after that and went on to a 14-3 win with Lefty Gomez getting the victory. Red Rolfe had the best of a number of strong games for NY as he went 2-5 with 3 runs and 4 RBI.

Game 3- It was Red Ruffing for NY with Bob Lemon finally getting his first start after an incredible ALDS performance. Bob wasn’t bad, but he didn’t have the magic he had against the Astros as he gave up 4 runs in his 9 innings. Ruffing was up to the task and only allowed 1 run in his 8.2 innings as the Yankees took a 2-1 lead in the series with a 4-1 win. Babe Dahlgren and Charlie Keller scored all 4 runs for the Yankees with each getting 2 hits.

Game 4- In a rematch of game 1, it was Marius Russo against Bob Feller and neither was on their game as there were 5 HR hit in this game. The two Joe Gordons accounted for 3 of them, with 2 for the Cleveland version. However, the other HR were hit by George Selkirk and Marius Russo himself as the Yankees went on to a 4-3 win to get to within one game of the World Series.

Game 5- Lefty Gomez pitched his second great game of the series as he went all 9 for a 4-hit shutout to clinch a spot in the World Series for the 1939 Yankees. New York knocked around Satchel Paige again for 5 runs in 6 innings with Joe Gordon and Babe Dahlgren each knocking in 2. In the end, it was a 5-0 win and Lefty Gomez was named series MVP.


Well, the New York Subway System started back in 1904, so it was plenty of time to make this a true Subway Series. It's the 1939 Yankees and the 1986 Mets. I saw these two teams as two of the top contenders to win this whole thing, but wasn't sure how they'd do in 1910. I guess they did alright! It should be an interesting series as both teams are strong all around but the Mets seem to have the pitching advantage while the Yankees have the stronger lineup. After I said that, I went and checked the actual numbers for the season.....it ends up that the Mets scored the most runs in the NL at 698 while the Yankees were 2nd in the AL at 679. The Mets were tied for 2nd in runs against at 522 and the Yankees were 2nd in the AL, only giving up 476. So it actually worked out the opposite of what I said. That's why we play the games!