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Cleveland Indians: 1926 American League Champions (6th pennant)
1919 1920 1923 1924 1925 1926
MIKE AND THE MAD DOG STYLE — POSTGAME REACT TO ANOTHER YANKEE HEARTBREAKER
MIKE:
“Ahhh-right, we’re back, Mike and the Mad Dog on the FAN, and DOG—DOG!—here we go again. Another October, another ALCS, and another DEVASTATING loss for the Yankees. I mean, how many times can you watch the SAME MOVIE? They made it close, sure, but the result? The SAME. Indians 4, Yankees 3, Cleveland takes the series, FOUR games to THREE.”
MAD DOG:
“MIKEY LISTEN—LISTEN—THE YANKEES CAN’T BEAT THIS TEAM! THEY CAN’T DO IT! FOUR STRAIGHT ALCS LOSSES TO THE INDIANS! SIX PENNANTS IN EIGHT YEARS FOR CLEVELAND! SIX, MIKE!! That’s a DYNASTY! That’s the BIG RED MACHINE! THAT’S THE ’90s BRAVES WITH BETTER FINISHING POWER!”
MIKE:
“It really is astounding, DOG. Every single year, you think the Yankees will finally break through, and every single year, the Indians punch ‘em right in the mouth. And today? I mean this was classic Indians baseball. Niccolai? COMPLETE GAME. Six hits. Three runs. Strikes out six. The guy was nails.”
MAD DOG:
“AND HOW ABOUT P. KRESSE, MIKE?! KRESSE! A DOUBLE, A HOMER, THREE RBI—HE BEAT THE YANKEES HIMSELF! And Lopez—LOPEZ!—wins the series MVP hitting .450! .450, MIKE! Didn’t need homers, didn’t need fireworks—just got on base, scored runs, made things happen! THAT’S CHAMPIONSHIP BASEBALL!”
MIKE:
“Meanwhile the Yankees—look, Johnson hits the homer, Rivera hits the double, Lord contributes—but DOG, you can’t score in the last four innings of a Game Seven. You can’t do that. Two guys left on base the entire game? Word to the wise: that means you weren’t putting ANY pressure on Cleveland.”
MAD DOG:
“BEEMAN, MIKE! Your guy on the mound—six innings, eight hits, five walks! FIVE WALKS! You’re lucky it was only four runs! This is Game Seven of the ALCS! You can’t be nibbling like that! You gotta ATTACK!”
MIKE:
“And every time the Yankees scratched a run across, DOG, Cleveland immediately answered. Second inning, boom—Indians score. Fourth inning—two more. Fifth inning—another. It was like the Yankees could never settle in. They were chasing the whole afternoon.”
MAD DOG:
“AND HERE’S THE THING, MIKE—NO ERRORS! BOTH TEAMS CLEAN! The Yankees didn’t boot the ball today—NO EXCUSES! They just got OUTPLAYED. OUT-HIT. OUT-PITCHED. OUT-EVERYTHING’D! The Indians are the better team, MIKE! They are just the BETTER TEAM!”
MIKE:
“Hard to argue. They’ve now ended the Yankees’ season four years in a row. That’s not luck. That’s not a fluke. That’s domination. Pure and simple domination by Cleveland.”
MAD DOG:
“And now they go to the WORLD SERIES AGAIN! The SIXTH time in EIGHT YEARS! This is an AL juggernaut! And the Yankees? Another long winter, MIKE. Another offseason asking, ‘How do we get past Cleveland?’”
MIKE:
“It’s a tough one, DOG. You fight all year, you push it to a Game Seven, you’re three runs on the board early—and you still can’t get over the hump. Devastating. Just absolutely devastating.”
MAD DOG:
“OH MIKE—THE YANKEES! THEY GAVE YOU HOPE! AND THEN WHAT DID THEY DO? THEY CRUSHED IT! AGAIN! ONLY THE YANKEES CAN BREAK HEARTS IN A YEAR WHERE THEY WEREN’T EVEN THE FAVORITES!”
MIKE:
“Alright, we’ll break it down more after the break. Cleveland to the World Series, Yankees going home. Back in a moment.”
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