So much for that classic pitcher’s duel.
Game One of the World Series last night at AT & T Park in San Francisco in what was billed as a call to arms, turned into a mighty slugfest with the San Francisco Giants taking batting practice off of Cliff Lee and company to take the curtain raiser, 11-7
Tim Lincecum, who was toeing the rubber for the Giants, wasn’t much better; but the lanky right-hander, despite coughing up four runs and scattering eight hits, was good enough to earn the win.
With left-hander CJ Wilson taking to the hill tonight for Texas against the formidable Matt Cain (1-0 in the postseason, allowing no earned runs, while striking out 11 over 13 2/3 innings in two starts), the Rangers can take comfort in knowing one game does not a Series make. But then again, the winner of Game One of the World Series has won the championship 64 times or 61.0 percent of the time.
Before we settle in for Game 2, this is the perfect time to catch up on some World Series facts, feats, and historic firsts.
• Home teams have won 336 of the 609 World Series games played to a decision (55.2 percent).
• The home team has swept the first two games of a World Series 35 times.
• The home team has won the World Series opener 60 of 105 times (57.1 percent)
• The number of times a team with a 2-0 lead has won Game Three: 23
• The number of times a team with 2-0 lead has won World Series: 40
• There have been 55 extra-inning games in World Series history; 28 of those have been won by the American League, 24 by the National League, while three games ended in ties.
• Only three teams: the 1985 Royals, the 1986 Mets, and the 1996 Yankees have lost the first two games of a World Series at home only to storm back to win the Series.
Only two designated hitters have been awarded a World Series MVP: Paul Molitor in 1993 and Hideki Matsui in 2009.
• Detroit's Goose Goslin was the only player to have two-game ending hits in a World Series game with RBI singles in 1934 and 1935. In all, 54 World Series games have ended with a game winning hit.
• Only four teams in World Series history have won Game One and been swept in the next four: The 1915 Phillies, 1942 Yankees, the 1969 Orioles and 1983 Phillies
• On October 9, 1949, the lights were turned on (at 4:50 p.m) for the first time in World Series history in the top of the ninth inning during the fifth and final game at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn.
• The first night game in World Series history came on October 13, 1971 in Game four between the Baltimore Orioles and Pittsburgh Pirates.
• Beginning with the 1985 World Series between the Kansas City Royals and St Louis Cardinals, all games were held at night.
• The largest attendance for a World Series games was 97, 706 in Los Angeles during Game 5 of the 1959 World Series between the L.A. Dodgers and Chicago White Sox.
• The shortest length for a single game during the World Series was 1: 25 on October 14, 1908 (at Detroit) between the Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs.
• The longest World Series game (nine innings) was 4:19 on October 27, 2007 (in Colorado) when the Boston Red Sox beat the Colorado Rockies, 10-5.
• The longest game in extra innings was 5:41 (14 innings at Houston) when the Houston Astros lost to the Chicago White Sox, 7-5.
• Woodrow Wilson in 1915 was the first U.S. president to attend a World Series, when he threw out the first pitch of Game 2 in Philadelphia; George W. Bush was the last in 2001 during Game 3 in New York.
• The first MVP of a World Series wasn't awarded until 1955; Johnny Podres of the Brooklyn Dodgers was the first recipient, winning 2 complete games with a 1.00 ERA.
• The youngest recipient of a World Series MVP was Bret Saberhagen, age 21, who won Games Three and Seven of the 1985 World Series.
• Bobby Richardson of the New York Yankees was the only World Series MVP from a losing team during the 1960 World Series.
• Only three relief pitchers were World Series MVP's: Rollie Fingers of the Oakland Athletics (1974); John Wetteland of the N.Y Yankees (1996); and Mariano Rivera of the N.Y. Yankees (1999).
• Only two rookies have won a World Series MVP: Larry Sherry (1959) and Livan Hernandez (1997.)
• The oldest player in a World Series was Jack Quinn of the Philadelphia Athletics who was age 47 in 1930.
• The youngest player in a World Series was Fred Lindstrom of the New York Yankees who was a mere 18 years old and 10 months in 1924.
• The first designated hitter to bat in a World Series was Lou Piniella of the New York Yankees who doubled to right field during the second inning of Game One in 1976.
• Yogi Berra of the New York Yankees holds the World Series record with 259 at bats in 14 series and 75 games. Berra also holds the record of most career hits during 75 games with 71.
• Babe Ruth had the most hits during a four game World Series with 10 in 1928.
• During a seven game World Series-three players had 13 hits: Bobby Richardson of the N.Y. Yankees in 1964; Lou Brock of the St Louis Cardinals in 1968; and Marty Barrett of the Boston Red Sox in 1986.
• Paul Molitor had five hits for the Milwaukee Brewers, a World Series record, on October 12, 1982.
• Mickey Mantle has the most runs batted in at 40 in 12 Series and 65 games. Mantle also smacked the most home runs for a career with 18.
• On October 2, 1903, Patsy Dougherty of the Boston Red Sox became the first player to lead off a World Series game with a home run. Dustin Pedroia of the Boston Red Sox was the last player to accomplish such a feat on October 24, 2007 for the Boston Red Sox.
• The first radio broadcast of a World Series was provided by Grantland Rice in 1921 by telephone over a special three station hookup on KDKA (Pittsburgh), WJX (Newark) and WBZ (East Springfield, MA)
• NBC provided the first World Series telecast of a World Series in 1947 with commentators: Bob Stanton, Bill Slater and Bob Edge.
• The World Series is broadcast in 220 countries and territories and re-transmitted in 20 different languages.
-Bill Lucey
[email protected]
Source: Major League Baseball
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Posted by: New York Yankees tickets | 10/29/2010 at 02:02 PM