World Series 2016

I enjoyed this World Series more than most recently because of the creativity of the managers:  Terry Francona for the Indians and Joe Maddon for the Cubs.  Neither was afraid to use relief pitchers as much as they thought they needed to, regardless of the opinions of others.  If the Cubs had lost no doubt Maddon would have been roundly criticized for bringing in Chapman when he did in the seventh game, as Chapman gave up three runs, allowing the Indians to tie the score.  Maddon even tried the squeeze, practically extinct in the major leagues.  The seven games often resembled chess matches, with moves and countermoves by both managers.  And kudos also to Theo Epstein, who staffed the Cubs with human beings and not just bundles of statistics.

The TV coverage of the Series was awful, not surprising since the producer was, once again, Pete Mecheska of Fox Sports, who is on record is saying the baseball is too boring to just show what's going on on the field so they have to show the tense fans over and over again (see my post of Oct. 30, 2013).  It seemed to me that there were more shots of the fans, especially in the later innings, than there were shots of the game!  TV announcers Joe Buck and John Smoltz added little to the game so I spent most of my time listening to the games on the radio, this year on Bloomberg radio, 1130, where Aaron Boone and Dan Shulman allowed one to "see" more than one could on TV.

Many people have forgotten, or never knew, that some consider that the 1908 Cubs did not belong in the World Series, after they won a one-game playoff with the New York Giants that became necessary because of the famous “Merkle boner.”  On Sept. 23 the Giants, playing the Cubs, had Merkle on first base and Moose McCormick on third with two out in the bottom of the ninth and the score tied 1-1.  A winning hit to the outfield by Al Bridwell scored the runner on third and fans swarmed onto the field, blocking the basepaths and sending the players to the clubhouse in center field at the Polo Grounds.  The Cubs quickly realized that Merkle had never touched second and Cubs second baseman Johnny Evers retrieved what he said was the game ball and tagged second, the run not counting because of the force-out.  It was finally ruled that if the two teams were tied at the end of the season the game would have to be replayed.  The Giants and the Cubs were tied and the Cubs won the playoff game 4-2 on Oct. 8, went to the World Series and won.