BotYD: Match-Up #3 – The 1999 Yankees @ The 1941 Yankees!

SSTN Admin
Jun 2, 2020
2 min read

Earlier this month, we introduced the next month-long series that I’ll be running, called Battle of the Yankee Decades! To see the introductory and explanation post for this series, check it out here.

Last week, I announced the rules, seeding, and team rosters for each of the sixteen teams that were added into the tournament. Check that out here.

We began our simulations last Friday, and continue the Sweet 16 today with the 1999 Yankees at the 1941 Yankees!

Match-Ups:

The great thing about Out of the Park Baseball: 21 is that in these simulations, you can easily see which team is favored (when the logos are different).

As you’d expect with a #12-seed against a #5-seed match-up, the higher seed is far and away the better team. The 1999 Yankees team holds an advantage in the first two spots in the line-up with Chuck Knoblauch and Derek Jeter, but the 1941 Yankees hold an advantage everywhere else.

Game One:

The 1941 Yankees were led to a win largely by their pitching, as starting pitcher Marius Russo went 7.0 IP allowing only 4 hits, 2 earned runs, 0 walks, while recording 10 strikeouts. Johnny Murphy finished the final two innings of the game, allowing a hit and a walk while recording another 2 strikeouts. Roger Clemens for 1999 on the other hand only managed 4 innings allowing 6 hits, 2 earned runs, 2 walks, and 2 strikeouts. His relievers did about the same.

On offense, nobody truly excelled, with Scott Brosuis recording 2 RBI’s for 1999 while Red Rolfe did the same for 1941. Of note however, Charlie Keller was ejected in the 3rd inning for arguing balls and strikes- the first of the tournament.

Game Two:

The 1941 Yankees took the second (and final) game of the series by a score of 7-4. The pitching in this game was adequate, but nobody truly excelled on either team.

The same could also be said for the 1999 team and their hitting, as three players collected extra-base hits in Jorge Posada (double), Chuck Knoblauch (triple), and Tino Martinez (home run), but the rest of the team didn’t muster much. The 1941 team was led by Red Rolfe, however, as he went 3-4 with a 3-run home run in the 5th. Johnny Sturm and Joe Gordon also collected 2 hits a piece.

Series Statistics and MVP:

Red Rolfe led the 1941 Yankees over the course of two games to this series win, as he took home the MVP honors while slugging 1.143. Joe DiMaggio and Bill Dickey didn’t do great (going 1-15 collectively), but the pitching was also solid and helped keep the teams close.

The 1999 Yankees only had Jorge Posada as a stand-out player, as the likes of Derek Jeter, Paul O’Neill, and Tino Martinez collectively went an abysmal 2-21. The pitching wasn’t much better, as even Andy Pettitte allowed 3 runs to score (unearned) in his sole inning of work with only 1 error to fault from Bernie Williams.