The Ultimate Yankee Series: Game Two
For those who may have missed previous posts, I’m running a simulation of a “what if” type of a World Series between the 1927 Yankees and the 1998 Yankees, perhaps the greatest teams of all-time. I’ll be using the Strat-O-Matic baseball game. Learn more about Strat at http://www.strat-o-matic.com/ .
Will this project “prove” who the better team was? Unlikely. Hopefully it will provide an interesting read while we await the heating up of the Hot Stove!
For the sake of this project, I’ll consider the 1998 team as the home team in games one, two, six and seven. The DH will be used when the ‘98s are home team.
GAME TWO Lineups: 1927 (Visitor) Earle Combs CF, Mark Koenig SS, Babe Ruth LF, Lou Gehrig 1B, Bob Meusel LF, Tony Lazzeri 2B, Joe Dugan 3B, John Grabowski C, Ray Morehart DH https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYY/1927.shtml
1998 (Home) Chuck Knoblauch 2B, Derek Jeter SS, Paul O’Neill RF, Bernie Williams CF, Darryl Strawberry LF, Tino Martinez 1B, Chilli Davis DH, Jorge Posada C, Scott Brosius 3B, https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYY/1998.shtml
Starting Pitchers: Urban Shocker (18-6, 2.84) for the ‘27s against Orlando Hernandez (12-4, 3.13) of the ’98 squad.
Summary: After El Duque set the ‘27s down in order in the first, the ‘98s wasted no time taking the lead when Chuck Knoblauch tripled to lead off the Yankees half of the inning and scored on a Paul O’Neill single. In the third the ‘98s broke the game open on an RBI double by Derek Jeter and a three-run homer by Bernie Williams, sending ’27 starter Shocker to the showers. Jeter added an RBI double in the seventh to take a 6-0 lead.
Hernandez worked in and out of trouble through the contest, stranding runners in scoring position in the second, fourth, fifth and sixth innings. The ‘27s finally got on the board in the eighth on a Lou Gehrig RBI triple.
Mariano Rivera hurled a scoreless ninth, and the ’98s evened the series with a 6-1 win.
1998 Yankees 6, 1927 Yankees 1. The Series is tied, one game apiece.
What went right: Hernandez allowed eleven baserunners in eight innings, but only one run…Knoblauch reached base three times and scored two runs from the leadoff spot…Jeter had two hits and two RBI.
What went wrong: Shocker was knocked out of the game in the fourth inning…Babe Ruth tried to score from second on a Tony Lazzeri single in the fourth but was thrown out by O’Neill.
Player of the game: El Duque. Holding that ’27 lineup in check is no easy thing. Hernandez was 9-3, 2.55 in his postgame career.
Final Thought: The ’98 pitching staff has done a good job of neutralizing the ‘27s offense thus far – two earned runs over two games.
What’s next: Back to “Yankee Stadium I”, where David Cone (20-7, 3.55) is matched against HOF lefthander Herb Pennock (19-8. 3.00). No DH in the next three games.
