1961 New York Yankees

yankees generic

The 1961 New York Yankees take the field at the Great Teams Season with an 8 game lead on the Detroit Tigers and a record of 109-53. Most famous for the chase to break Babe Ruth’s home run record of 60 in a single season, Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle led the Yankees, who led the league in home runs, hitting 61 and 54 respectively, with the former breaking the record. The team also dominated in the World Series defeating the Cincinnati Reds 4 games to 1 and are often granted the unofficial title of the Greatest Baseball Team in History and they are looking to make that title official in the Great Teams Season.

Starters:

C: Elston Howard
1B: Bill Skowron
2B: Bobby Richardson
SS: Tony Kubek
3B: Clete Boyer
OF: Yogi Berra
OF: Mickey Mantle
OF: Roger Maris

4 Man Starting Rotation

Whitey Ford
Bill Stafford
Ralph Terry
Rollie Sheldon

1954 Cleveland Indians

indians generic

In 1954, the Cleveland Indians earned 111 victories and the all-time record for winning percentage by an American League team at .721. During the season they compiled two different 11 game winning streaks which was not seen again in the majors for the next 60 years. With a solid pitching staff that led the league in team ERA and most complete games, the heavily favored Indians were swept in the World Series by Willie Mays and the NY Giants 4 games to none. The 1954 Cleveland Indians come into the Great Teams Season looking to capture a championship that has eluded the franchise since the 1948 Indians bested the Boston Braves.

Starters:

C: Jim Hegan
1B: Vic Wertz
2B: Bobby Avila
SS: George Strickland
3B: Al Rosen
OF: Al Smith
OF: Larry Doby
OF: Dave Philley

4 Man Starting Rotation

Early Wynn
Mike Garcia
Bob Lemon
Art Houtteman

1946 Boston Red Sox

red sox generic

The 1946 Boston Red Sox reach the Great Teams Season by bearing a .675 winning percentage with 104 wins and only 50 defeats. Hall of Fame left fielder Ted Williams, back from serving in World War II, had the first of his 2 MVP seasons leading the league with a .342 batting average, 38 home runs, and 123 RBI’s. Despite the best record in the majors, the Red Sox suffered from the Curse of the Bambino, and lost the World Series in Enos Slaughter’s “Mad Dash” of the 7^th game of the World Series to the Cardinals. The 1946 Red Sox are looking for redemption in the Great Teams Season.

Starters:

C: Hal Wagner
1B: Rudy York
2B: Bobby Doerr
SS: Johnny Pesky
3B: Pinky Higgins
OF: Ted Williams
OF: Dom Dimaggio
OF: Leon Culberson

4 Man Starting Rotation

Tex Hughson
Dave Ferriss
Mickey Harris
Joe Dobson

1942 St. Louis Cardinals

cardinals generic

The 1942 St. Louis Cardinals qualify for the Great Teams Season with a 106 wins and 48 losses in the regular season, earning them a National League Pennant, and a World Series victory over the always dominate New York Yankees who they defeated 4 games to 1. Behind MVP Pitcher Mort Cooper who had a 1.78 ERA, 22 wins, and 152 strikeouts the 1942 Cards are looking to show why they should be considered the greatest team of all time.

Starters:

C: Walker Cooper
1B: Johnny Hopp
2B: Jimmy Brown
SS: Marty Marion
3B: Whitey Kurowski
OF: Stan Musial
OF: Enos Slaughter
OF: Terry Moore

4 Man Starting Rotation

Mort Cooper
Johnny Beazley
Max Lanier
Ernie White

1909 Pittsburgh Pirates

pirates generic

The 1909 Pittsburgh Pirates arrive into the Great Teams Season carrying a 110-42 record, a World Series victory over the Detroit Tigers, and the highest winning percentage of any team to ever win the fall classic. The Pirates are led by first class Hall of Famer Honus Wagner who, in 1909, led the league in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and RBI’s. In the year that saw the Pirates first play at Forbes Field, the 1909 Bucs are looking to destroy all comers and be crowned champions once again.

Starters:

C: George Gibson
1B: Bill Abstein
2B: Dots Miller
SS: Honus Wagner
3B: Jap Barbeau
OF: Tommy Leach
OF: Fred Clarke
OF: Chief Wilson

4 Man Starting Rotation

Vic Willis
Howie Camnitz
Nick Maddox
Lefty Leifield

1906 Chicago Cubs

cubs generic

The 1906 Chicago Cubs come into the Great Teams Season sporting the highest winning percentage, .763, in modern MLB history winning 116 games with 36 losses and 2 ties in a 154 game season. The team led the league by wide margins in both runs for and runs against as well as leading in team ERA. The 1906 Cubs feature 4 Hall of Famers: Frank Chance, Johnny Evers, Joe Tinker, and Mordecai Brown. As great as this team was however, they were upset in the World Series by the “Hitless Wonder” Chicago White Sox 4 games to 2 and come into the Great Teams Season hoping to prove they are the Greatest Team to ever take the field.

Starters

C: Johnny Kling
1B: Frank Chance
2B: Johnny Evers
SS: Joe Tinker
3B: Harry Steinfeldt
OF: Jimmy Sheckard
OF: Jimmy Slagle
OF: Frank Schulte

4 Man Starting Pitcher Rotation

Mordecai Brown
Jack Pfiester
Ed Ruelbach
Carl Lundgren

GTS-1962 San Francisco Giants at 1946 Boston Red Sox

Felipe Alou

1962 San Francisco Giants-4
1946 Boston Red Sox-5

Down 1 to nothing in the bottom of the 4th inning, the Boston Red Sox came alive with 4 runs to take a commanding lead thanks to RBI singles by Pesky and Doerr and and 2 run homer to left center by Leon Culberson. They added the winning run in the following frame after Pinky Higgins was driven home by Wally Moses after a lead off triple. The Giants tried to make the comeback after Felipe Alou, who earned player of the game status, knocked a three run homer to account for all of the Giants RBI’s on the day. He also went 2 for 3 with a triple, a walk, and was hit by a pitch. Despite his excellent showing the rest of the team could not get it done and the Giants get the one run loss with 4 runs on 11 hits without an error. Also with zero errors, the Red Sox capture the win with 5 runs on 15 hits.

Notes: Played at Soothing Meadows on 24 Aug 18

GTS-1975 Cincinnati Reds at 1942 St. Louis Cardinals

Enos Slaughter

1975 Cincinnati Reds-3
1942 St. Louis Cardinals-4

While both teams garnered the same number of hits, it was the Cardinals who were able to make them count just a little bit more. Three runs by the Reds in the third saw Cincinnati take the lead, but St. Louis piled up a 4 run 5th that saw them go ahead. Both teams provided nothing throughout the rest of the day, and the Cards took the win. The Reds scored 3 runs on 8 hits without an error, but the Cardinals scored 4 runs on 8 hits and a single error to take the game. Enos Slaughter gets the game ball going 2 for 3 with the game winning RBI.

Notes: Played at Red Canyon Oct 14

GTS-1942 St. Louis Cardinals at 2001 Seattle Mariners

Walker Cooper

1942 St. Louis Cardinals-3
2001 Seattle Mariners-1

The Mariners jumped out to an early 1 run lead in the second after a Guillen single, but after that, the game’s hero, Mort Cooper goose egged Seattle throwing a complete game with 7 hits, 7 strikeouts and 3 walks. St. Louis tied things up in the 4th, and added a winning run in the 7th after a Stan Musial RBI double. The Cards added a bit of insurance in the 8th, but it was not needed as Cooper’s pitching effectively shut down the Mariners. St. Louis gets with W with 3 runs on 12 hits. Seattle gets the L with 1 run on 7 hits. Both teams did not commit a single error in the contest.

Notes: Played at Soothing Meadows on 17 Aug 18

CC: True Championship of 2011 Game 4

Nobuhiro Matsuda

2011 St. Louis Cardinals-5
2011 Fukuoka Softbank Hawks-14

Nobuhiro Matsuda does it again, even more impressively this time, in front of a sold out 38,000+ crowd in the Fukuoka Yahuoku! Dome. The Pride of Japan Hawks scored in every half of their inning for the first 5 frames on their way to a 14-5 rout over the Americans. Matsuda went 2 for 3 with 2 homers, 4 runs thanks to reaching on a walk and an error, a stolen base and 5 RBI’s. The Cardinals pitching staff was outmatched and overworked as the bullpen started pitching in the second and saw three relievers knocked out of the game before Lance Lynn settled things down in the last 3 and a third innings. The damage was already done however as the Hawks scored 14 runs on 16 hits without and error and the Cardinals scored 5 runs on 11 hits and 2 errors.

Notes: Played at Soothing Meadows on 15 Mar 19