Baseball What Ifs

[PM Nixon]

Seeing the NFL thread, I thought about my favorite sport, baseball. Try these:

Leyritz doesn't hit his HR against the Braves(my favorite sports team) in 1996, and the Yanks lose Game 4 to go down 3-1. Could they still win the series?


The Diamondbacks lose to St. Louis in the 2001 NLDS, which very nearly happened. What happens in that year's series? Do the Braves or the Cardinals represent the National League?

The Astros hold on and win Game Six of the 1986 NLCS against the Mets. Does Mike Scott defeat NY again in Game Seven? Keep in mind he shut them down throughout the series.

Recent one: Boston holds on in Game Seven against the Yankees and go on to face Florida. Who wins?

[JoeDonut]

I feel that if Leyritz didn't hit that home run the Braves won game 4 and would have won the series in 6 or 7 games. If that was the case the Braves would have clearly been the team of the 90's hands down rather than slightly behind the Yankees. I think that if they lost the series in 96 and George didnt tear the team apart during the following winter, then they lost in the #1 97 ALDS as in OTL, George would have lost faith in Joe Torre and begun to meddle in the team more as he is doing now. This could have prevented the Yankees from being as dominant in 98/99 and could have prevented the string of WS they won. Thinking about that it sure makes me happy that he hit the HR, (Yankee fan since 1985)

#2 In 2001 if any other team than the Diamondbacks faced the Yankees in 2001 i think that the Yanks would have won the series in 6 games. Without Shilling(sp?) and Johnson pitching out of their minds that series and shuting the hitters down the Yanks win their 4th straight. As good as the Braves were it seemed that the Yankees had their number in the series.

#3 At the time I was too young to remember so i cant really answer that one.

#4 A little too early to answer this one but if the Red Sox hold on; the curse of the Bambino would be debunked but i think that the Marlins would still win the world series as they had 3 key factors to winning in baseball, Pitching/Speed/Defense and the Sox couldnt beat them in a series much as the Yankees couldn't

[Xen]

1) Jeffrey Maier doesnt reach over the fence and grab the ball that is ruled a home run in the 1996 ALCS. Baltimore ends up winning the game and takes a 2-0 lead home to Baltimore. They win game 3 by the score of 4-2, but lose game four 1-0, in a dramatic at bat Rafael Palmeiro hits a ninth inning grandslam to win the series for Baltimore. The score of game five New York 4 Balitmore 5. The Orioles go on to face Atlanta in the 1996 World Series.


This could have happened, having a 2-0 lead in the best of four series going home to play, the momentum would have been Baltimores favor. But when a kid can reach over the fence and the ball is called a homerun, the Orioles realized they had to play the Umpires too, and ended up losing. Those of us who are Oriole fans havent forgotten, nor have we or will we forgive the umpire for this slap in the face.

2) After two days, players and owners agree to a solution on the 1994 baseball strike. The schedule is pushed back two games and resumed with amazing results. Tony Gwynn bats a .402 for the San Diego Padres, the San Francisco Giants end up becoming the hottest post strike team led by the bat of Barry Bonds, they go on to win 91 and lose 71 winning the NL West. The Expos continue their post allstar decline finishing one game behind Atlanta in the NL East, but good enough to take the NL Wild Card. The Reds win the NL Central.

In the American League the White Sox win the AL Central by 3 games,while the Yankees dominate the AL East, the Texas Rangers have a mediocre season going 83-79 winning the AL west and Cleveland takes the AL Wild Card.

The playoffs go like this: New York defeats Cleveland 3-1; Chicago defeats Texas 3-0
Atlanta defeats Cincinnati 3-2; San Francisco defeats Montreal 3-2

The NLCS San Francisco defeats Atlanta 4-2
The ALCS Chicago defeats New York 4-3

The World Series is won in six games by the San Francisco Giants

3) Bob Johnson becomes the first black owner in pro sports in 2001 when he buys the Montreal Expos, the next season he relocates the team to RFK Stadium in Washington DC and names the club the Nationals. Peter Angelos has puppies but is unable to successfully sue Johnson or MLB. This begins a major rivalry between the Nationals and Orioles. A brand new state of the art throw back stadium is scheduled to be opened in 2005 in downtown Washington.

4) The White Sox move to Tampa Bay in 1991, the team that had been in Chicago for nearly a century was in bad need of a stadium which the city refused to build. Angry the owner moved his franchise to Tampa to the brand new Thunderdome.

MLB and the NBA told him he couldnt own two teams in different markets, knowing he would never be able to move the Bulls to Tampa with him, he sells the team to a Chicago businessman.

5) After the Raiders moved back to Oakland the A's found their stadium being renovated and felt like guests in their own home. Upset by this they look at other markets, San Jose, Las Vegas, and San Antonio try to woo the A's, without success, New Orleans is able to aquire the franchise with a new stadium. The team becomes known as the Louisiana Athletics.

6) Roberto Clemente isnt killed in a plane crash, he continues to play greatly increasing his already unbelievable stats.

7) Shoeless Joe Jackson is given a years suspension in 1920, he returns to the majors the next year not missing a step. He is one of the initial players inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame alongside the likes of Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb.

Several years later, a similiar sentence is handed to Pete Rose, the great player is forced to resign as manager of the Reds in 1988 and is suspended from baseball for 12 months. He is allowed to return under the conditions he stop gambling, and is not allowed to manage anymore. The conditions said nothing of coaching, and Rose is hired as the Reds hitting coach in 1990 a position he holds until 1994 when he becomes the Reds Assistant General Manager in 1995, he works for ESPN for two years before retuning to uniform as the Braves hitting coach in 1998, after the 2001 he returns to the Reds as the firstbase coach. He has tried to get baseball to repeal the management ban but with no success. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1993.

8) Babe Ruth gets his wish to manage in the big leagues in the late 1930s as he is hired by the St Louis Browns. Ruth proves unable to turn the team around and resigns as manager due to health problems in 1942.

[PM Nixon]

Originally Posted by JoeDonut

I feel that if Leyritz didn't hit that home run the Braves won game 4 and would have won the series in 6 or 7 games. If that was the case the Braves would have clearly been the team of the 90's hands down rather than slightly behind the Yankees. I think that if they lost the series in 96 and George didnt tear the team apart during the following winter, then they lost in the #1 97 ALDS as in OTL, George would have lost faith in Joe Torre and begun to meddle in the team more as he is doing now. This could have prevented the Yankees from being as dominant in 98/99 and could have prevented the string of WS they won. Thinking about that it sure makes me happy that he hit the HR, (Yankee fan since 1985)

#2 In 2001 if any other team than the Diamondbacks faced the Yankees in 2001 i think that the Yanks would have won the series in 6 games. Without Shilling(sp?) and Johnson pitching out of their minds that series and shuting the hitters down the Yanks win their 4th straight. As good as the Braves were it seemed that the Yankees had their number in the series.

Hmmm....your analysis of number one is very feasible. It would have been difficult to have beaten Smoltz, Maddux, andGlavine in consecutive games.

As for two, I think if it came down to Braves-Yankees, the Yankees win in 5 or 6, if not in a sweep. Yet again speaking as a fan of the Braves, that was probably the WORST team in the Braves run of the 90s to 00s. If it's St. Louis...it may be a little trickier, but I still like the Yanks.

BTW, nice ATL of 1996 by Xen. But, I think the Yankees might have gotten one more game in New York. Alas, I could be wrong; if this occurs right after the debacle in Seattle in 1995, the Yankee run could be vastly different than in OTL.

[Raymann]

if either Boston or Chicago wins the world Series, this discussion should go straight to the ASB's

[cwf1701]

here one, prior to the start of the 1961 season, Mickey Mantle is injured in a traffic accident (DWI) and is injured til July/August 1961.

With Mantle out, would the Yankees or the Tigers (who won 100 games in 1961) have won the AL Championship?

and how would have the 1961 Detroit Tigers Done in the 1961 World Series if the yankees fell to 2nd or 3rd?

[AltSptHst]

Leyritz doesn't hit his HR against the Braves(my favorite sports team) in 1996, and the Yanks lose Game 4 to go down 3-1. Could they still win the series?

No, they wouldn't. The Braves repeat as champs.

The Diamondbacks lose to St. Louis in the 2001 NLDS, which very nearly happened. What happens in that year's series? Do the Braves or the Cardinals represent the National League?

The Cardinals, definitely. It should have been Cards-A's in 00 and 01. The A's would have won in 2000, and the Cards would have beaten them the next year. Then in 02, both teams lose in the LCS to the Angels and Giants, respectively.

The Astros hold on and win Game Six of the 1986 NLCS against the Mets. Does Mike Scott defeat NY again in Game Seven? Keep in mind he shut them down throughout the series.

Probably. The Astros should have won that series, but then Boston would have beaten them in five games and ended the curse.

Recent one: Boston holds on in Game Seven against the Yankees and go on to face Florida. Who wins?

The Sox in seven games!

Here is another one: In the 72 NLCS game 5, Bob Moose retires the side in the bottom of the ninth after Bench gets his homer off of Giusti. In the 14th inning, Stargell hits a two-run homer, and then Bob Veale gets the final out after the Reds had the bases loaded and two outs. The Pirates beat Cincy, then go on to defeat the A's and repeat. Clemente doesn't die, and the Bucs go on to win three more titles in the 70's and are known as the team of the 70's.