The Brooklyn (proto-)Dodgers vs. the New York Yankees are in the World Series, just like nature intended. Of course, Yankee Stadium isn't in operation yet, and the Dodgers are still called the Robins. But Casey Stengel will be on hand, about which more below. This is another case of the Yankees coming in mashing and facing an NL opponent that is all about run prevention. Per recent tradition, the Yankees led the AL in basically every important offensive category, though they were only 3rd in drawing walks. On the other hand, they were up to 9th in stolen bases (half of them were by Oscar Charleston). Pitching-wise, though, things were not good. Rather than a mediocre staff, the Yankees seemed to have a downright bad one this year, finishing 7th in ERA, 7th in runs allowed, 8th in hits allowed, last in strikeouts, and only 7th in defensive efficiency on top of all that. Ick.
The Robins, for their part, were a bit better at batting than the Yankees were at pitching, finishing 4th-6th in the NL in most important categories. On the mound, they were as dominant as the Yankees were at the plate, finishing 1st in basically everything save walks (5th) and strikeouts (7th). In addition, they led the NL in defensive efficiency and zone rating. These are the kinds of matchups that tend not to go the Yankees' way.
The Robins were also remarkably consistent--they finished 95-67 for a .586 winning percentage. Their Pythagorean record was 96-66. They played at a .604 pace at home, .567 on the road. They played .590 in 1-run games, .590 vs. lefties and .585 vs. righties. They had a very hot April (19-7) a bad July (11-14) and were pretty consistently getting 15-17 wins and 10-12 losses the other months.
The Yankees, on the other hand, were very hot and cold. They also had a very hot April, but their May was worse than the Robins' July. They were under .500 in 1-run games. They certainly didn't back in, but they did feel much shakier than it seemed they should have. Some of that could have been injuries--Eddie Collins missed nearly 8 weeks with one thing and another, and Peckinpaugh missed about 10 weeks between a back injury and a knee injury. Losing them in conjunction with playing the bad-fielding Cobb and Heilmann really hurt our overall defense. And then Cobb hit under .200 in September. Not good.
At this point, I'd typically run through and compare the players and lineups. A cursory look at the stats, though, suggests that that'd just be a re-run of the 1918 preview, with the names changed. Casey Stengel is no Rogers Hornsby, of course, but he is the best player in the Series according to WAR in 1922. The next several players in the series sorted by WAR are all on the Yankees. Sorting by OPS+ tells a similar story and in theory accounts for the park effects. But Stengel and Wheat are basically the equal of anything the Yankees can put up against them, at least in 1922. Pitching-wise, as you'd expect, it's all Robins. Sorting by ERA+ shows Lefty Williams at the head of the class, and two of the three expected starters for the Yankees down at league average or worse. But there is some hope for the Pinstripes--the best pitcher on Brooklyn's staff by ERA+, Ballplayer Koch (I'll flame about that another time), went down with a torn UCL in September and is out. The other Brooklyn standouts by ERA+ had very limited usage. Still, every Brooklyn pitcher who's likely to get any innings in was better than practically any Yankees pitcher in ERA+ other than Vance and Ruether.
I want the Yankees to win, and if I was in Watsonian mode I'd write here about how this team plays well with their backs against the wall, and the spark of getting Peckinpaugh back and the prospect of getting Cy Williams back starting in Game 2 and the Yankees pitchers having something to prove combined with Ty Cobb's mortification at how bad he was in September will all make a difference. But I'm in Doylist mode here, and looking at the teams really is giving me 1918 World Series vibes, and the Cardinals beat the Yankees in 5 there. I've gotten better at matchups, and as always anything can happen in a short series, but I'm thinking Brooklyn in 5.
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