Your Alt-1923 World Series Champions

 

Really, I should stop making predictions because they're always wrong.  It took the full seven games, but the New York Giants emerged triumphant in what would likely be considered one of the best World Series up to this point and also one of the most shocking. The 1923 Yankees, winners of a jaw-dropping 121 games during the regular season just couldn't get it done. They dropped the first two at home, came back to win the middle three at the Polo Grounds, and then dropped the last two at home again. Three of the Yankees losses were by one run. 

The Yankees' pitching, a strength all year, let them down. Vance had two clunkers and one good game. Faber had a great Game 3 and was gutting his way through Game 6 when injury forced him out. Mogridge blew a save in Game 7 and took the loss. 

That is not to say the Giants didn't earn their win, in that OOTP way. Torriente followed up his record-breaking season by hitting 5 home runs in the World Series for another record and the World Series MVP. High Pockets Kelly had 13 hits and ended at .406. Bucky Harris had several big hits and Lewis Hampton hit a grand slam in the 1st inning of Game 7 that threatened to end things right there before the Yankees fought back. 

From a Doylist point of view, this was something of a bullshit result. From a Watsonian one it's consistent with 1906 and 1914 (to name two World Series) where heavily favored teams were beaten. And indeed, the Watsonian point of view might continue to question whether the NL is simply a better league--the Yankees didn't get here by beating up on two terrible teams but they dominated everybody. In their four consecutive World Series appearances, the Yankees are 2-2, and if you add 1918 they're 2-3. I'd think they were favored in at least four of those five. 

But that's why we play the games, I suppose. The Yankees _still_ haven't won back-to-back championships, and it'll take until the end of 1925 at the earliest for them to do so. I think this team still has a way to go in its current championship window (especially since I have a bunch of early-30s stars on the team already), but I do wonder whether there'd be a bit of a whiff of disappointment around the team. The real-life Giants won four consecutive pennants 1921-1924, but went 2-2. Were people disappointed in them?

In any case, the Alt-1923 Giants have done something no other team was able to do this year:  win a season series against the New York Yankees.