Boston Red Sox championship history and World Series appearances
The Boston Red Sox's 86-year World Series drought was one of the longest in MLB before it was broken 20 years ago. The Red Sox have established a winning culture since the reversal of The Curse in 2004, but Sox fans will watch the World Series from the outside for the sixth straight time. But six years is just a blip in time compared to the playoff misses of years past.
Are Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts the best leadoff duo ever?
Last week, Jayson Stark asked if Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts are the best one-two hitters in baseball history. It's a tricky question because there is no perfect way to compare leadoff duos objectively. WAR, which stands for Wins Above Replacement and is the baseball nerd's favorite catch-all statistic de jour, falls flat because it includes a defensive component. On-base Plus Slugging percentage (OPS) is an excellent filter for offense, but it doesn't tell the whole story—advanced stats like OPS+ and common sense reasoning help paint the entire picture.
Yankees should take a page from the 1996 team with a Game 3 shake up
Everyone has been quick to mention how the 1996 Yankees overcame a 2-0 deficit in the World Series to defeat the Braves, and while this team doesn’t have the same 26 players, there are some similarities. Both the ’96 and ’24 squads had to battle with Baltimore for the AL East, got out to hot starts before hitting a summer swoon and found their mojo in the postseason at the right time. Furthermore, both teams found themselves in the middle of long title droughts, and while we all know that the 1996 Yankees were the catalyst for a dynasty, this team has yet to prove itself.