1926 Yankees
Sports are full of things that seem meaningful but really are not: bold, profound-sounding statements that by giving some slice of the past are supposed to predict the future or place certain players or teams into categories, like Hall of Fame or Best Team Ever. Tidbits like “teams that win the first two games win the series x percent of the time,” (of course they do, they’re usually the better team in the first place), or “Only five players in MLB history had x number of hits, y stolen bases and z hit by pitches,” with the reasoning that one who is otherwise not in the class of the other four should be considered as such.
But applied properly, items like “the last time such-and-such happened” speaks to how true the idea is that you can see something new just about every time you watch a game. Who would have thought, for example, that the last time the Yankees won the first four series of the season — just four series! — was 1926. They still weren’t a dominant force in the league, having won just one title (1923). It was the first year that Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig were teammates together at the start of the season, and that team went on to win “only” 91 games, a nice total but one of the lowest ever for a Yankees pennant winner.
That team, of course was just one year away from being the outfit that some still consider the greatest in baseball history, and the starting eight and five regular pitchers were part of both squads. The ‘26 Yanks actually won the first five series, then promptly lost three straight to the Philadelphia A’s, who would finish third, just six games out.
Further, 52 Yankees teams have won more than 91 games, 48 of them after 1923. Yet none of them were able to win the first four series outright. That’s almost 90 years ago. Some of the best teams ever, the aforementioned ‘27 squad, 1939, 1953, 1961 and 1998 teams among them, never did that. Fans may recall that the ‘98 Yanks lost four of their first five games and were 3.5 games out of first (!) before ripping off 25 of the next 29 and never looked back.
It doesn’t guarantee anything, but I like the tie to history that “the last time” notes suggest. And the more basic and apples-to-apples the fact — “won the first four series,” as opposed to “won 10 games started by lefties in day games,” the better the connection.
