Saturday, Sep 24, 1949 the Boston Red Sox beat the New York Yankees 3-0 in Fenway Park. Until then Boston had been out of first place all season. Now they were one game behind the Yankees for first with seven games remaining. Here is the link for the Boston games. Boston is generally thought of as having choked because of the final results but that was Boston's eighth consecutive win. Boston defeated the Yankees in the next two games to take a one game lead with five games remaining, all on he road.
Boston went to Washington and won its eleventh in a row. Then Boston lost and fell into a tie, then won and went up by one game with two to play in Yankee Stadium.
The rest is history. The Yanks won both at home and went on to win the World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers and then won the next four World Series.
Boston was in contention late in both 1950 and 1951 but faded down the stretch, which may make the 1949 finish seem worse.
The 1949 Yankees were plagued by injuries much like the 2013 Yankees. Joe DiMaggio made a dramatic return to the lineup in June in Fenway Park and helped to spark his team.
What if Alex Rodriguez does something similar in 2013? The Yankees are so in need of both a third baseman and a right handed power hitter that, despite his recent public relations problems, Rodriguez would probably be welcomed back with open arms. And what if Rodriguez leads the Yankees to the division title? Would it be like 1949 all over again?
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