Sunday, November 5, 2017

World Series: Sunday in the park. 1 of 9.

In November 2008 I did extensive research into the World Series, with some updates since. The link for that document has been posted here. Now I will create a series of nine posts breaking it down into smaller chunks.

This material covers series starting in 1903 between the National League and the American League champions.  The purpose is to present data in a different form, which results in new observations.  In other words to find things hidden in plain sight. Here are the nine subjects:

1. Sunday in the park
2. Nine game series, eight games and tie
3. Home sweet home
4. Travel
5. Best of Seven WS
6. Sweeps
7. Regular Season
8. Yankees
9. Yanks 1960

This file contain pertinent data:

World Series data.

The first tab in this file is in the form of a spreadsheet calendar.  It provides a panoramic view of when games were played and the result.  Home games are in CAPS, road games have gray background.  The final game is in bold.  Tie games have a pink background.  Five exceptional individual performances have yellow background: three homers in a game (Ruth twice and Jackson and Sandoval) and Larsen's perfect game.  Games that are outlined were attended by the author.

It also contains data sheets with details including regular season stats for the teams.

From 1903 through 2017 there have been 113 WS.  There was no WS in 1904 and 1994.  Four WS were best of nine.  The other 109 WS were best of seven, in which the losing team won this number of games:
3 - 39
2 - 24
1 - 25
0 - 21.

1. Sunday in the park:

The first four Sunday games were played in Chicago:

- 1906 sixth and final game, White Sox defeat Cubs at home;
- 1908 game two, Cubs defeat Detroit;
- 1910 fifth and final game, Philadelphia Athletics defeat Cubs;
- 1917 game two, White Sox defeat New York Giants.

The next three Sunday games were in New York between the Giants and Yankees 1921, 1922, 1923.  There were Sunday games in 1924 (2)  and 1925 (4), both in Washington and both won by the Senators.

The first WS with two Sunday games (2 & 7): 1926, both in New York at Yankee Stadium and both won by the St. Louis Cardinals.

The final two years before Sunday games became standard when there could have been a Sunday game but there was none both involved Philadelphia:

- 1929, in Philadelphia - Saturday game four, Monday game five;
- 1931, after playing the first two games in St. Louis on Wednesday and Thursday, no games were played Saturday or Sunday; play resumed Monday in Philadelphia.

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