The Hall of Fame: Pedro, Smoltz, The Big Unit, Biggio are in

The 2015 Hall of Fame Inductees have been announced.

No real surprises. Pedro Martinez made it on his first ballot. Good for him. He deserves it. Pedro was always fun to watch.

My favorite Pedro moment was when he struck out the first four batters and 5 of the 6 he faced as the AL starter in the 1999 All-Star game at Fenway Park. That, or when Don Zimmer, then a Yankees coach, charged him like a raging bull in the 2003 ALCS and Pedro pushed him aside. Everyone said that Pedro shoved a 70-year old coach and was disciplined, but I was there and saw it. Zim charged him.

Did Pedro throw at hitters? Here's his take: "I will throw inside. The batter must know that the plate belongs to me. They don't complain when it's on the outside of the plate, but the inside has them upset. I don't care, it's my plate."

The line is that he's the first Red Sox pitcher to be enshrined who had his greatest success while pitching for Boston. Really? What about Cy Young?

He played for the Cleveland Spiders in the National League for 8 seasons. Then went to St. Louis for two years. They were the Perfectos in 1899, then changed their name to the Cardinals.

He also spent 8 seasons with Boston American League team, known as both the Americans and the Red Sox in his tenure. He started Game 1 of the very first World Series and won two games in the series for Boston. The picture above is a Cy Young statue on the quad at Northeastern University in Boston, on the site where the Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds stood from 1901-1911. That was the Red Sox predecessor ballpark to Fenway Park.

In In 1909 he went to the Cleveland Naps (the name refers to player-manager Napoleon Lajoie) for a couple of years, so that's why he's in the Hall wearing a Cleveland cap. Both the National League Cleveland Spiders and the American League Cleveland Naps are what is now known as the Cleveland Indians. There was never a PC issue with the nickname Spiders or Naps, but Chief Wahoo lives on. At any rate, Cleveland gets to claim Cy.

Okay, what about the Eck?

Well, Hall-of-Famer Dennis Eckersley was a 20-game winner for the Red Sox, but it was his transformation from inconsistent starter to lights-out-point-at-Dewey-when-he-strikes-him-out closer by A's manager Tony Larussa that got him inducted.

When Eck pitched for the Red Sox, Boston Globe columnist Mike Barnicle once wrote, "If I were managing a fantasy baseball team and we were down by a run in the 9th inning but had two guys on base, I'd want Stan Musial at bat. And Dennis Eckersley on the mound." Eck did finish his career back with the Red Sox, and to give him his props, he's an entertaining and informative color analyst. As good as they get.

Roger?

Year three, missed getting in by a lot. Eventually his mis-remembering of PHD's might be forgotten. Maybe.

Smoltz pitched for the Red Sox.

Yes, briefly. And not well. He was a very good pitcher for the Braves for 19 seasons. I was at the game for his first start for the Red Sox. It was June 25, 2009 at Nationals Park in Washington DC. It's an easy date to remember because just before the first pitch it was announced on the PA that Michael Jackson was dead. As the ERA of 54.00 indicates, Smoltz had a bad 1st inning.

Randy Johnson?

Definitely deserving of induction. One night a few years ago a few buddies and I got into a discussion of who was the ugliest ballplayer. Randy won. My #1 memory of him was Opening Day 2005 at Fenway, when the Yankees had to stand there and watch the Red Sox ring ceremony from the 04 World Series win. All the Yankees (yes, they all behaved well and were respectful) were lined up on the 3rd base line, and Randy Johnson was a full head taller than everyone else. His nickname The Big Unit didn't come from nothing. The other moment, which I heard about but never saw, was at Chase Field in Phoenix when Johnson was a Diamondback and he delivered a fastball that wound up hitting a diving pigeon in mid-air on the way to the plate. The pigeon exploded. I'm not sure what the umpire called the pitch.

Craig Biggio also got in.

This was the largest induction group since 1955. I saw Biggio at Minute Maid Park in Houston and he homered twice for an Astros win against the Cardinals. He played 5 positions, but was mostly a 2nd baseman. Career batting average of .281, which is shy of the magical .300 that is supposedly the line of demarcation for induction. Good player, though. I also know that he played for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox in the Cape Cod League in 1986 so there's an extra reason to be happy for him.

The Numbers Game

The Red Sox have a rotation.

With the signings yesterday of Rick Porcello, Wade Miley and Justin Masterson to add to incumbents Clay Buchholz and Joe Kelly there's a 5-man rotation with MLB experience. In the shadows we see Anthony Ranaudo, Brandon Workman and Matt Barnes, all of whom got a cup of coffee in the Big Show late in the 2014 lost season. Plus, we keep hearing about Henry Owens as the Ace of the Future. That's a pretty good front five and backup.

So what do they get for numbers?

We already know that Pablo Sandoval will get his #48 that he wore in San Francisco, and Hanley Ramirez will get #13 that he wore in LA.

Porcello has spent his entire career in Detroit, wearing #48, then #21. We've already eliminated #48, and #21 was worn by Roger Clemens and, despite Clemens' defection to Toronto (to be "closer to home"), then New York, then Houston, then New York again, the Red Sox have not given anyone #21 since Roger last wore it in 1996. He wore 21 for 451 of his 709 MLB games.

Justin Masterson wore #63 as a Red Sox pitcher in 2008 and 2009, and also wore 63 playing for the Indians and Cardinals. A total of 240 games. Ranaudo has only worn 63 for 7 games, so let's give it to Justin and have Anthony pick something else.

Wade Miley has worn #36 for the Diamonbacks but Junichi Tazawa wore 63 for his first three years, taking the number when Masterson was traded, then flipped the digits and became #36. So Miley needs to do a search.

What's available?

The choice is surprising. Let's just look at the top 50. David Ross is unsigned, so #3 may be available. Allen Craig is the 8th outfielder and had a horrible 2014, so #5 might be on the table (I'm surprised that Craig got a great number like 5). 7 was Jemile Weeks, who was just dispatched, so the Trot Nixon/JD Drew/Stephen Drew number is up for grabs. Jonathan Herrera is history, so someone can get 10. Will Middlebrooks has 16, but with Sandoval, who batted 80 points higher, signed to patrol the hot corner, who knows whether Will will still be around. Tory Lovullo has 17, but coaches' numbers are easy to grab - like Hanley taking 13 from Brian Butterfield.

Gone are Ryan Lavarnway,, Felix DuBront and Brandon Snyder, so 20, 22 and 23 are up for grabs. Hitting Coach Greg Colbrunn, pitcher Alex Wilson, Jon Lester, of course, and Craig Breslow are gone, so add 28, 30, 31 and 32 to the pile.

Also gone are Burke Badenhop, Corey Brown, AJ Pierzynski, John lackey, Jake Peavy and Ryan Dempster, so 35, 39, 40, 41, 44 and 46 can be had for the asking.

Not available?

No one will get 24, they are keeping that under wraps. Not for Manny, but for Dewey, who wore the number for 19 seasons. They won't give anyone Varitek's 33, Pedro's 45 or Wakefield's 49.

I know what you're thinking...

...Did he fire 6 shots or only 5? Sorry, I meant to say what number does Cole Hamels wear? Why, 35, which is on the available list.

How Did Lester Wind Up Being a Cubbie?

I'm not sure what the logo on his hat is...

...but it was probably a safe one to wear while he was weighing offers.

Why did the Cubs win the Lester sweepstakes?

First, we won't know if they actually did win until he gets to the sixth year of his huge deal. But, for the sake of discussion, let's assume he performs well for at least several more years. During his World Tour all the media shots of Lester showed him wearing an A's uniform. Even Oakland GM Billy Bean knew he was just getting a rental for a couple of months.

So why the charade?

Lester met with the Braves because he has a house just outside of Atlanta. Well, he also had a house in Newton, MA, right on the Charles River. Lester put that house on the market when he filed for free agency and the sale closed in November. Did that mean he really had no interest in coming back to Boston? Or that his winter home in Georgia, where his wife is from, is there, and he's there, so what's the harm in seeing what the Braves have to say for themselves? And if he got a gigantic contract, he could always buy a bigger house in a fabulous Boston suburb like Wellesley. (If you're interested, call Kathy Kelley at 781-710-1035 or go to WellesleyFineHomes.com).

What about San Francisco and LA?

Anytime you hear from the World Series Champion that they're interested in talking to you, you talk to them. Why not? How many teams have won three World Series in this century? Just two: the Giants and the Red Sox. The Giants even got Buster Posey to meet Lester and talk up how great things are at AT&T Park. Which they are.

Then there were the other rumors.

The Dodgers, with seemingly unlimited money, were interested, and everyone suspected the Yankees were ready to pounce. But Brer Rabbit, he lay low.

So what tipped the scale?

Last spring Jon Lester said he'd take a "hometown discount" if it made his family more comfortable. He also values friendship and loyalty. Red Sox brass took this way too much to heart and offered him a $70 million/4-year deal. This was a horrible misread of the market for a top starting pitcher, and Lester wound up with a six-year, 155 million dollar deal with a vesting option that would total $170 million. Let's do the math. The Cubs offer would be, um, 100 million more than the Red Sox deal. What about the friendship part? The Cubs have Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer, who drafted Jon back in 2002. The Red Sox have John Farrell, who Lester likes a lot. And a fan base that he truly enjoys.

As one who has been to games at every Major League Ballpark (41 in all, including 11 that are gone or no longer used for baseball), I can state with authority that, while they're all great, no place has a crowd reaction that can come close to matching the Fenway Park experience. Including Wrigley.

Then there's the loyalty thing.

That $70 million offer last spring was ridiculously low, especially coming off a World Series win where Lester was 4-1 in the postseason. Really low offer, then they trade him to the A's. Back in the 50's the Yankees made a habit of getting rid of players by trading them to the A's. because they could. When Sox owner John Henry gave Lester a parking lot hug last July 31st as Lester was leaving for Oakland, Dan Shaughnessey of The Boston Globe (also owned by Henry) referred to it as a "Fredo, I know it was you-you broke my heart!" moment. He was right.

That was the biggie.

Lester never wanted to leave, but he was give a crappy offer because Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez were overpaid and underperformed, then he was sent away to the A's because other people on the team couldn't perform. And we got Yoenis Cespedes in return, who is mentioned as trade bait on a daily basis. So basically, whoever we get for Cespedes will be what we got for Lester.

And the starting rotation is...

Let's see...we have Clay Buchholz, who's like a #3 guy when he's healthy, and Joe Kelly, who's a #4 guy. And um...

Is "Let's Make a Deal" still on the air?

If it is, I never watch it, but if Jon Lester winds up being the ace who brings a World Series Championship to the Cubs after a drought of at least 107 years...good for him.

Kung Fu and Hanley. Good First Step?

This is not Pablo Sandoval.

Remember who wore #34 for the Red Sox before Big Papi? It was Rich Garces, known as "El Guapo"...meaning The Handsome One. He and Kung Fu Panda are both from Venezuela and share a similar shape - not that tall and pretty fat for an athlete. Garces was an effective setup guy for six of his seven years with the Red Sox (1996-2002). That's also longer than the Sandoval contract.

In the picture above Garces was listed at a generous 215 lbs. Sandoval is currently listed at 246 lbs. Believe what you will. But both also have a likable manner and a catchy nickname. Pokey Reese, while not an impact player and not around that long, also enjoyed more popularity than his play deserved because of the nickname. Fans like personality as long as it's positive.

So what do we think about the signing?

Just like the winter following the horrible 2012 season, the Red Sox can't sit around and do nothing. Here's an impact 3rd baseman with fabulous postseason stats and three World Series rings, and after bouncing Yoouuuk out of the hot corner job Will Middlebrooks has spent the last two seasons hitting below the Mendoza line. A team can get away with one great defensive player who can't hit (National League teams do that in every game when the pitcher bats), but not with three or four, which is what we had in 2014. Sandoval has a decent glove and is surprisingly quick for his size. He'll wear number 48, his Giants number. In the View From Section 29 it's a good move.

The shortstop of the future.

What name came to mind when you read that? Jose Iglesias? Xander Bogaerts? Or Hanley Ramirez? All three have worn that crown while playing for the Pawtucket Red Sox and no one has lived up to the advance billing. Ramirez, of course, lost it when he was traded to the Marlins for Josh Beckett with Mike Lowell thrown in for good measure. Do we really want to give up the Shortstop of the Future? He'll be Fenway-ready by next year.

In retrospect, of course, the trade was really for Lowell with Beckett thrown in. Hanley has been National League Rookie of the Year (2006) and Batting Champion (2009), but has also had some issues with attitude (early on) and injury (more recently - he's played fewer than 100 games every year since 2010). The Sox believe that the attitude issues are behind him and putting him in left field will make him less injury-prone. When healthy he is a force in the lineup. His Dodgers number was 13, and he'll get that from 3rd base coach Brian Butterfield. From Section 29 this also looks like a good move.

Why didn't they sign a pitcher or two instead?

They will. During Hot Stove time hitters typically are signed before pitchers are - especially candidates to be #1 or #2 starters. Uber-especially if they're clients of Scott Boras, who likes to wait a while and play a couple of teams against each other to drive up the price. Sure, it's annoying when you see photos of unsigned free agents and they show Jon Lester as an A. After all, he has started 252 Major League games: 241 of them for Boston, 11 for Oakland. His record is 110-63 for the Red Sox, 6-4 for the A's.

What I'd like to see.

Sign Lester. Trade Cespedes and Will Middlebrooks to Philadelphia for Cole Hamels. Go ahead, throw in Bogaerts if you have to. As the #2 prospect in all of baseball just a year ago I was pretty disappointed with his performance. Not just the 138 strikeouts, but the .910 fielding % when he's playing 3rd (he was ranked 122nd among MLB 3rd baseman...remember there are only 30 starters). Still, he may still have enough up-side to float the Philly boat.

If they do that, who's at short?

Why not Brock Holt? He was a .300 hitter for most of the season..until he was concussed in a collision with Dustin Pedroia. He played through that and still finished up at .281. He was such a force they had to put him in the lineup, and his OBP was so good he hit lead-off for last five months of the season. He played every position but the battery, but his natural place is in the middle infield. Seriously, why is this a hard decision?

Good first step. Now...

Let's just not forget that the Sox dumped all of their pitchers except Buchholz. Never mind the money or the fear of long-term deals. Get us a #1 and a #2.

KC Should Have Sent Gordon

Congrats to the Giants!
The TV ratings may have been down, but that was a fun World Series. Back-to-back shutouts by different teams. Has that ever happened before? Yes. In 1905 the New York Giants played the Philadelphia Athletics in a 5-game series. All five were shutouts. Game 1 by the Giants, Game 2 by the A's, Games 3, 4 and 5 by the Giants. In 1906 the White Sox and Cubs exchanged shutouts. In 1908 the Cubs and Tigers did it. In the 1919 "Black Sox" series the White Sox had a shutout in Game 3 followed by Reds shutouts in Games 4 and 5. In 1940 the Tigers and Reds exchanged shutouts in Games 5 and 6. In 1946 the Cardinals shut out the Red Sox in Game 3 and Boston returned the favor in Game 4. In 1949 the Yankees and Dodgers had back-to-back shutouts in Games 1 and 2 and in 1956 they swapped shutouts in Games 5, 6 and 7. In 1958 the Yankees and Milwaukee Braves swapped shutouts in Games 3, 4 and 5. But it hadn't happen for the last 56 years.

What would have been even more exciting?
It's Game 7, bottom of the 9th, two outs, Giants leading by one run. Madison Bumgarner has set down 14 straight in an incredible 5 innings of relief. Alex Gordon represents the last chance for Kansas City. He hits a single to left-center that gets bobbled by both Gregor Blanco and Juan Perez and he winds up on 3rd, representing the tying run. That's as far as he gets. KC's Salvador Perez pops up to Kung Fu Panda for the 3rd out. That's the game and the Series.

It probably wouldn't have changed the outcome, but...
If instead of holding Gordon at 3rd, Kansas City 3rd base coach Mike Jirschele had given him the big arm wave and sent him home it would have tied the game if he slid in safe. Even if Gordon had been out...what an exciting finish...the World Series ends with the tying run thrown out at the plate in the bottom of the 9th. That would have been right up there with Bill Mazeroski (1960), Carlton Fisk (1975), Kirk Gibson (1988) and Joe Carter (1993) as a highlight for the ages.

The Most Exciting Games I've Ever Seen

That was a fast decade.
It was ten years ago that I took my daughter Caitlin Kelley to the Red Sox-Yankees playoff game at Fenway Park. It was a Sunday night, October 17th.

The night before I had taken my other daughter, Kara Kelley, to Game 3 in the series. The Sox were already down two games to none after Curt Schilling (Ace #1) and Pedro Martinez (Ace #1A) had both lost in the Bronx on Tuesday and Wednesday. Friday night was a rainout, and in Game 3 the Sox were pounded. We actually left during the 7th inning stretch when we were losing, 17-6. We got home in time for the opening of Saturday Night Live where they were making fun of the Red Sox being down 3 games to none and they might as well give up now and go golfing. I think that was the night Ashlee Simpson was caught doing a bad job of lip-synching.

Sunday night the place was buzzing.
A packed house, of course, with a ton of police presence. Every surrounding town was called in for backup. We bumped into Larry David on the way in, and I decided that I should say something to him. "Hey, you're Larry David" would be way too lame, so I decided to say, "Larry - who are you rooting for...the Padres?" He looked at me with his WTF expression and said, "Why would you ask me that?" I had no reply, and we went to our seats in Section 29. I had been thinking of an episode in "Curb Your Enthusiasm" where Larry is invited to a Padres-Yankees game but doesn't show up.

Then came the 9th.
The Yankees were leading in the game, 4-3, and leading in the ALCS, 3 games to none. No team had ever come back from a 3-0 deficit, and it's the bottom of the 9th, and we're facing the best closer in the history of baseball, Mariano Rivera.

We all know what happened.
Kevin Millar works a leadoff walk, Dave Roberts goes in to pinch run. Everyone in the ballpark knows that Roberts is going at attempt a steal, and Rivera throws over four or five times so Roberts doesn't get too good a lead. On the fifth throw over, Dave Roberts slides back to the base, then gets up and starts walking toward the dugout. From our vantage point in Section 29 it absolutely looked like Roberts was picked off. Oh, well...there goes the season. We'll wait till next year...again. But wait...Dave Roberts was not picked off. He was just brushing the dirt off his pants. They were pretty dirty after five straight slides back to first.

My favorite Jeter moment.
During the year-long Derek Jeter farewell tour in 2014 writers and fans talked about their favorite Jeter moments. Here's mine:

Jeter fails to make the tag.

Bill Mueller singles, Dave Roberts scores to tie the game, we go on to the 12th, when Big Papi hit a 2-run walkoff to send everyone home tired but happy. Joe Castiglione said, "We'll see you for Game 5 later today." (I was there, not listening to the radio, so I didn't hear that line until later.) When we got home at 2:30 AM...Caitlin had a class at 9AM at Providence College...I went online to figure out which episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" I had been thinking of. Turned out it was actually a "Sopranos" episode, where Finn, the boyfriend of Meadow, is invited to Yankees game by Vito but is afraid and doesn't show up. That's why Larry David had no idea what I was talking about.

Then the 14-inning marathon.
I went with my brother Hugh Kelley. It was a 5PM start. A mere 15 hours after the previous night's game ended. We were both scoring the game, as we usually do. The Red Sox took 2-0 lead, but New York went up 4-2 in the 6th, and the Red Sox tied it in the 8th (Mariano Rivera again giving up the tying run). As we flipped our scorecards over after each half-inning it seemed like the Yankees had jerks like Jeter and A Rod and Matsui and Bernie Williams and Hor-hay Posada leading off every inning. Tim Wakefield pitched the final three innings, and even though Jason Varitek was having a tough time catching Wake's knuckleballs, the Yankees got only one hit and no runs. In the bottom of the 14th Papi delivered again with an RBI single that scored Johnny Damon.

The rest is history.
Game 6 was the Schilling "bloody sock" game, Game 7 was all Red Sox. Then the sweep of the Cardinals to finally end the curse.

The most exciting games I've ever seen.
I've been going to games at Fenway since 1957. I've been to games at every Major League Ballpark (a total of 41), I've been to the All-Star game and seven World Series games...even saw the Red Sox clinch at Fenway last October, which was a very memorable game, but those two nights in 2004 were the most exciting games I've ever seen. Hard to believe it's been a decade.

O's Are Out. Now What?

The Baltimore Orioles were swept.
It was the first time in the history of the franchise. Only 7 teams have never been swept in the playoffs, and that's mostly because they aren't in the playoffs that much. Those 7 are the Blue Jays, Rays, and Mariners in the American League, and the Mets, Nationals, Marlins and Brewers in the National League. I should note that four those those seven have never won the World Series, and with the exception of the 2000 Mariners (they swept the White Sox in the 2000 Division Series), none have ever swept anyone.

Most have multiple instances of sweeping and getting swept.
That basically means that the playoff system is pretty good, as there are few blowouts. Of 119 World Series to date, only 18 have been sweeps: Eight by the Yankees (6 of those were more than 60 years ago), two each by the Red Sox, Reds and Giants, and one each by the Braves, Dodgers, Orioles and A's. Of those eight teams, 6 have also been swept in the World Series. The Red Sox and Orioles are the only exceptions. And they're my two favorite teams.

So now...
It's the Royals against the Giants or Cardinals. In the NLCS I'll root for the Giants because of Buster Posey, former All-Star catcher for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox of the Cape Cod League. But in the World Series, it has to be the Royals so that only the Red Sox have three championships in this century. Makes sense to me.

No Beltway Series. For Whom Do We Root Now?

The Nationals are out.
The long wait continues for our nation's capital. 81 years since a World Series appearance, 90 years since a championship. That's the longest drought ever for any team in any major sport in America. The winning run for San Francisco came in the bottom of the 7th in a tie game. With the bases loaded and Kung Fu Panda at bat, Nats reliever Aaron Barrett uncorks a wild pitch and Joe Panik (an excellent baseball name-right up there with Brock Holt) scores the winning run for the Giants.

So it's Giants-Cardinals in the NLCS.
I like both teams, and both have excellent ballparks. The Giants star catcher, Buster Posey, played for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox of the Cape Cod League in 2006 and 2007. "Now batting for Yah-mith Dennis, the catcha, Bustah Posey." YD won the Championship both times, and again this year, so in the NLCS I'll go for the Giants.

ALCS
No question here. Orioles. My second favorite team. We lived in Baltimore when I was Program Director at Mix 106.5. My daughter Kara was born there. I took my daughter Caitlin to her first game at Memorial Stadium. I started my Major League Ballpark World Tour when my wife Kathy got me tickets to the very first game at Camden Yards as a Father's Day present in 1992. Note: I had already been to four ballparks at that point, but it was at Camden Yards that I decided to hit 'em all. The World Tour of every major league ballpark was completed this summer in Cincinnati.

World Series matchups.
Even if the Orioles don't make it to the Big Dance (I realize that's a basketball term, but I'm using it anyway) I'm not rooting for the National League. Why? The Cardinals won in 2006 and 2011, the Giants in 2010 and 2012. Twice each in this century. The only team to win three times this century is the Red Sox, and it should stay that way so we can hold our heads high for another year.

Dodgers are out.

So much for Carl Crawford, Hanley Ramirez and Adrian Gonzalez.
The former Red Sox will not be in the Big Show. The LA-LA Series won't happen this year. Neither will the redux of the Giants-A's Earthquake Series or the 2002 Wild West Series between the Angels and Giants or a replay of the 1971 and 1979 Orioles-Pirates match ups.

Still on:
A 1985 rematch of the Cardinals-Royals All-Missouri Series. Or Misseries, if you will. Other than that, it's all new. Cardinals-Orioles (new, unless you count 1944, when the Orioles were the St. Louis browns and lost to the Cardinals), Giants-Royals (never met), Giants-Orioles (never met), Nationals-Royals (never met) and Nationals-Orioles in a Parkway Series, which would be my favorite.

We might have another update tonight.
I hope not, because that would mean Washington, a city waiting for a World Series Championship for 90 years, would be out. Fingers crossed.

What We Won't See..What We Might See

The Wild Card is in the books.
The A's are out, the Pirates are out. So we won't have a redux of the 1909 Pirates - Tigers matchup or the Orioles - Pirates from 1971 and 1979. The Pirates won all three of them.

The Giants and A's have met three times...1911 and 1913 as the New York Giants and Philadelphia A's and again in 1989 as the San Francisco Giants and Oakland A's. The A's have won all three. The Philadelphia A's and the Cardinals went back-to-back in 1930 and 1931 and split the pair. The Oakland A's faced the Dodgers in 1974 and 1988, each team winning one.

What could still happen?
The St. Louis Browns, who became the Orioles in 1954, played the Cardinals in the first all-Missouri series in 1944. It was actually all-St. Louis. Not a subway series, as they don't have a subway there. All the home games were played at Sportsman's Park, the home field for both teams. Same place that Johnny Pesky held on to the cutoff throw while Enos Slaughter scored the winning run for the Cards in the 1946, beating the Red Sox in their first post-Babe Ruth series appearance. They'd wait another 58 years to sip the champagne. But we could have an Orioles-Cardinals series. The Cardinals and Royals could reprise 1985 with a third all-Missouri series.

What other repeats might happen?
Well, the Angels and Giants could do 2002 again...LA of Anaheim, known simply as Anaheim back then, won it. And then there's the potential Cardinals-Tigers matchup. They've faced each other three times in the World Series: St. Louis won in 1934, Detroit in 1968 and St. Louis in 2006.

16 possibilities, 4 potential repeats.
Not sure how that averages compared to other years...but at least the Yankees are not part of the fun.