Greatest 4 game World Series

[BobH]

Destiny seemed to be riding with the Sox in this Series....and the drought was over.-BH

[soberdennis]

4. 706.gif gxyi5nc8yptah3ju6ab0ylc2y.gif 1990
The Oakland Athletics were the top team in baseball in the late 1980's, having won pennants in 88 and 89 and sweeping the Giants in the 89 World Series. With their best season of the three in 1990, there was no reason not to expect more of the same. They were headed by "bash brothers" Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco, leadoff man Rickey Henderson, and pitchers Bob Welch, Dave Stewart, and Dennis Eckersley.
The Cincinnati Reds had a pretty good team themselves. They became the second team ever to lead their division wire to wire and then beat the Pirates in 6 games for their first World Series appearance in 14 years. Manager Lou Pinella's gang was headed by a strong bullpen nicknamed the "Nasty Boys", starting ace Jose Rijo, and hitting stars Paul O'Neill, Chris Sabo, Barry Larkin, and Eric Davis. But it was a relative unknown who would be breaking records.
Former Athletic Rijo got the start in game one against Stewart, who had won 6 consecutive postseason starts. The Oakland ace did not last past the 4th inning as Davis homered and Billy Hatcher had 4 hits while Rijo scattered 9 hits in a 7-0 win.
Game 2 had Welch against former Royal Danny Jackson. The A's scored first and then chased Jackson in the 3rd with 3 more, highlighted by a homer by Canseco. Then the Nasty Boys of Rob Dibble, Norm Charlton, and Randy Myers took over to give their mates a chance to come back. Trailing 4-2, the Reds scored one each in the 4th and 8th innings to tie it up. Then Joe Oliver singled home Billy Bates with the winning run in the 10th. Hatcher got hits in his first 3 at bats for 7 in a row.
Tom Browning, who became a father during game 2, started game 3 for the Reds against 1989 AL Cy Young Award winner Mike Moore. All the scoring was done in the 2nd and 3rd innings. After Sabo homered to give the Reds the lead, Harold Baines made it 2-1 Oakland in the bottom half. Then the Reds exploded for 7 runs in the 3rd, highlighted by Sabo's second homer. Henderson added a homer of his own in the bottom half to make it 8-3, which is how it ended.
One game away from one of the greatest upsets in Series history, Pinella sent his ace to the mound against Stewart. in game 4. Rijo again responded, giving up only a run on two hits in the first. Those two hits were all the A's would get off Rijo and Myers. Stewart also pitched a strong game and had a 1-0 lead going into the 8th. But an error by Stewart led to two runs, which is all the Reds needed for the sweep.
Rijo, who retired 20 consecutive batters in game 4, was named MVP.
Hatcher set two records. He got hits in 7 straight at bats and his .750 BA broke Babe Ruth's 62 year old record.

[soberdennis]

3. 1216.gif yfsrw9f7hwidwhqy9yg1ftpl7.gif 1954
Led by 1953 AL MVP Al Rosen, batting champion Bobby Avila, and arguably one of the greatest pitching staffs ever, Al Lopez' Indians put an end to the Yankees' run of 5 consecutive pennants and World Championships. In doing so they set a new league record with 111 wins.
The NL champion Giants didn't set any records for wins, But led by MVP Willie Mays and 21 game winner Johnny Antonelli, they were a talented squad. But the question remained as to whether they could keep up with the powerful Tribe.
Game 1 pitted 23 game winner Bob Lemon against veteran Sal Magile. The score was tied at 2 in the 8th inning and Cleveland had two men on when Leo Durocher brought Don Liddle in to face Vic Wertz. Wertz hit a ball 460 ft. into the deepest part of the Polo Grounds, seemingly certain to score at least 2 runs. But Mays turned his back to the plate and gave chase, making a seemingly impossible over the shoulderr catch to preserve the tie. It is still considered possibly the greatest catch ever. Pinch hitter Dusty Rhodes settled the matter with a homer just down the right field line(less than 300 ft away) in the 10th to win the game.
Antonelli faced Early Wynn in game 2. After Al Smith led off the game with a homer, Antonelli shut the Indians down the rest of the way. Rhodes again came through as a pinch hitter with an RBI single and another homer in a 3-1 victory. This was the last World Series game played at the Polo Grounds.
Moving to Munincipal Stadium in Cleveland, Lopez sent Mike Garcia to the mound to face 17 game winner Reuben Gomez. Gomez and Hoyt Wilhelm combined for a 4 hitter and Rhodes had a pinch single with the bases loaded in the Giants 6-2 win.
Liddle was Durocher's choice to finish the job against Lemon in game 4. The Giants looked like it was going to be easy by jumping off to a 7-0 lead. Hank Majeski hit a 3 run homer off Liddle to make it 7-4. But that was as close as the Indians could get with Wilhelm and Antonelli shutting them out the rest of the way..
Rhodes was the offensive star with a 4 for 6 showing, including 2 homers. Mays' catch in game 1 set the stage for Rhodes' extra inning homer. The Giants pitching outdid the vaunted Indian staff with an ERA of 1.46 while holding the Tribe to a .190 BA

[soberdennis]

Now for the runner up
2. amn9nh7zoswh32wsqqa9.gif 7173.gif 1914
Even though they had been a powerhouse in the late 1890's, the Boston Braves had been hard hit when the American League started raiding the NL for players and ran into hard times.
In 1914, the season started as if it was going to be more of the same. They were 15 games out of first on July 4 in last place as late as July 18. But somehow they suddenly caught fire, winning 68 of their last 87 games. On September 5, the Miracle Braves moved into first place for good and won the pennant by 10.5 games over the 3 time champion Giants. Stars included former Cub Johnny Evers, catcher Hank Gowdy, shortstop Rabbit Maranville, and pitchers Bill James, Dick Rudolph, and Lefty Tyler.
The Braves opponents in the Series were old hat at these things. Connie Mack's A's had won 3 of the last 4 World Series. The $100000 Infield of Stuffy McInnis, Eddie Collins, Jack Barry, and Frank Baker headed a strong team. The pitching was ably handled by Chief Bender, Eddie Plank, Joe Bush, and Herb Pennock.
26 game winner Rudolph faced Bender in game 1 at Shibe Park. The Boston ace only gave up 5 hits while striking out 8. Gowdy had a single, double, and a triple as the Braves won 7-1.
Boston's other 26 game winner, James, faced Plank in game 2. For 8 innings neither team was able to score. Then Amos Strunk lost a fly ball hit by Charlie Deal in the sun and let it drop for a double. A stolen base and a single brought Deal home with the only run of the game and a 2-0 Boston lead. James only gave up 2 hits in his masterpiece.
The Braves ballpark, South End Grounds, was a small wooden ballpark inconducive to hosting a World Series. The Braves abandoned it in September and finished the season in the Red Sox 2 year old Fenway Park, where the Series now moved for game 3.
Tyler started the game against Bush. In the first, the A's scored a run to take their first lead of the Series. The two teams battled to a 2-2 tie after 9 innings. Baker singled in two runs in the 10th. But a Gowdy homer and a sac fly by Joe Connolly tied it in the bottom half and sent the game further. In the 12th, a double and a throwing error by Bush gave the Braves a thrilling win and put them 1 game away from what had been deemed impossible just a few months earlier. James got his second win in relief.
With the score tied at 1 in the bottom of the 5th of game 4, Johnny Evers singled home 2 runs. Rudolph only allowed one baserunner the rest of the way and the 3-1 score held. The Miracle was complete.
Gowdy hit .545 to lead the Braves. The A's only got 22 hits and had a .172 BA. Their vaunted infield was 10 for 58.
After the season, Mack sold off most of his stars and the A's finished last the next 7 years. They would be back with another powerhouse in the late 20's however. The Braves opened a new stadium which would be used by the Red Sox to win the next two World Series. But the Braves would have to wait 34 more years to play a World Series game there.
But for one glorious season, the Boston Braves made the kind of history legends are made of.

[BobH]

Referring to the Giants-Indians in '54, even at 12 years of age I can still remember Dave Pope, the Indian right fielder, after the game complaining how lousy it was when a man hits a 276'(distance to RF foul pole) pop fly and it goes for a home run. He said..."that would never happen at Municipal Stadium." Pope could be seen leaping high for Rhode's game 1 game winner but was just short of it. That short RF porch in the Polo Grounds had a lot to do with Mel Ott banging out 500+ in his storied career.-BH

[soberdennis]

Any guesses as to which I considered the best?
With all the history included in the 9 I have already chosen, I felt that I should still go with the 4 game series which seemed the most competitive. This one, I feel, fit the bill.
1."] oxvkprv7v4inf5dgqdebp0yse.gif o27gfthh2h0bwnfh68ho5xhhg.gif 2005"]
The Red Sox winning the Series in 2004 gave hope to the city of Chicago, for their White Sox had not won since 1917, a span even longer than that of the Red Sox.(Sorry, Cub fans. We'll just talk about the southsiders here.) But unlike the Red Sox, the White Sox hadn't been to the World Series since 1959.
The 2005 season started on fire for the White Sox. They led from the start and had a 15.5 game lead in August. But they began to fade and barely held off the Cleveland Indians. They quickly ended the other Sox hopes of repeating by sweeping them in the Divisional playoff. Then, strong starting pitching overwhelmed the Angels in 5 games. After losing the first, Mark Buerhle, Jon Garland, Freddie Garcia, and Jose Contreras all threw complete game victories.
The White Sox opponents hadn't even existed the last time the Sox had been in the World Series. The Houston Astros came into existance in 1962 and waited 18 years before their first playoff appearance. They had lost a classic series with the Mets in 86 but had to wait until til 2005 to finall break through. They made the playoffs as a wild card. A Division Series with Atlanta featured an 18 inning classic and was won by the Astros in 4 games. Then a 6 game series win over the Cardinals sent the Astros to Chitown for game 1. Astro stars included Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Lance Berkman, Roy Oswalt, and series veterans Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte.
Contreras was Ozzie Guillen's choice to face Clemens in game 1. Clemens only lasted until the 2nd inning when a hamstring forced him out. With the score tied in the 4th, Joe Crede homered to put the Sox ahead 4-3. Another run made the final 5-3 in the 8th. Contreras went 7 innings. Bobby Jenks got the save.
Buerhle was pitted against former Yankee ace Pettitte in game 2. Morgan Ensberg got the scoring started with a homer in the 2nd.The Astros built a 4-2 lead until the 7th when Paul Konerko put the Sox ahead with a grand slam. Jenks blew a save opportunity by giving up 2 in the ninth. Then Scott Posednik greeted Astros closer Brad Lidge with a walkoff homer in the bottom half for a 7-6 Sox win.
The first World Series game in Texas turned out to be a true classic. The Astros jumped off to a 4-0 lead after four innings, aided by a controversial homerun by Jason Lane. Crede's second homer of the Series started off a 5 run fifth. Lane doubled in the tying run in the 8th and fans settled in for a long game. The Astros threatened in both the 10th and 11th, but failed. Finally in the 14th after over 5 hours of play, Geoff Blum homered and the Sox added another. The 7-5 game set or tied records for time, innings, pitchers used, pitches thrown, walks, players used, and men left on base.
What could be done for an encore? Garcia and Brandon Backe battled for 7 scoreless innings before MVP Jermaine Dye singled home the winning run in the 8th in a 1-0 series clincher.

[Old Sweater]

After losing the first, Mark Buerhle, Jon Garland, Freddie Garcia, and Jose Contreras all threw complete game victories.

Most dominant starting pitching I remember seeing in the playoffs.

[soberdennis]

Most dominant starting pitching I remember seeing in the playoffs.

I remember that. Nowadays, it is hard to find teams having 4 complete games in a season. But the Sox pitching against the Angels that year was incredible.
The World Series just was a classic in itself, especially game 3.

[soberdennis]

ESPN's rankings, which do not include 2004, 2005, and 2007.
1. 1950 Yankees/Phillies(72)
2. 1963 Dodgers/Yankees(73)
3. 1966 Orioles/Dodgers(74)
4. 1990 Reds/A's(75)
5. 1932 Yankees/Cubs(76)
6. 1914 Braves/A's(77)
7. 1954 Giants/Indians(78)
8. 1999 Yankees/Braves(84)
9. 1927 Yankees/Pirates(85)
10. 1998 Yankees/Padres(87)