PHI vs LADIt's time to clean out the baseball file drawer before the season is over. The question today is... What happens when two baseball teams play each other in back-to-back postseasons? This question was prompted by virtue of the fact that the Phillies and the Dodgers played each other in 2008 and 2009. Philly won both times. Is that the norm? And, have there ever been two teams that met three playoffs in a row? Well, if you are a Royals fan and you are over 30 years old, you probably know the answer to the second question without even thinking.
One would assume that if Team A beat Team B in Year 1, the odds are that they would beat them in Year 2 also. After all, they were better the season before. Surely more often than 50% of the time they would be better the next season as well.
As it turns out, there have been 31 times when two teams met in the playoffs after having met the previous season. It wasn’t as common before the expansion era because there was only one opportunity each season – the World Series. Of course, there were a lot fewer teams too. Still, it only happened nine times before 1969 and 22 since.
Of the 31 times, the team that won Year 1’s matchup also won Year 2’s 19 times. The previous loser won 12 rematches. I would consider that about what I would have expected. No shocking revelation, but a good confirmation.
FWIW the Yankees have been involved in this the most times. Of the 62 teams, New York has been part of the repeat match up on 16 occasions.
THREE IN A ROW
I went through each season from 1884 to 2009 in order. I realized that Kansas City met New York three consecutive times from 1976-78 and was prepared to say it was the only time it had happened right up until 2009. However, I didn’t realize that Boston has now played Los Angeles (Angels) the last three seasons. So, a three-peat has happened twice now. (Edit: Three times. See reply below. The Giants and Yankees met three straight from 1921-23 with NYY winning the first two and NYG the last one).
The Royals, as we all know, got swept. Boston won the first two seasons against LA, but lost in 2009. So, KC is the only team to be beaten three consecutive seasons by the same team in the playoffs. For all I know it hasn’t happened in the NFL or NBA either, but that will remain guesswork for now.
Speaking of 1977 and 1978 here is an interesting stat. Not only are these two post-seasons nearly identical, but the two teams in the NL were the original incentive for this study. Of course, in this case, the Dodgers won both times.
In 1977, NYY 3, KC 2. Also in 1977 it was LAD 3, PHI 1.
In 1978, NYY 3, KC 1. Also in 1978 it was LAD 3, PHI 1.
And, if that weren’t enough, the Yankees beat the Dodgers in both World Series 4 games to 2.
TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE
Since I’m discussing the Yankees and the Royals from 1976-78, I thought I should point out that Brett batted .381 with 13 runs and 10 RBIs in those 14 games – which included a three-HR game in 1978.
A simple stat to remind us how discouraging those three series losses were is the fact that Kansas City scored 63 runs. New York? They also scored 63 runs. You would think the Royals could have won one of the series.
But, even more discouraging than that, the Yankees won one game in each series in their last at bat – including both game 5s.