Everybody knew this series would come down to pitching. Seven Hall of Fame pitchers were born in New York. Six were born in Texas, but Clayton Kershaw will be a Hall of Famer as soon as he’s eligible, so that makes seven. This makes New York and Texas, perhaps, the two best pitching states in the U.S.
And this was a best-of-three series, so numerous Hall of Famers had to sit this one out.
“I can’t tell you the pressure I felt picking a rotation,” New York manager John McGraw said. “Let’s see, you tell Warren Spahn that he wasn’t good enough to make the rotation. Hell, Old Hoss Radbourn started choking me.”
And so, even though both lineups were loaded with sluggers — Hornsby! Gehrig! Yaz! Banks! A-Rod. Frank Robinson! — everybody knew that runs would be rare and precious.
In Game 1, New York’s Sandy Koufax matched up with Texas’ Greg Maddux …
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