Great Octobers

[Fuller_Schettman]

I thought this might be a good time to look at some of the better performances in baseball's greatest month. Of coors back in the day, going 4-0 meant a World Series title; however, since the Expansion took place no team has been flawless in October.

The 1976 Reds came closest, being the only team to sweep the postseason with a 3-0 NLCS sweep of the Phillies and a 4-0 WS sweep against the Yankees. However, the Reds took only 2 of 3 against the Braves to end the regular season. October record: 9-1

The 1984 Tigers swept the Royals 3-0 in the last Best-of-Five ALCS before winning the WS 4-1 against the Padres. With no regular season games in October, their record was 7-1.

The 1989 A's took Toronto 4-1 in the ALCS and swept SF in the Loma Prieta World Series. They won their only regular season game in October. October record: 9-1

The 1998 Yankees swept Texas 3-0 in the ALDS, beat Cleveland 4-2 in the ALCS and swept San Diego in the WS. With no regular season games in October, they finished at 11-2.

The 1999 Yankees closed out their regular season at 2-1, then swept the Rangers againg in the ALDS, beat Boston 4-1 in the ALCS and swept the Braves out of the WS. October record: 13-2

I'm going to add the 1970 Baltimore Orioles to this list. They won the only October regular season game, swept Minnesota in the ALCS and beat Cincinnati 4-1 in the WS. October record: 8-1.

So it appears that about twice each decade, a team (usually an American League team) storms through October in a dominant fashion, although we have not had one in this decade/century/millenium...

[TDog]

...
The 1976 Reds came closest, being the only team to sweep the postseason with a 3-0 NLCS sweep of the Phillies and a 4-0 WS sweep against the Yankees. However, the Reds took only 2 of 3 against the Braves to end the regular season. October record: 9-1...

This is deceptive, of course, because many teams that play regular season games in October before going into the postseason are playing meaningless games. This season, the Sox's two regular season October wins were against a team fighting unsuccessfully for a postseason spot after winning 93 games.

Obviously, the AL this year didn't have any teams with weaker records make the postseason, as usually happens (and did this year in the NL when two teams won fewer than 90). The other AL teams in the mix had won 95 games by the time the Sox had a chance to face them. Beating the Angels could pit the Sox against a team winning 100 games, but an Astros win in the NLCS would put an 89-win team in the World Series.

For the Sox, October would have to be considered the tough part of their schedule.

[Fuller_Schettman]

I have been waiting awhile to finish this thread, so here goes:

The 2005 World Champion Chicago White Sox had the Greatest October of them all! They won their last 2 regular season games, swept the Boston Red Sox 3-0 in the ALDS, beat the LA Angels 4-1 in the ALCS and swept the Houston Astros in the World Series. Final tally: 13-1.

Best. October. Ever!