Posted by italyprof on 2/17/2016 1:10:00 PM (view original):

What was the first team to sweep the World Series in four games?

It must have seemed like a "miracle" at the time...

The 1958 Yankees, 1968 Tigers, and 1979 Pirates also won after being down 3-1.

I remember that 1971 Series very well, Roberto Clemente was unbelievable in that. Great Series, watched part of it with my father, though my memory is that it was the first Series with night games, so he had to tell me the final scores the next morning. The beginning of the decline of baseball in American society, all for some advertising revenue.

Anyway, as to the first team to sweep seeming like a miracle at the time, yes, indeed must have. Any takers on the answer?

Posted by contrarian23 on 2/17/2016 1:39:00 PM (view original):

Posted by italyprof on 2/17/2016 1:10:00 PM (view original):

The first team to do it by the way was the 1955 Dodgers. They must have partied like it was ahem, 2004...

Hmm...hate to point this out, but not quite true.

The 1955 series went: NY, NY, BKN, BKN, BKN, NY, BKN.

The first team to do it (counting only the "official" World Series since 1903) was actually Boston in the very first series. However, that series was best of nine, so being down 3-1 was not quite the same as it would have been in a 7 game series.

The first team to do it in a 7 game series was the 1925 Pirates, over Washington:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/1925_WS.shtml

Oh. They might have been the first to win the Series after losing the first two. Could swear I remember something of the sort from a book baseball's greatest teams when I was young. Will look it up.

No, I am wrong the 1955 Dodgers were the second team ever to win the Series after losing the two games. That must be what I remembered from a book I read when I was about 11.

Only 11 teams have won a World Series after losing the first two games. (self.baseball)

The comeback teams were:

• The 1921 New York Giants over the New York Yankees, 5-3.

• The 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers over the New York Yankees, 4-3.

• The 1956 New York Yankees over the Brooklyn Dodgers, 4-3.

• The 1958 New York Yankees over the Milwaukee Braves, 4-3.

• The 1965 Los Angeles Dodgers over the Minnesota Twins, 4-3.

• The 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates over the Baltimore Orioles, 4-3.

• The 1978 New York Yankees over the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-2.

• The 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers over the New York Yankees, 4-2.

• The 1985 Kansas City Royals over the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-3.

• The 1986 New York Mets over the Boston Red Sox, 4-3.

• The 1996 New York Yankees over the Atlanta Braves, 4-2.

Posted by italyprof on 2/17/2016 2:48:00 PM (view original):

I remember that 1971 Series very well, Roberto Clemente was unbelievable in that. Great Series, watched part of it with my father, though my memory is that it was the first Series with night games, so he had to tell me the final scores the next morning. The beginning of the decline of baseball in American society, all for some advertising revenue.

Anyway, as to the first team to sweep seeming like a miracle at the time, yes, indeed must have. Any takers on the answer?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

How is playing - and broadcasting - baseball games at a time when more people are home and able to watch linked to a decline? It adds advertising revenue because they can get more eyes on the screens at that time. Most people would consider that a plus for the game.

Whole generations of children in America have never seen a World Series game. Young people don't watch it now, and it is difficult to interest them in it.

The revenue just gets more money into owners' and players' pockets, not more people actually watching and caring about the game.

In 1970 in fifth grade, we watched the World Series games in our classrooms at school.

As a person who went through the public school system and a private school in the '90s and early '00s, I can virtually guarantee you that that would not happen now. People just wouldn't see it. If the WS was on during school/work hours, most people would not have the flexibility to watch it live.

You're a smart guy, you know how marketing works. The REASON MLB makes more money off evening broadcasting is precisely BECAUSE more people watch the games. The cost of ad space is directly proportional to predicted viewership.

You're right, the 1971 World Series was the first in history to have SOME of its games played at night. And even the partial advantage of that led to a 25% ratings increase relative to 1970. Ratings didn't drop back down to the 1970 level until the 90s. The decline in World Series viewership has nothing to do with games being played at night. It didn't start until over 2 decades after the games started being played at night. The decline has more to do with reduced pace of game, declining overall interest in the game in the early '90s, and more than anything, I suspect, the proliferation of alternative programming available starting in the late '80s and early '90s.

The Miracle Braves swept Connie Mack's vaunted Athletics in 1914.

Broadcasts (and broadcast ratings) are an obsolete way to track eyeballs and fan interest.

Posted by gbakker on 2/17/2016 5:37:00 PM (view original):

The Miracle Braves swept Connie Mack's vaunted Athletics in 1914.

Yes indeed. That was the first team ever to sweep a Series. Amazing accomplishment.

Posted by toddcommish on 2/17/2016 7:24:00 PM (view original):

Broadcasts (and broadcast ratings) are an obsolete way to track eyeballs and fan interest.

Which is why if I were MLB I wouldn't worry TOO much about the declining ratings.

Were they obsolete in the early 70s when the transition to night WS games resulted in a substantial ratings spike?

No but they sold the future for the present (of that time). More adults who buy beer watched the games, but they lost two entire generations to college basketball, the NBA and playing soccer. When those people become adults or have already, they don't watch baseball because they never had, it is on after bedtime.

In other words, the owners made the same mistake that American business in general is making - going for short-term earnings reports and share prices in place of long-term market share:

http://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-buybacks-cannibalized/