MLB Showdown Obsession

 In 1941, Joe DiMaggio put together one of the most untouchable records in baseball history. Starting on May 15, he began a 56 game hitting streak that not only captured the attention of the sports world, but it rallied a slumping Yankees team to go on to win the pennant and ultimately the World Series. It was such an accomplishment, that it overshadowed Ted Williams and his .402 BA to win the MVP award. What begins today is a lookback to not only DiMaggio's hit streak game by game, but the individual pitchers that he and the Yankees victimized. Game 0 May 14, 1941 Indians: 4 Yankees: 1 Dimaggio: 0-3 Before any streak can begin, DiMaggio needs to go hitless. Mel Harder would go on to contribute to Joe's streak, but on this day, he held down the fort, walking DiMaggio at one point but keeping him out of the hit column. ********************* Game 1 May 15, 1941 White Sox: 13 Yankees: 1 DiMaggio: 1-4, RBI The Yankees got spanked on this day, with Eddie Smith going the distance and...

 Many World Champions make their title(s) part of a longer sustained run of competitiveness. It's not unreasonable though to have a title run happen right after a terrible season when suddenly everything clicks...or even a title run come right before a terrible season where everything strangely falls apart. Such terrible seasons preceding or following a title finish are usually shrugged off as blips on the radar of an otherwise strong team...but only once has that been reversed, where terrible seasons are briefly interrupted with a random World Series title. The 2011-2015 era of the Red Sox deserves study. 2011 was the famous "Chicken and Beer" collapse where the Red Sox choked away what was a nearly locked up trip to the playoffs. 2012 saw them follow up with a last place finish in the AL East. In 2014 and '15, they also finished dead last in the division...but 2013 saw them immediately click with new Manager John Farrell. They finished the season 97-65, 5.5 games ah...