Chance encounters
Fun to ponder potential World Series matchups
If the Major League Baseball wildcard games are any indication, this is going to be quite a postseason.
Four of baseball’s most storied franchises played in those games, with the Red Sox beating the Yankees and then the Dodgers edging the Cardinals. The Dodgers move on to face the Giants in the latest chapter of another famous rivalry — and the most anticipated matchup of the Division Series round.
Now is also a good time to look ahead a bit. With four teams left in each league, there are 16 possible World Series matchups remaining. Here’s a quick glance at each one. The matchups are listed in descending order of likelihood, using probability figures from Fangraphs.com before Thursday’s ALDS openers.
Dodgers-Red Sox (12.2%): A rematch of the 2018 World Series won by the Red Sox — except now Mookie Betts is playing for the Dodgers. Alex Verdugo went to the Red Sox in that trade, and they also have ex-Dodgers Nathan Eovaldi and Kike Hernandez playing significant roles.
Dodgers-Astros (11.8%): No need for any deep digging on this matchup. When the Astros’ sign-stealing scheme came to light, Dodgers fans were among the most aggrieved, because they lost to the Astros in the 2017 World Series.
Dodgers-White Sox (11.1%): There’s a lot to recommend Dodgers-White Sox. For one thing, it would give White Sox manager Tony La Russa a World Series rematch with the Dodgers after he was on the wrong end of Kirk Gibson’s famous home run in 1988, when the Dodgers beat the A’s. This could also be the best starting pitching matchup.
Dodgers-Rays (6.5%): The probabilities aren’t friendly to the 100-win Rays, but they’ll have the Dodgers’ attention if the teams meet in the World Series for a second straight year.
Brewers-Red Sox (6.4%): The Brewers and Red Sox used to share a division in the AL East, but the teams don’t have much of a memorable history with each other.
Brewers-Astros (6.1%): Zack Greinke pitching against his former team in Milwaukee would be an interesting subplot here.
Brewers-White Sox (5.8%): The travel would be a breeze between two ballparks about 100 miles apart. Avisail Garcia, a former White Sox outfielder, hit 29 homers this year for the Brewers.
Braves-Red Sox (5.8%): The Braves face the city they once called home, and they’ll hope this goes better for the Braves than the Super Bowl went for the Falcons against the Patriots following the 2016 NFL season.
Braves-Astros (5.5%): In 2017, Charlie Morton got the win in Game 7 of the World Series for the Astros. He went 14-6 for Atlanta this season.
Braves-White Sox (5.2%): Craig Kimbrel vs. the Braves — although Kimbrel has struggled so much for the White Sox it’s hard to say how important he’ll be in the postseason against his former team.
Giants-Red Sox (5.0%): The Red Sox have the most World Series titles this century with four, and the Giants are second with three.
Giants-Astros (4.8%): Dusty Baker goes up against the Giants, the team he began his managerial career with in 1993. Baker took the Giants to a World Series in 2002.
Giants-White Sox (4.6%): The Giants were the New York Giants back in 1917, when the White Sox beat them in the World Series behind Red Faber’s three victories. The White Sox didn’t win it all again for 88 years.
Brewers-Rays (3.4%): These are the only two teams in the postseason this year that have never won the World Series. The Rays traded shortstop Willy Adames to the Brewers in May.
Braves-Rays (3.1%): The World Series goes to SEC football country. These two teams were one game away from meeting in last year’s Fall Classic.
Giants-Rays (2.7%): Yes, that’s correct: The Fangraphs numbers say this matchup between the two top seeds is actually the least likely. Evan Longoria is one of the top players in the Rays’ young history, but after 10 seasons there he was traded to the Giants.