Banner Banter: It indeed does matter where the flag flies on the Golden Coast.

AuthorBarrett, Wayne M.
PositionWorld Series

As long as the reigning World Series champion Red Sox do not repeat, and as long as the two-time defending National League champion Dodgers do not reach the World Series, we're good.

For a Giants fan, the latter wish is an annual automatic--but why hope to hex the Bosox you may wonder? Well, despite languishing in and around the N.L. West basement these last few seasons, my boys in black and orange remain on the verge of a baseball first--at least for them... being the team with the most Fall Classic crowns in the decade, having beaten the Texas Rangers in 2010, Detroit Tigers in 2012, and K.C. Royals in 2014 (and coulda, woulda, shoulda kept the even-year streak alive in 2016, but that's a woe-is-me story for another day).

The Red Sox, meanwhile, took all the marbles in 2013 and 2018. Another ring to close out 2019 would tie the Fens and their faithful with San Francisco and its adherents at three apiece.

The Bosox held the honor as a decade's best way back when, winning the World Series over the Giants (1912), Phillies (1915), Dodgers (1916), and Cubs (1918). (Incidentally, the 102-year gap between the Red Sox and Dodgers facing off on baseball's ultimate stage is a record.) In addition, Boston (2004 and '07) did end up in a two-all WS tie with the hated Yankees (2000 and '09) last decade.

Besides the Sox, two other clubs appeared in four World Series between 1910-19: Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics and John McGraw's New York Giants. The A's won three titles, beating the Cubs (1910) and Giants twice (1911 and 1913, curse you "Home Run" Baker), but falling to the "Miracle" [Boston] Braves of 1914, a team famously mired in last place on July 4 before rewriting the record books.

The just-falling-short Giants, meanwhile, added a 1917 WS setback to the Chicago White Sox to their burgeoning resume of October failings. The 1911-13 Giants, by the way, are the...

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