Monarchs beat Mo in 10th to prevail in Bracket 2
The 1998 Yankees won 125 games and swept that year’s World Series to become the winningest club in modern times. Mariano Rivera, their unanimous Hall of Fame closer, was as close to automatic as any pitcher could be in October.
Baseball is still baseball, however, and Rivera is still human. And those mighty 1998 Yankees are exiting stage left from the MLB Dream Bracket 2: Dream Seasons simulation far sooner than many imagined, thanks to another club that fans of a certain age will tell you was plenty talented, too.
The 1942 Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues stunned the pinstripes in an instant-classic series, taking the best-of-seven series, 4-3, thanks to a dramatic 10th-inning rally against Rivera in Game 7.
• Box scores and game summaries | Full bracket and info | Complete Dream Bracket 2 rosters
The simulated competition, featuring many of the greatest teams in baseball history, is being produced by Out of the Park Baseball 21, MLB‘s most realistic strategy game (PC and Mac).
Kansas City’s attack was led by beloved Negro Leagues ambassador Buck O’Neil (.333, one HR), Hall of Fame center fielder Willard Brown (team-high six RBIs) and third baseman Newt Allen (team-high 10 hits). Perhaps the Monarchs’ biggest hero of all was starting pitcher Booker McDaniel, who tossed eight scoreless innings in the winner-take-all finale before handing the ball to Hank McKinnis, who closed out the 1-0 victory.
The most famous Negro Leaguer of them all, Satchel Paige, stood out in this showdown by permitting just two runs across two starts. The Yankees’ biggest star, Derek Jeter, did all he could in a losing effort, leading all players in the series with 14 hits and batting a phenomenal .467/.484/.667 with 20 total bases. In the end, it came down to just one run -- scored off Rivera, of all people -- to find a series winner.
The 64-team, best-of-seven simulation tournament features two of the best post-World War II teams from each of the 30 Major League franchises, as well as three Negro Leagues teams and the 1994 Montreal Expos. The bracket is divided into the American League and the National League, with two regions for each league. The 1942 Monarchs are the only Negro League club left in the tournament, and they will face the 2019 Astros in the Round of 16.
Game 1: Monarchs 1, Yankees 0
Many who saw Paige will argue that he is the greatest pitcher baseball has ever seen, and he baffled the Yankees in the opening contest with 7 1/3 scoreless innings. Kansas City pushed just one across home plate when it loaded the bases with nobody out in the top of the third inning and Allen brought home right fielder Bill Simms on a double-play groundout. The Yankees didn’t get a man to second base until Chuck Knoblauch doubled with two outs in the fifth, and Paige promptly struck out Jeter to snuff out the threat. Paige worked around another double in the sixth and then stranded Scott Brosius at third by retiring Jeter again to end the seventh. The pinstripes didn’t threaten again.
Game 2: Yankees 4, Monarchs 2
New York faced another Hall of Fame pitcher in Hilton Smith, but the offense woke up enough to support David Wells’ strong effort (6 1/3 innings, two runs). Jorge Posada gave the Yankees a 3-0 cushion with a two-run homer off Smith in the fourth inning, and Jeter came home for an important insurance run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Tino Martinez. Rivera struck out the side in the ninth to seal the victory.
Game 3: Monarchs 9, Yankees 5
The series moved to Kansas City and saw its first slugfest as the starting pitchers, McDaniel and Andy Pettitte, were touched for four runs apiece. Light-hitting Chad Curtis stunned the Monarchs with a two-run dinger in the seventh inning to tie it, 4-4, but the Yankees’ joy was short-lived as Brown countered with a two-run shot of his own in the bottom half. In the eighth, Paul O’Neill cut the lead to one by scampering home from second on a single by Martinez, but the Monarchs responded and put the game away for good, hanging three runs on Yankees relievers Jeff Nelson and Ramiro Mendoza on three straight hits by Jesse Williams, O’Neil and Allen.
Game 4: Monarchs 14, Yankees 6
Kansas City’s offense erupted again to power the Monarchs to a commanding 3-1 lead in the series. Bernie Williams put the Yankees on the board first with a two-run double in the opening frame, but the Monarchs jumped all over New York starter Hideki Irabu in the bottom of the second. Brown led off with a walk and catcher Joe Greene knocked a two-run homer to tie it up. K.C. followed up with two singles and a walk, setting up a bases-clearing, three-run double by O’Neil to chase Irabu from the game. Allen immediately brought home O’Neil with a single, putting the Monarchs up 6-2. Another six-run inning in the fourth, highlighted by a grand slam from second baseman Herb Souell, put this one on ice.
Game 5: Yankees 3, Monarchs 1
Starter David Cone refused to let the Yankees go down without a fight. The righty outpitched Paige in a thrilling duel, surrendering one run while striking out eight Monarchs across 7 1/3 innings. The pinstripes scored first again, with Martinez once again driving home Jeter with a first-inning double. The score remained 1-0 until Brosius knocked a one-out homer off Paige in the fifth. O’Neil homered off Cone in the sixth to get Kansas City on the board and trim the lead to one, but New York’s pitching was simply too stifling from there. Nelson and Rivera combined for the last five outs, with Rivera again cruising through a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
Game 6: Yankees 4, Monarchs 3 (10 innings)
Back at Yankee Stadium, the Yankees staved off elimination again thanks to another legendary performance by their captain. Knoblauch led off the bottom of the first inning with a single against Smith, followed by a Jeter single and an O’Neill double for the game’s first run. After Martinez struck out, Williams singled home Jeter and moved O’Neill to third to set up a Darryl Strawberry sac fly to give the Bronx Bombers an early 3-0 lead. Kansas City chipped away with a pair of runs in the middle innings and rallied against Rivera with two outs in the ninth to tie the game with a walk, a wild pitch and an RBI single by Simms. The contest carried on into the bottom of the 10th when Jeter (who else?) came through in the clutch – again -- with a walk-off homer off lefty Jim LaMarque.
Game 7: Monarchs 1, Yankees 0 (10 innings)
A back-and-forth series came down to an incredible Game 7. McDaniel and Pettitte shook off their Game 3 outings and traded zeroes for seven innings, with McDaniel able to go one more frame. The Yankees squandered their best scoring chance in the bottom of the seventh after Martinez singled and then pulled off a rare steal to put him at second with no outs. But McDaniel held firm, working around an intentional walk to Strawberry and retiring Williams, Curtis and Posada to escape the inning.
The scoreless affair stretched all the way to the top of the 10th, when the Monarchs -- just as they did in Game 6 -- scored against Rivera. Simms led off with a single and stole second before advancing to third on a groundout by O’Neill. Then Allen broke through with a two-out double, bringing home Simms and chasing Rivera to give Kansas City the game’s only run. Mike Stanton limited further damage, but the Yankees couldn’t rally one last time in the bottom of the 10th as McKinnis got Brosius to fly out and strand Curtis on first base.