#3/4 Seeded Teams
#4 1959 San Francisco Giants
Original Season Record:83-71, .539, 3rd place, NL
Star Attractions: Center fielder Willie Mays accumulated a team high 7.8 WAR, led the team with 125 runs, 43 doubles and 34 homers, in addition to 104 RBI, a league high 27 steals, a .313 batting average and a team leading .964 OPS. Sam Jones anchored an excellent starting rotation with a league best 21 wins and 2.83 ERA.
Also Featuring: Lefty Johnny Antonelli also had a fantastic season, going 19-10 with a 3.10 ERA and ranking among the league leaders with 282 innings pitched. Stu Miller was a valuable bullpen weapon, winning and saving eight games apiece in 167.6 innings, compiling a 2.84 ERA. Orlando Cepeda was the Robin to Mays' Batman role, leading the team with a .317 batting average and 105 RBI, hitting 27 homers and stealing 23 bases.
Potential Pitfalls: The batting order was very top heavy for the Giants, with a lot of decent, but nothing special hitters outside of Mays and Cepeda. The bullpen was also a trouble spot, outside of Miller, putting a lot of pressure on the starters to work deep into games regularly. Overall the roster featured a much better nucleus than the supporting cast, relying on a handful of stars to carry a large proportion of the weight.
#3 1941 Boston Red Sox
Original Season Record: 84-70. 545, 2nd place, AL
Star Attractions: Few players have put together better offensive seasons than the one Ted Williams achieved in 1941, the last time a player hit .400 or better in a season (.406). He also led the league with 10.4 WAR, 135 runs, 37 homers, 147 walks, a .553 on base percentage, .735 slugging percentage and 1.287 OPS, Another pair Hall-of-Famers, JImmie Foxx and Joe Cronin, also had impressive seasons. Foxx hit .300 with a .917 OPS and drove in 105 runs, while Cronin hit .311 with a .914 OPS and 38 doubles.
Also Featuring: Center fielder Dom DiMaggio was an impressive table setter with a .385 on base percentage and 117 runs, while Bobby Doerr played an exceptional defensive second base and chipped in 16 home runs and 93 RBIs.
Potential Pitfalls: As lethal as The offence was, the pitching was at best league average with a middling 4.19 ERA. They only had two pitching regulars with an ERA below 4. Defence was also a problem, with corner outfielders Ted Williams and Lou Finney as mediocre fielders, and shortstop Cronin and third baseman Jim Tabor even worse on the left side of the infield. The Red Sox slugged their way to a lot of wins, but eventually mediocre pitching and defence limits how much success a team can achieve over a long season.
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