What If Baseball: 1961 New York Yankees vs. 1978 Boston Red Sox

In currently going through the entire Star Trek: Deep Space Nine run, BuckBokai recently got a good excuse to spend some time at his second-favorite website, the most excellent WhatIfSports.com.

The inspiration was founded in a thought-provoking notion about 24th-century hologram technology from the fourth-season episode “For the Cause.” Jake Sisko brings baseball-loving dad Benjamin a gift of a holosuite program featuring a showdown between the 1961 New York Yankees and the 1978 Boston Red Sox.

L to R: Clete Boyer, Tony Kubek, Bobby Richardson, Joe Pepitone

Of course, stuff like this is the first thing BuckBokai would do with a holosuite – okay, perhaps the second, after arranging some Negro League-Major League all-time all-star games. But Jake’s computer tube in “For the Cause” makes one wonder about the nature of such programs: We know that holoprogram writing is a viable occupation in the 24th century, but in the case of sports software, is there a random element involved or does the programmer merely write his “script” based on the most likely result after the supercomputers run the mathematics through gazillions of simulated games?

Will subsequent runnings of the program produce different results? And the fact that Jake’s buddy Nog “found” the program for his Hyoo-MAN friend mean that many of these dream matchups were produced at some point in the 24th century?

“Anyway,” in this particular matchup, says Capt. Sisko, “the Yankees will *bury* them.” That was indeed BuckBokai’s first thought: The ’61 Yankees are habitually listed in the top five or ten teams to ever play, led by the 115 combined homers of Mantle and Maris plus the unstoppable-in-the-‘Series Whitey Ford on the hill. BuckBokai saw the ’78 Bosox, but despite an awesome lineup with the likes of Carl Yastrzemski, Jim Rice, Fred Lynn and Carlton Fisk, those ‘Sox are mostly known for choking away a late-season lead.

L to R: Fred Lynn, Jim Rice, Carl Yastrzemski

While Boston won 99 games that year, they were beaten by mighty Bucky Dent’s home run in an extra playoff needed when the rivals ended the season deadlocked atop the American League East. The acceptance of the ’78 Red Sox as a great team is yet another example of the differing mentality regarding championships in 350 years from now – as seen in the high esteem for the non-World Series appearing London Kings of 2015.

Would the Yankees bury them? BuckBokai let What If Sports decide and, to put it shortly … yep, no contest. In DS9, the holosuite scoreboard read 7-3 New York when it was over and WhatIf’s Red Sox did little better in a fairer, best-of-seven series.

One reckons that, given the choice, either the unnamed programmer or Sisko himself would choose the home field to be good old Fenway Park, one of the two all-time greatest baseball parks ever, including the stuff they’ll erect on Cestus III; and so game one of this series would be played in Boston.

Game one. ’61 Yankees 9, ’78 Red Sox 3. In an eerie reflection of the DS9 game, the Bronx Bombers indeed bury their rivals from 17 years in their future. One-two punch Bobby Richardson and Elston Howard both go 3-for-5 and score thrice each; the later contributes five RBIs with two dingers and a double. Ford pitches a complete game, giving up 10 hits but walking just one.

Game two. ’61 Yankees 7, ’78 Red Sox 5. Down 5-2 in the eighth inning, the Yanks unleash a five-run barrage in the eighth that includes a Yogi Berra home run plus Butch Hobson errors on consecutive plays. With the DH rule in effect on the Sox’ home field, seven batters get multiple hits for the Yankees, who string together an incredible 17 for a team .368 batting average.

Game three. ’61 Yankees 2, ’78 Red Sox 1 (14 innings). Now *this* is the game the Siskos and Kasidy Yates will really want to see – particularly the Sisko men, who will be obsessed with pitcher Bob Gibson. What a pitcher’s duel between El Tiante and Bill Stafford through seven innings, each allowing just three hits.

The Yankees carry a 1-0 lead based on Yogi’s solo shot in the fourth into the top of the eighth when Luis Arroyo takes the hill. Yaz pinch hits for Luis Tiant and milks the count a bit before homering to tie things up; the solo dinger “barely clears the wall in RF” but does the job nonetheless.

And then some. No fewer than 10 combined pitchers would see action into the 14th as neither side could push across a run. Dick Drago would fall victim to the Yankee bats finally, however, as Howard, Mantle and ultimately Maris with a ground-rule double strung together hits for the win (at sunset or in the wee hours depending on program setting).

Game four. ’61 Yankees 2, ’78 Red Sox 1. Not exactly a pitcher’s duel in this one, but rather a case of bats on both teams going disappointingly impotent. The Yankees go up 2-1 after four based on solo homers by Tony Kubek and Mantle. After that … just three more hits would fall in in the game, all New York’s, all singles.

Managing just three hits, Boston’s bats went cold at the wrong time again – a fitting if sad end for the hologram ’78 Red Sox.

And wait ‘til next boot up!

To parapharase Yogi, "In holosuite baseball, you don't know nothing."

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