Yankees' Fall Classics
1921-2003
by Michael Aubrecht, Copyright
2004
World Series (1903-present)
on Baseball-Almanac
Introduction
Each year, the primary focus in any
professional sport is the race for a championship.
Every sport has their pinnacle trophy, but none is
as coveted as baseball's World Series; a best of
seven contest that celebrates our national pastime.
An event as important as any holiday on the
calendar, it is as traditional as Thanksgiving, as
patriotic as the Fourth of July and as anticipated
as Christmas morning. Over the last century, the
World Series has been woven into the fabric of
America's culture evolving far beyond a mere
baseball tournament. It has become the game of all
games and has continued to provide us with an
endless highlight reel of magical moments evoking
childhood memories of agony and ecstasy. No team in
the history of Major League Baseball has ever
dominated the post season like the New York Yankees
and this storied franchise currently leads all
sports teams in Championships won with a 26-13
record (to date).
1921: New York Giants (5) vs. New
York Yankees (3)
If
the 1920 season had left Boston wondering if they
had made a mistake, then the 1921 season surely
removed any doubt. Babe Ruth was in New York and
busy breaking his own records for the second
consecutive season. As the Red Sox were struggling
to stay competitive, the Yankees were still getting
used to winning after coming off of a third place
American League finish during the Babe's "rookie"
season in a pinstriped uniform. Nothing changed in
1921 as their new acquisition raised his homerun
record to a staggering fifty-nine, his RBI total to
one-hundred seventy-one and his batting average to
.378 on the way to their first American League
pennant and World Series appearance. The Babe
wasn't alone though as teammate Bob Meusel
contributed twenty-four homers and one-hundred
thirty-five RBIs and the rest of the Yankees batted
.288 or higher. Two other "ex-Red Sox", Carl Mays
(a twenty-seven game winner) and Waite Hoyt (with
nineteen) added insult to injury while Bob Shawkey
added eighteen more victories.
The
National League's Giants were veterans to the Fall
Classic and had plenty to smile about themselves.
With a line-up of lumberjacks including Frankie
Frisch, Ross Youngs, George Kelly and Irish Meusel
and a solid pitching staff known as the "fearsome
foursome" (Art Nehf, Fred Toney, Jesse Barnes and
Phil Douglas), they promised to give Babe Ruth and
his re-born Yankees a run for their money. In the
first World Series to be played entirely in one
ballpark (the Polo Grounds), the Big Apple's "rival
roommates" squared off in the first official Subway
Series. Despite rumors of Ruth on the mound, Miller
Huggins gave the Game 1 start to Carl Mays while
John McGraw selected Phil Douglas. The Yankee's
pitchers quickly set the tone for the Series with
an opening 3-0 victory that was repeated the
following day with a two hit, 3-0 triumph by Waite
Hoyt.
Down but not out, the Giants
managed to come back in Game 3 after trailing four
runs in the fourth. After tying it up in the bottom
the inning, McGraw's team rallied for eight runs in
the seventh thanks to Ross Youngs' bases-loaded
triple. In the end, the Yankees had blinked and
were taken for twenty hits and a 13-5 victory that
turned the momentum back to the veterans. The
Giants continued as Douglas returned the following
day and vindicated himself with a 4-2 win that tied
the Series at two games apiece. Game 5 was even
more dramatic as an injured Babe Ruth shocked
everyone with a key bunt in the fourth inning,
setting up the winning run off a Bob Meusel double.
The Yankees had regained their composure and walked
away with a 3-1, Series leading victory, but at a
terrible cost as their most valuable player would
be unable to continue due to arm and knee
ailments.
Despite the absence of the Babe,
the Yankees still felt confident with their
remaining line-up. That was until they lost Game 6,
8-5 and Game 7, 2-1. Great performances at the
plate by Irish Meusel and Frank Snyder as well as a
solid outing on the mound by Phil Douglas had put
the Giants out in front. Game 8 evolved into a
classic pitcher's duel between Waite Hoyt and Art
Nehf, who led the standoff 1-0 going into the
bottom of the ninth. In a last chance effort, the
desperate Yankee skipper went to his bench and
replaced the struggling Wally Pipp (who had batted
a miserable .154) with the still injured Babe Ruth
who grounded out to first. Two plays later, the
Series was over with the Giants winning five games
to three.
Although they had fallen short in
their first World Series appearance, the Yankees
had shown a glimpse of what would become a dynasty.
Waite Hoyt had not allowed a single earned run in
twenty-seven innings and Carl Mays had been just as
effective with an ERA of 1.73 over twenty-six. Ruth
batted an impressive .313 and added his first World
Series home run and four RBIs. After four straight
losses, the Giants had finally reclaimed the
championship title for the first time since 1905.
1922: New York Giants (4) vs. New
York Yankees (0)
The
defending American League champion Yankees entered
the 1922 season still recovering from a devastating
loss to the Giants and without two of their star
players. Both Babe Ruth and Bob Meusel had been
suspended for an unauthorized barnstorming tour
after the 1921 Series. To make matters worse,
Commissioner Landis handed Ruth additional
suspensions after several run-ins with umpires and
other indiscretions off the field. In fact, the
Babe did not play until May 20th and had only made
one-hundred ten appearances out of one-hundred
fifty-four games at the end of the pennant race.
His stats plummeted as a result, dropping him to
third in homers (with thirty-five) and out of the
top five for RBI's (with ninety-nine). Still, the
Yankees managed to hold onto their American League
crown and prepared for a rematch against the
defending World Champion New York Giants.
The
Yankees had continued to pillage the Boston Red Sox
acquiring Everett Scott and Joe Dugan as well as
Whitey Witt from the Philadelphia Athletics. The
Giants had made some great deals too in trading for
third baseman Heinie Groh and pitcher Jack Scott.
Once again, New York was host to its second
consecutive Subway Series, which had finally
reverted back to a best-of-seven format.
Game 1 found the Giants in familiar
territory as they rebounded from a 2-0 deficit in
the eighth on their way to a 3-2 victory. Newly
acquired Heinie Groh performed exceptionally well
going three-for-three despite the best efforts of
Joe Bush who had shut out his hometown rivals
through seven innings. Things started differently
in Game 2 as the Giants quickly set the pace with a
three run homer off of Yankee veteran Bob Shawkey
in the top of the first. Not to be outdone, the
Yankees managed to tie it up with runs in the
first, fourth and eighth innings. Both sides dug in
for what promised to be a dramatic finish, but
umpire George Hildebrand insisted on calling the
game due to "darkness" after the tenth inning. With
at least a ½ hour of sunlight left, the fans
were outraged and demanded the official's
resignation. In an effort to make the best of a bad
public relations situation, the league decided that
the gate receipts would be donated to various New
York charities.
Babe Ruth's difficulties had
continued to plague him well into the post-season
and it wasn't looking any better for Game 3. At
this point in the Series, the Sultan of Swat had
gone two-for-eight with one measly RBI and his
teammates weren't looking any better. Giant's
pitcher Jack Scott, who had compiled an impressive
8-2 record in only seventeen games, blanked the
Yankees with a four hit, 3-0 triumph and set a
momentum that would last for the rest of the
Series. Hugh McQuillan took the mound for the
Nationals in Game 4 and notched a complete 4-3 win
backed up by the slugging of Dave Bancroft. Art
Nehf returned for Game 5 and the clincher (as he
had in the previous year) in a 5-3 triumph that
netted the Giants their second consecutive title.
Not only had the Giants pitching staff dominated
the last three games for a back-to-back
championship, they had done so while holding
baseball greatest slugger to a miserable
zero-for-nine record. The Bambino wound up with two
hits in seventeen at-bats for a .118 average and
his teammates hit only .203 as a team.
1923: New York Giants (2) vs. New
York Yankees (4)
The
term home field advantage took on a whole new
meaning in 1923 as baseball's grand cathedral,
Yankees Stadium, opened much to the dismay of the
Giants. Although the two-time defending champions
would finally reclaim the Polo Grounds for
themselves, The House That Ruth Built towered over
their yard and featured an enormous seating
capacity with an architectural beauty that was
second to none. With the addition of a third
ballpark, New York had established itself as THE
premier city for professional sports entertainment.
A sports columnist from Philadelphia had written
that thousands of years in the future archeologists
would uncover ruins in the lower Bronx that would
resemble that of ancient Rome's coliseums. The
Giants had generously shared their field with the
Yankees (and Highlanders) since 1913 but now found
themselves standing in the shadow of their
cross-town rivals.
Although the Yankees had lost two
consecutive World Series to the Giants, they were
quickly becoming the more popular of the two. The
soon to be penned Bronx Bombers boasted the game's
top player, the largest arena, and the best record
in baseball after winning their third American
League pennant by a sixteen game margin. Once
again, the Subway Series was on as the Yankees and
the Giants met for the third consecutive year. In a
strange twist, Giants' outfielder, Casey Stengel,
who would later become one of the most successful
and beloved Yankee managers, beat his future team
in Game 1 with an inside-the-park home run off of
Joe Bush to break a 4-4 tie in the ninth. The
Yankees record was now 0-9 (eight losses and one
tie) in Series games against the Giants, but New
York had Babe Ruth and he would have something to
say about that. After a disappointing season
plagued with suspensions and poor play in 1922, the
Babe was back in action, hitting .394 and sharing
the home run title with the Phillies' Cy Williams
(with forty-one). He was in top form for Game 2,
hitting home runs in the fourth and fifth innings
on the way to a 4-2 victory at the Polo
Grounds.
Game 1 hero Casey Stengel once
again stole the spotlight in Game 3. Through six
innings, the Yankees' Sam Jones and the Giants' Art
Nehf were locked in a scoreless battle. Then, with
one out in the seventh, Stengel homered into the
right field stands at Yankee Stadium for the win.
Not to be outdone, the Yankees dominated the next
two outings while totaling sixteen runs with
twenty-seven hits resulting in 8-4 and 8-1
victories. New York coasted through Games 4 and 5
on the arm of Joe Bush and the bat of Joe Dugan.
Finally, the Yankees had beaten the Giants for
their first world championship in their brand new
stadium (which featured crowds in excess of 62,000
and over $1million dollars in ticket sales). In
addition, Babe Ruth had finally beaten his
post-season demons, hitting three home runs, a
triple, a double and two singles while batting
.368.
1926: St. Louis Cardinals (4) vs.
New York Yankees (3)
Once again, the New York Yankees
had risen to the top of the American League with
solid pitching and spectacular hitting by the soon
to be penned "Murderer's". Babe Ruth was joined in
the spotlight by two young up-and-coming sluggers
named Lou Gehrig and Earle Combs who hit .348 and
.357 during the regular season. Their opponents,
the National League's St. Louis Cardinals, had
similar success with Rogers Hornsby, a .317 hitter,
and pitchers Flint Rhem and Bill Sherdel who had
won twenty and sixteen games respectively.
Both teams looked to be strong on
both sides of the plate, but the Yankees remained
heavy favorites after dethroning the Giants'
dynasty in the previous Series. Rookie Lou Gehrig
had a fantastic debut in Game 1 driving in the
winning run for a 6-3 opening victory. New York was
not as fortunate in Game 2 as the Cardinals
returned with a vengeance for a 6-2 payback. Grover
Alexander went the distance against three Yankees
pitchers including Urban Shocker, Bob Shawkey, who
came on in the eighth, and Sam Jones who finished
the ninth. Things didn't get any better for the
favorites in Game 3 as once again, a Cardinal
pitcher (Jesse Haines) lasted all nine against
three of New York's finest (Dutch Ruether, Bob
Shawkey and Myles Thomas). Haines also contributed
the only home run in the 4-0 shutout. The underdog
Cards' were now on top two games to one.
Down, but not out, "Murderer's Row"
came back in Game 4 with a new resolve. This time
it was St. Louis exhausting their bullpen as Yankee
vet Waite Hoyt stood tall against five Cardinal
pitchers including Flint Rhem, Art Reinhart, Hi
Bell, Bill Hallahan and finally Vic Keen. The
Bambino was back to his old self too, knocking out
three homers to the Cardinals none. Although the
National League champs were still ahead by a single
game, serious damage had been done in the 10-5
debacle, as New York was clearly not giving up
without a fight. Both teams dug in as Game 5
resulted in a ten inning pitcher's duel between the
Yank's Herb Pennock and Card's Bill Sherdel. The
Yankees managed to win it 3-2 and led the Series by
one game with two to go. Game 6 offered a replay of
Game 2 as Grover Alexander once again, went the
distance in a crucial 10-2 triumph that left Bob
Shawkey a loser and Urban Shocker and Myles Thomas
unavailable for the final showdown.
Game 7 was a real nail-biter as
Jesse Haines and Grover Alexander went head-to-head
with Waite Hoyt and Herb Pennock. Both teams
managed eight hits apiece and Babe Ruth contributed
the only homer in the contest. Down 3-2 in the
ninth, the Yankees were still in good shape as
baseball's greatest slugger stepped up to the
plate. The Babe worked the count to three and two,
then drew his eleventh walk of the Series. Clean-up
man Bob Meusel prepared to put the winning run on
base, but was denied when the anxious Bambino
attempted to steal second. Although he had
successfully stolen against the Cardinals in Game
6, he was slow off the start and catcher Bob
O'Farrell's throw to Hornsby nailed the Yankees'
slugger ending the Fall Classic. Many fans were
furious with Ruth and believed that his mistake had
clearly cost the Series.
St.
Louis had managed to beat the mighty Babe Ruth and
his defending world champion Yankees despite
mediocre performances from their standout players.
Hornsby hit a meager .250 against New York and both
Rhem and Sherdel had failed to win a game.
1927: Pittsburgh Pirates (0) vs.
New York Yankees (4)
Fans in 1927 witnessed the play of
what many baseball historians consider to be the
greatest team in the history of baseball, The 1927
New York Yankees. With an all-star lineup known as
"Murderer's Row", New York outscored its opponents
by nearly four-hundred runs and hit .307 as a team.
Babe Ruth, perhaps the greatest ever, set the
original single season mark with sixty homeruns
which was more than any other American League team
had combined. The Sultan of Swat also had plenty of
help from his fellow sluggers in pinstripes.
Outfield counterparts, Earle Combs in center and
Bob Meusel in left, hit .356 and .337 respectively.
Lou Gehrig had his first big season, batting .373
with forty-seven homers and a league leading
one-hundred seventy-five RBIs. Second year man Tony
Lazzeri ranked third in the loop with eighteen
homers. The pitching staff boasted four men who won
eighteen or more wins, led by Waite Hoyt at 22-7.
Herb Pennock and Wilcy Moore gained nineteen
victories apiece while Urban Shocker added
eighteen. This lethal trio complemented the
dominant offense by claiming the league's three
best ERAs. Moore, who pitched primarily in relief,
led the way with a 2.28 mark. With a 110-44 record,
the Bronx Bombers ran away with the American League
pennant, winning by a staggering nineteen
games.
On
the National League side, the Pittsburgh Pirates
had managed a pennant, but were clearly not the
caliber that New York represented. Game 1 opened at
Forbes Field, but the "home field advantage"
offered the Pirates little comfort in a 5-4 loss
that was highlighted by several crucial fielding
errors by the home team. Little changed in Game 2
as the Yankees netted another 6-2 victory off the
arm of George Pipgras who beat Pittsburgh's Vic
Aldridge, Mike Cvengros and Joe Dawson. Herb
Pennock, who entered the game with a 4-0 Series
record, went the distance for the third outing
mowing down the Pirates 1-2-3 in the first, fourth,
fifth, sixth and seventh innings. The result was an
8-1 triumph that left the Yankees one win away from
sweeping the Series and reclaiming their
crown.
Game 4 was anyone's for nine
innings as neither team blinked in a 3-3 stalemate.
Pittsburgh manager, Donie Bush, had turned to
Carmen Hill, who had peaked in 1927 as the ace of
his pitching staff. Hill had never won more than
three games, but in 1927, he chalked up twenty-two.
New York's Miller Huggins went with Wilcy Moore, a
promising rookie who had made only twelve starts in
his fifty appearances. Both had planned to go the
distance, but the mental fatigue was starting to
take its toll. Pittsburgh's John Miljus came in as
relief in the seventh and looked strong until the
ninth. Earle Combs walked and Mark Koenig beat out
a bunt to advance to second and third. In a daring
move, Ruth was walked intentionally, filling the
bases with no outs and Lou Gehrig coming up next.
Miljus managed to strike out the next two batters,
but threw a disastrous wild pitch to Tony Lazzeri,
scoring Combs and ending the game. The Yankees had
won their second championship title and the
crowning achievement to a magnificent season. They
also became the first team ever to sweep the
National League in a World Series.
1928: St. Louis Cardinals (0) vs.
New York Yankees (4)
After coming off of a magical
season, the defending champion Yankees managed to
hold off the Athletics to win their third
consecutive pennant by 2½games, but at a
serious cost as injuries depleted their line-up.
Pitcher Herb Pennock (17-6) was on the sidelines
for the Series with a sore arm. Centerfielder Earle
Combs was available only as a pinch-hitter because
of a broken finger. Second baseman Tony Lazzeri
suffered a lame-throwing arm, and Babe Ruth was
playing on a bad ankle. The St. Louis Cardinals,
however, were all in good shape and ready for a
repeat of the 1926 contest when they had dethroned
New York four games to three.
For
Game 1, Waite Hoyt went up against Bill Sherdel in
a classic rematch of David vs. Goliath. The Babe
managed to play, despite his inability to run and
he and his young protégé both put on
quite a show. Ruth had a single and two doubles,
Gehrig went two-for-four with two RBIs and Bob
Meusel knocked a two-run home run on the way to a
4-1 opening victory. Grover Alexander (who had
embarrassed the Yankees and their pitching staff in
the '26 Series) returned for Game 2, but lacked the
dominating presence of two years ago. Lou Gehrig
started things off with a three-run homer in the
first inning and the Yankees continued to score
without resistance on the way to a 9-3
victory.
As
expected, Ruth and Gehrig continued to abuse the
Cardinals' pitching staff with reckless abandon.
The Iron Horse launched three blasts in Game 3 for
a 7-3 win and The Babe knocked three into the seats
in Game 4 (with Gehrig contributing one) for
another 7-3 triumph and a second sweep for the
World Championship. Both sluggers had combined to
go sixteen-for-twenty-seven at the plate, with a
.593 average, seven homers and thirteen RBIs. Ruth
set one of many Series records hitting an
unbelievable .625 with ten hits in four games.
Gehrig hit .545 and set his own record with nine
RBIs in four games. It truly was a two-man show as
the rest of the Yankees batted .196, but were
supported by solid pitching by Hoyt, George Pipgras
and Tom Zachary. The perennial World Champions had
managed to save-face after a difficult season and
once again proved that they were the
best-of-the-best.
1932: Chicago Cubs (0) vs. New York
Yankees (4)
Anger, emotion and controversy were
the big stories of the 1932 Series and that was
before the first pitch was ever even thrown. Babe
Ruth, the most beloved (and hated) player in all of
baseball, lived up to his reputation by ripping
apart the Chicago Cubs organization in the press
while sticking up for one of his former teammates.
Remembering the contributions of shortstop Mark
Koenig to the Yankees' great teams of 1926-1928,
several New York players berated the National
League champions for only offering him a half-share
of the World Series payoff. Although he had been a
late-season acquisition, the former Yankee had
batted .353 in thirty-three games for his new team
and many felt that he was being cheated. Chicago
tempers were also flared by the return of Joe
McCarthy, who had been fired by the Cubs after the
1930 season. Many around the league had felt that
the Yank's new skipper had been unfairly treated
after winning the pennant in '29 and taking his
team to second place the following year. However,
many of his supporters quickly turned on him after
he accepted a position with the hated American
League powerhouse. Two years later he walked back
onto Wrigley Field in a New York uniform determined
to get the "last laugh" over his former employer.
He certainly had the advantage this time as the
Yankees won the first two games back home in the
Bronx and were now locked in a 4-4 stalemate. What
would follow has become one of the most memorable
and controversial moments in the history of
baseball...
With one out in the fifth, Babe
Ruth stepped up to the plate and prepared to stare
down Chicago's Charlie Root. "The Bambino" had
launched a three-run rocket off of the Cub's
veteran in the first, but took a called strike on
the first pitch. Two balls and another strike
followed as "The Babe" acknowledged it with a
raised hand. Confident that a "K" was coming, the
Cubs fans started taunting Ruth from the stands. As
the noise level rose to a deafening roar, Ruth
pointed to center field (although some contest that
he was pointing back at Root) and prepared his
wind-up. Whatever the gesture, it certainly
silenced the fans as he delivered the next pitch
over the centerfield wall for the go-ahead score.
Even Lou Gehrig (who was on-deck at the time)
maintained that Ruth had definitely "called his
shot" although Root wasn't buying into the "Sultan
of Swing" sensationalism. He was quoted as saying,
"If he had, I would have knocked him down with the
next pitch." Ruth never expounded upon the matter
and was content with another contribution to
baseball folklore. It still remains a
mystery.
Gehrig and Ruth both traded
two-homer days in a close Game 3 that ended 7-5 in
the Yankees' favor. New York prepared the next day
to close out the Cubs for their third consecutive
sweep, but did not get off to a good start as they
fell behind 4-1 when Chicago's Frank Demaree
knocked a three-run homer in the first. Despite the
Cubs' strong start, New York stormed back, thanks
in part to the bat of Tony Lazzeri who had two,
two-run homers during a late Yankees rally. In a
game that was tied 5-5 for six innings, the Yanks
wound up with a 13-6 win and another World
Championship. Although Ruth's "called shot" was the
most widely contested and celebrated moment of the
1932 Series, it was Lou Gehrig who was without a
doubt, the biggest hitter. Gehrig went
nine-for-seventeen with a .529 average, slugged
three homers, scored nine runs and tallied eight
RBIs. He was backed up by Bill Dickey, who batted
.438, Earle Combs, who hit .375 and Joe Sewell and
"the Babe" who both finished with a .333 average.
Strangely, the "called shot" would be Ruth's last
homerun in World Series play.
1936: New York Giants (2) vs. New
York Yankees (4)
In
1936, the New York Yankees were not only without
their best player, but also perhaps the greatest
player in the history of the game. Prior to 1935,
the Yankees had released the legendary Babe Ruth,
who went on to play briefly for the Boston Braves,
and shortly thereafter retired from baseball. Many
felt that "The Babe" was directly responsible for
the Yankees' dominance of the late 20's and 30's
and the prospect of returning to post-season glory
without him was grim. If New York would be able to
prosper without Ruth in the line-up; it would be a
tremendous boost for the future of the franchise.
Ruth's "replacement" was an up-and-coming rookie
outfielder named Joe DiMaggio who hit twenty-nine
homers and one-hundred twenty-nine RBIs in his
debut season. Third only to Lou Gehrig and Bill
Dickey, "Joe 'D" as he would later be called, was a
perfect fit for the old "Bronx Bombers". Gehrig was
coming off of a MVP season in which he hit
forty-nine homeruns and drove in one-hundred
fifty-two with a .354 batting average. Dickey hit
twenty-two homers with one-hundred seven RBIs and
led the team with a .362.
Pitching was also a major player in
the Yankees 1936 season as six hurlers finished the
regular season with double-digit wins. Their
records include: Red Ruffing (20-12, 3.85 ERA);
Monte Pearson (19-7, 3.71); Bump Hadley (14-4,
4.34); Lefty Gomez (13-7, 4.38); Pat Malone (12-4,
3.80); and Johnny Broaca (12-7, 4.24). Not only had
New York proved themselves to be worthy without
Ruth during the regular season, they were on the
verge of a World Series streak that would last for
the next four years. The Yankees return to the
Series also coincided with the comeback of the
National League champion New York Giants who were
returning to the big show after a three year
hiatus. Although the Giants did not share the
dominant pennant run that the Yanks had (winning by
only five games), they did have the most dangerous
pitcher in all of baseball. Carl Hubbell, a
thirty-three year-old lefty, had just won his last
sixteen games and finished the season 26-6 with a
2.31 ERA.
Hubbell had more than earned the
start for Game 1 and went up against twenty-game
winner Red Ruffing. Mid-season acquisition, Jake
Powell (who came over from Washington) was
obviously not intimidated by the Giants' "giant"
and managed three base hits in his first three
attempts. It mattered little as Ruth's replacement
in right field, George Selkirk, scored the Yankees'
only run with a homer in the third inning. Hubbell
struck out eight and only allowed seven hits (none
of which flew past the infield) on his way to a 6-1
opening lead. Despite the miserable debut, the
Yankees went on to win four of the next five games
while paying back the Giants' pitching staff for
Hubbell's performance. In Game 2, they took Hal
Schumacher and four relievers for seventeen hits
including the second grand slam in World Series
history by Tony Lazzeri. The entire line-up (all
nine) had at least one hit and scored one run in
the 18-4 massacre (Bill Dickey and Lazzeri each had
five runs batted in apiece). The following day,
newly acquired Bump Hadley delivered a 2-1 victory
with a tie-breaking run knocked in by Frankie
Crosetti in the eighth and solid relief from Pat
Malone in the ninth.
Hubbell returned to seek revenge
for his counterparts in Game 4, but suffered their
same fate, allowing four Yankee runs (two off
Gehrig's second homer in as many days) in the first
three innings. Despite his best efforts, the
Giants' ace was bested 5-2 by Monte Pearson, a
recent trade-acquisition from Cleveland. On the
brink of elimination, the Giants managed to stay
alive with a crucial 5-4; ten-inning victory in
Game 5, but it only postponed the obvious. Once
again, the Yankee sluggers stepped up to the plate
and blasted their cross-town rival's pitching staff
in an embarrassing 13-5, Game 6 romp. Powell,
Lazzeri, DiMaggio and Rolfe each had three hits
(with Powell adding a homer and four RBIs) as the
Yankees wrapped up the Giants and another World
Series title. In the end, the Yankees had finished
the contest with an amazing sixty-five hits. Powell
batted .455, Rolfe hit .400, DiMaggio batted .346
and Gehrig knocked in seven runs while boosting his
RBI total in Series play to 31 in 25 games. The
only highlight for their opponents came on opening
day as Hubbell's Game 1 masterpiece ended the newly
crowned champion's twelve-game winning streak.
However, it would be of little consolation to the
fallen Giants (and the rest of the National League)
as the Yankees were about to start a new
winning-streak of a different kind.
1937: New York Giants (1) vs. New
York Yankees (4)
Once again, Joe McCarthy's New York
Yankees dominated the American League for the
second consecutive season, winning the American
League pennant by a thirteen-game margin with
league-leading hitting by three of the games
greatest. Second-year man Joe DiMaggio drove in
one-hundred sixty-seven runs, veteran Lou Gehrig
added one-hundred fifty-nine and Bill Dickey
contributed one-hundred thirty-three for an amazing
four-hundred fifty-nine runs batted in.
Gehrig, known as the "Iron Horse"
had enjoyed a magnificent season that would sadly
be his last before amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
(later named Lou Gehrig's disease) began to take
its toll on his career and his life. He batted .351
and recorded thirty-seven homers, his
protégé "Joe D"; hit .346 with
forty-six homers and Dickey came in third with a
.332 and twenty-nine. The three were without equals
at the plate, although George Selkirk was on pace
(eighteen homers in sixty-eight games) and may have
made it four, if not missing half a season due to
injuries. The Yankees also had the American
League's only twenty-game winners with Lefty Gomez
(21-11) and Red Ruffing (20-7) as well as standout
relief in Johnny Murphy, who recorded twelve saves
and thirteen overall.
However, the Yankees weren't the
only repeaters in '37 as the National League's
Giants returned for a classic rematch against their
hated cross-town rivals. Unlike the Yankees, Bill
Terry's club did not possess the dominant hitting
(Mel Ott was closest with thirty-one home runs and
ninety-five runs batted in), but they did boast
two, twenty-game winners with Carl Hubbell (22-8)
and rookie Clift Melton (20-9).
Game 1 echoed the previous Series
opener with the Giants on top 1-0 going into the
sixth, but before the inning concluded, the Yankees
struck for seven runs on their way to a six-hit,
8-1 victory for Gomez. Game 2 started the same as
the Giants led 1-0 going into the bottom of the
fifth. This time the American Leaguers struck for
two in the fifth, two more in the sixth and headed
for their second consecutive 8-1 comeback that
featured a seven-hitter from Red Ruffing. Things
didn't get any better for the National Leaguers in
Game 3 either as Monte Pearson, getting last-out
relief help from Murphy in the ninth, won - despite
the fact that the Giants had loaded the
bases.
As
the Yanks prepared to go for their fourth sweep in
their last five World Series appearances, the
Giants were still trying to get their first win in
their last four Series games. Things seemed to
finally turn in their favor for Game 4 as they
managed six runs in the second inning. Center
fielder Hank Leiber got things going with a base
hit and then capped the rally with a two-run
single. Hubbell went on to record a 7-3 victory
while throwing a clutch six-hitter. In the ninth
inning, the last he would pitch in a Series, he
allowed a homerun to Lou Gehrig, the last he would
hit in a Series. Once again, the Giants had
comeback from the brink of elimination, and once
again, the Yankees had an answer the following day.
In Game 5, Myril Hoag whacked a second inning homer
for the Yanks and DiMaggio connected in the top of
the third. Ott returned fire with a two-run blast
in the bottom of the inning, but Lazerri hit a
leadoff triple in the fifth and scored on Gomez's
single due to second baseman Burgess Whitehead's
fielding error. Two outs later, Gehrig doubled home
Gomez on the way to a 4-2 Series ending
victory.
The
back-to-back titleists had won their sixth World
Series championship, (breaking the mark they had
shared with the Philadelphia Athletics) and they
were only getting started. Believe it or not, the
four-games-to-one humiliation that the New York
Giants were forced to endure was only the tip of
the iceberg and the defending champion's next two
opponents would not find themselves as
fortunate.
1938: Chicago Cubs (0) vs. New York
Yankees (4)
After a six-year hiatus, the
Chicago Cubs managed to top the National League,
despite making it there by the slimmest of margins.
After a ninth-inning, 6-5 win over the Pittsburgh
Pirates (who had led the National League for
2½ months) on September 28th, the Cubs managed
to hold onto first place while winning the pennant
by a mere two games. Rip Collins led the team in
homers with thirteen, and outfielder Augie Galan
topped the Cubs in runs batted in with sixty-nine.
Stan Hack batted .320 and led the National League
with sixteen stolen bases, and Carl Reynolds hit
.302. Bill Lee and Clay Bryant were the staff
pitching aces with twenty-two and nineteen
victories. Dizzy Dean, who tried to come back too
soon after his All-Star Game toe injury of 1937 and
hurt his arm, had been obtained from the St. Louis
Cardinals in April and won 7-of-8 decisions.
Their opponents, the 2x-defending
champion Yankees were still dominating things on
the American League side. This time five New
Yorkers compiled RBI totals over ninety, and those
five; Joe DiMaggio, Bill Dickey, Lou Gehrig, rookie
Joe Gordon and Tommy Henrich had home run totals
ranging from thirty-two to twenty-two. Red Ruffing
led the American League in victories with
twenty-one, followed in the rotation by Lefty Gomez
(eighteen wins), Monte Pearson (sixteen wins) and
Spud Chandler (fourteen wins). The result was a
9½ game lead over the Boston Red Sox for the
American League pennant.
Bill Lee got the call for the Cubs
in the Series opener and while the big right-hander
pitched well, he did not pitch well enough to win.
Bill Dickey went four-for-four against him; scoring
a run and driving home another as the Yankees
pulled ahead with a "predictable" 3-1 triumph.
Nothing changed for Game 2 although the Cubs' Dizzy
Dean appeared in control almost till the end. He
contained the Yankees for seven innings at Wrigley
Field and had given up only three hits while
leading the contest, 3-2. George Selkirk added the
Yankees' fourth hit as the leadoff man in the
eighth, but two force-outs left Dean in a position
to escape with one more out. Frankie Crosetti (who
was on the bottom of the Yank's home-run list with
nine) stepped up with Myril Hoag leading off of
first base. Swinging at the first pitch, the
unlikely hero sent a shockwave through the stands
with a bomb over the left-field wall. Dean and his
teammates stood in disbelief and were unable to
answer the call in the ninth as the Yankees held on
for the 6-3 victory.
Ahead two-games-to-none with the
Series shifting to Yankee Stadium, the New Yorkers
seemed to be a lock. Game 3 and 4 were quick (and
painful) as the home team's momentum carried them
to 5-2 and 8-3 finales that featured solid hitting
by Crosetti who added a double, triple and four
runs batted in to his stats. On a somber note, the
ailing Lou Gehrig, went four-for-fourteen (all
singles) for his last Series appearance. The
Yankees had completed their fourth Series sweep in
their last six appearances and became the first
team to win the World Series in three consecutive
years. The American Leaguers appeared unstoppable
and most felt that the Cubs never had a chance.
1939: Cincinnati Reds (0) vs. New
York Yankees (4)
The
Cincinnati Reds returned to the big show for the
first time since 1919 when they were the
beneficiaries of the famous "Black Sox Scandal" in
which their opponents, the Chicago White Sox,
intentionally threw the Series. After a lengthy
investigation in 1920, the members of Chicago's
team were amazingly acquitted the following year
despite their own confessions (which were recanted
later). Many Reds fans later realized that their
"championship title" had been tainted and were
anxious to see their team win one on their own
terms. Their sudden rise to the top of the National
League was more than impressive (after finishing at
the bottom of the National League in 1937) and
their "Cinderella season" featured the two
winningest pitchers in all of baseball. Bucky
Walters led the major-leagues with twenty-seven
wins and Paul Derringer backed him up with
twenty-five of his own. For their opponents, the
perennial championship Yankees, it was business as
usual. New York finished the regular season with a
106-45 record and won their fourth consecutive
pennant by seventeen games.
Reds manager, Bill McKechnie, went
with Derringer for Game 1 and Joe McCarthy selected
Series regular, Red Ruffing. The Yankee veteran
played true to form with an opening four-hit, 2-1
victory that featured a last-inning, tie-breaker on
a Bill Dickey single. Cincinnati was down, but not
out as they had shown that they could stand tall
against the 3x defending champions. Unfortunately
for Reds fans, nothing changed the following day as
Monte Pearson beat out Walters with a two-hit, 4-0
masterpiece that put his team up two games-to-none.
Babe Dahlgren (who had replaced Lou Gehrig for the
Yankees) doubled and homered in support. The
first-baseman had taken over May 2 when failing
health and an accompanying decline in skills had
forced the "Iron Horse" out of the New York lineup
after 2,130 consecutive games. Not since 1923 had
the Yankees engaged in postseason play without
Gehrig and fans and players alike dearly missed his
presence.
For
Game 3, the Reds came out swinging and finally
generated some offense against the Yankees pitching
staff while out-hitting the Bronx Bombers by more
than a 2-to-1 margin. However, as in most sports,
"quality" mattered more than "quantity" as all ten
of Cincinnati's hits resulted in mere singles. New
York, on the other hand, got two-run homers from
rookie Charlie Keller in the first and fifth
innings, a two-run blast from Joe DiMaggio (who
batted a career-high .381 in the regular season) in
the third and a bases-empty shot from Bill Dickey
in the fifth. The final was a 7-3 romp that put the
Yanks one game away from their fourth consecutive
championship.
Game 4 was a tense 0-0 standoff
until the seventh, when Charlie Keller and Bill
Dickey both launched bases-empty homers off of the
returning Derringer. The Reds quickly answered back
in their half of the inning for three unearned runs
off reliever Steve Sundra, who had replaced ailing
starter Oral Hildebrand in the fifth. Johnny Murphy
tacked on an "insurance" run in the eighth, but
shortstop Billy Myers' error on Dickey's potential
double-play ball in the ninth enabled the Yankees
to move within one. Then, New York scored again
when DiMaggio beat a throw to the plate on Joe
Gordon's grounder for the 4-4 tie. With runners on
the corners and one out in the tenth, "Joe D" came
up big again and singled to right for the game
winner. That would have been trouble enough for
Cincinnati, but right fielder Ival Goodman
misplayed the ball and another run headed home.
That, too, would have been trouble enough for
Cincinnati, but catcher Ernie Lombardi not only
failed to hold Goodman's throw to the plate, but he
also was knocked down by the onrushing Keller and
the ball rolled away.
As
a result, DiMaggio was able to circle the bases
untouched, as the Reds' receiver lay stunned.
"Schnozz's snooze" the play was called, and it won
a special place in baseball folklore despite its
minimal impact overall. In the bottom of the tenth,
Cincinnati managed to send the tying run to the
plate three times, but were unable to finish the
job as Johnny Murphy protected the Yankees' 7-4
lead for their second consecutive sweep, and fourth
consecutive World Series title. Keller, the Series
star, led the contest in runs scored (eight), hits
(seven), home runs (three), runs batted in (six)
and batting average (.438). In the end, the Yankees
had won thirteen of their last fourteen Series
games and twenty-eight of their last thirty-one
games in baseball's premier event.
1941: Brooklyn Dodgers (1) vs. New
York Yankees (4)
After a short, one-year absence,
the perennial champion New York Yankees returned to
the familiar territory of post-season baseball in
1941. Despite losing the American League pennant to
the Detroit Tigers the year before, the "Bronx
Bombers" were still favored after winning thirteen
of their last fourteen Series games and
twenty-eight of their last thirty-one games in
baseball's premier event. Joe McCarthy's franchise
however, entered the post-season with heavy hearts
after Yankee icon Lou Gehrig passed away on June 2
in Riverdale, New York. The "Iron Horse" had
finally succumbed to a relatively unknown
affliction known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis,
which has since been, renamed Lou Gehrig's Disease.
Despite their emotional scars, the power-laden
Yanks had managed another one of their dominant
pennant runs, winning the American League title by
seventeen games. Their cross-town and
"cross-league" rivals, the Brooklyn Dodgers were
determined to keep the World Championship title in
National League hands and were dependant on solid
pitching to keep the Yankees' sluggers in hold. The
Dodger's rotation certainly had their work cut out
for them as Joe DiMaggio, Charlie Keller and Tommy
Henrich all hit at least thirty homers in 1941, and
Joe Gordon slammed twenty-four.
Nothing changed in the Series
opener as the "Bronx Bombers" continued to get the
job done. Gordon remained a standout as he homered
and knocked in two runs for a 3-2 victory that
featured a Red Ruffing six-hitter. After losing to
the Dodger's Whitlow Wyatt 3-2 in Game 2, the
Yankees got a break and reclaimed the Series lead.
Brooklyn's Freddie Fitzsimmons was locked in a 0-0
stalemate with Marius Russo in Game 3 when, with
two out in the seventh, the Yankees pitcher fired a
line drive that caught Fitzsimmons square on the
knee. While shortstop Pee Wee Reese caught the
deflected ball to end the inning, Fitzsimmons was
obviously through for the day. Hugh Casey came in
as relief but was nailed for four hits and two runs
in the eighth. His teammates were only able to get
only four hits off Russo and eventually lost 2-1.
Despite trailing two games to one, Brooklyn's
pitching rotation was doing their share while
holding the Yankees' sluggers to less than stellar
stats. Through the first four games of the Fall
Classic, the "Bombers" had managed a single home
run off the Dodgers and in their thirty-four
innings of Series at-bats preceding the fateful
ninth of Game 4, the Yanks had scored only ten
runs.
Things seemed to be headed in the
Dodgers' favor with a 4-3 lead and two out in the
ninth (with no Yankees on base) when an error of
catastrophic proportions turned the momentum of the
game and inevitably, the Series. As a probable
third strike on Henrich crossed the plate, it was
mishandled by the Dodger's catcher Mickey Owen.
Instead of sealing the Series tying victory, the
error kept the Yankees alive resulting in a four
run rally that snatched the sweet taste of victory
from the mouths of Brooklyn and left them with the
bitter taste of a 7-4 defeat. The frenzied Ebbets
Field crowd (who was poised for celebration)
suddenly stood in disbelief as they watched their
team implode. First, Henrich stole first on the
Owen error. Then DiMaggio followed with a single,
and Charlie Keller shot the Yankees ahead with a
two-run double. After a walk to Bill Dickey, Gordon
further quieted the Dodgers faithful with another
two-run double. The Yankees' Johnny Murphy then
turned in his second consecutive inning of 1-2-3
relief, and New York had handed Brooklyn a
devastating defeat.
Owen said after the game, "Sure, it
was my fault. The ball was a low curve that broke
down. It hit the edge of my glove and glanced off,
but I should have had him out anyway. But who ever
said those Yanks were such great sluggers? They're
the real bums in this Series, with that great
reputation of theirs." It mattered little as the
Yankees finished them off the following day when
Ernie "Tiny" Bonham put the Dodgers out of their
misery, tossing a four-hitter in Game 5. Henrich
(who had dodged a bullet in his previous outing)
homered in the Yankees' Series-clinching 3-1
triumph. Despite winning their ninth title, the
"Bronx Bombers" had certainly failed to live up to
their nickname at the plate. Surprisingly, the
World Champions had managed only two home runs and
averaged a mediocre .247 in the Series. Still, they
managed to knock off their cross-town rivals (in
what would eventually become known as the "Subway
Series"), who got even less offensive production
with one homer and a miserable .182 average.
1942: St. Louis Cardinals (4) vs.
New York Yankees (1)
In
1942, it was business as usual for the perennial
champion New York Yankees. "Joe D" and the rest of
the second generation "Bronx Bombers" lit up the
American League on their way to their thirteenth
pennant. On the National League side it was the
up-and-coming St. Louis Cardinals who were making a
name for themselves as a worthy opponent. Manager
Billy Southworth's Redbirds had proved conclusively
during the 1942 season that they had what it took
to win championships. Trailing the National
League-leading Dodgers by ten games on August 5,
they rallied down the stretch (winning forty-three
of their last fifty-one games) to finish with a
two-game margin over New York.
Yankee veteran Red Ruffing stole
the show in the Series opener while not allowing a
single hit until he had two down in the eighth.
Centerfielder, Terry Moore managed a weak single,
but it mattered little as the Cardinals problems
were just as bad on both sides of the ball. The
Yankees were holding down a 7-0 lead with no errors
while St. Louis was desperately trying to send a
man home and had four. Then it happened... just as
they had to win the National League pennant late in
the season, the Redbirds rallied again. First, Stan
Musial, the Cardinals' left fielder, fouled out to
open the ninth. Catcher Walker Cooper followed with
a single, but first baseman Johnny Hopp flied out.
The next batter, pinch-hitter Ray Sanders, walked.
Then, the Cardinals lashed five consecutive hits
that produced four runs. That brought Musial back
to the plate with the bases loaded. Lucky for St.
Louis, Spud Chandler was on the mound and the
closer forced Musial into a game-ending grounder to
first base. Despite falling one run short of
another miraculous comeback, the Cardinals had
clearly shaken their World Series jitters, and
showed the Yankees that they were indeed, a worthy
contender.
Game 2 featured Cardinal Newcomer
Beazley, who posted a 2.13 ERA on his way to 21
victories during the regular season. Beazley held
onto a 3-0 lead going into the eighth inning, but
gave up a run-scoring single to Joe DiMaggio and a
two-run homer to Charlie Keller. Now with the game
tied, it was the Yankees turn. Unfortunately for
St. Louis, their rally would fall short thanks to
Enos Slaughter's double and Musial's single in the
bottom of the eighth. Slaughter ended the game with
a clutch throw from right-field that nailed
pinch-runner Tuck Stainback at third base in the
ninth. In the end, the Cards had evened the Series
with a 4-3 triumph and they were just getting
started. Things continued to go St. Louis' way as
Ernie White dominated Game 3 by shutting out the
Yankees on six-hits for the 2-0 victory. It was
total team effort though as the lefthander was
supported by the great fielding skills that had won
one-hundred six regular-season games for the Cards:
Moore made a great catch in the 6th and Musial and
Slaughter both made clutch "homer-saving" catches
in the seventh.
Mort Cooper, who won twenty-two
games, threw ten shutouts and posted an ERA of
1.78, returned against Hank Borowy the next day.
Unfortunately nothing had changed for the Game 1
loser and he lasted only 5 1/3 innings as he was
victimized by St. Louis's five-run sixth. His
rival, Borowy only lasted into the fourth, an
inning in which St. Louis got two-run singles from
Whitey Kurowski and their struggling pitcher and
tallied six runs in all. In the seventh, Walker
Cooper (Mort's brother) knocked a timely RBI single
and snapped the 6-6 tie. Marty Marion added a
run-scoring fly and reliever Max Lanier not only
proceeded to pitch shutout ball the rest of the
way, he also singled home an insurance run in the
ninth. Once again the Cardinals had found the
resolve and held on for the 9-6 victory.
Game 1 winner, Red Ruffing,
returned for Game 5 against the youngster Beazley.
Phil Rizzuto, (who had hit a total of seven home
runs in his first two big-league seasons with the
Yankees), launched a Beazley fastball into the
left-field stands in the first inning. St. Louis
tied it in the fourth when Slaughter matched
Rizzuto with his own homer to right, but St. Louis
slipped back into the lead in the bottom of the
inning on DiMaggio's run-scoring single. The
resilient Redbirds forged another deadlock in the
sixth when Walker Cooper's fly ball scored another
and the teams went to the ninth tied 2-2. Then,
like Rizzuto, another unlikely hero, Kurowski (who
had gone three-for-fourteen at that point in the
Series after batting .254 with nine home runs
during the regular season in his first extended
big-league play) stepped up to the plate and
delivered with a game (and-Series) winning homer
into the left-field stands. The surprise Cardinals
had dethroned the mighty Yankees and taken the
World title back for the National League. The
devastating loss was the first since 1926 for the
Yankees, who had won in all eight of their
appearances in the Fall Classic.
1943: St. Louis Cardinals (1) vs.
New York Yankees (4)
In
a classic-rematch of the previous year's contest,
the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees once
again found themselves competing for the World
Championship title. The underdog Redbirds had
dethroned the mighty Bombers in 1942 and the
devastating loss was the first since 1926 for the
Yankees, who had won in all eight of their
appearances in the Fall Classic. Both teams had
maintained their dominance throughout the 1943
season, despite losing several key players to
military service. The Cardinals were without Howie
Pollet (who left in August) and the Yankees lost
Joe DiMaggio, Phil Rizzuto and Red Ruffing to tours
of duty. On the home front, the Card's Stan Musial
had a tremendous season, winning the National
League batting title with an incredible .357
average. He was also backed up by the finest
pitching in the National League as Pollet, Max
Lanier and Mort Cooper ranked 1-2-3 in the league
in ERA at 1.75, 1.90 and 2.30, respectively. The
Yanks still boasted Charlie Keller and Joe Gordon
who provided power at the plate with thirty-one and
seventeen home runs, respectively. First baseman
Nick Etten, (acquired from the Philadelphia
Phillies) proved a significant addition as well and
drove in a team-high one-hundred seven runs and
Spud Chandler led the pitching staff with twenty
wins. Even without "Joe D" and the gang, Joe
McCarthy's team still won the American League
pennant with a 13½-game difference over
second-place Washington.
In
a repeat of the previous opener, the Cardinals fell
behind, thanks to the pitching of Spud Chandler,
who threw a seven-hit, 4-2 winner that featured a
key 2-2 tie breaker in the sixth on singles by
Frankie Crosetti and rookie third baseman Billy
Johnson, a wild pitch by Lanier and another single
by Bill Dickey. The big story in Game 2 was the
bittersweet play of the Cardinal's Cooper brothers,
who were mourning the death of their father who had
passed away the day before. Mort pitched a one-run
ballgame for eight innings and Walker singled in
three at-bats and laid down a sacrifice bunt. Both
brothers were backed up by Marty Marion, who belted
a third-inning homer with the bases empty, and Ray
Sanders, who powered a two-run shot in the fourth.
Despite the Nationals best efforts, the Yankees
rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth and
wound up the 4-3 winners.
Al
Brazle, a twenty-nine-year-old rookie who won
eight-of-ten decisions in the regular season and
boasted a 1.53 ERA, kept the Cards' hopes alive for
a repeat of '42 (in which St. Louis won four
straight to take the title) by pitching masterfully
through seven innings of Game 3. Unfortunately, the
lefthander was unable to maintain his momentum in
the eighth as the Yankees scored five times. Joe
DiMaggio's replacement in centerfield, converted
pitcher Johnny Lindell, started the rally with a
double on the error of Harry Walker who misplayed
the ball. Pinch-hitter George Stirnweiss bunted,
and first baseman Sanders threw to third baseman
Whitey Kurowski in an effort to cut down Lindell.
The throw was in time, but Lindell crashed into
Kurowski and knocked the ball loose. After a
fly-ball moved Stirnweiss to second, Crosetti was
walked intentionally to load the bases. Johnson, a
.280 hitter in his first season with the Yankees,
proceeded to foil the strategy by clearing the
bases with a triple. Gordon and Etten added
run-scoring singles later in the inning, pushing
the score to 6-2. Johnny Murphy finished the job by
working a 1-2-3 ninth in relief of winning pitcher
Hank Borowy.
Nothing changed in Game 4 as Marius
Russo put on a one-man show. A 5-10 pitcher for the
Yankees in '43, Russo held St. Louis to seven hits,
doubled and scored the winning run in the eighth as
New York won 2-1. As the Series headed to Game 5,
the Yankees were thinking revenge and were one win
away from having it. The Cardinals on the other
hand, were only thinking about survival and
selected Mort Cooper to go against Chandler the
next day. The Redbirds put up a great offensive
effort, knocking the Yankee pitcher for ten hits,
but were unable to score on any of them. The
Bombers only needed one, a two-run homer from Bill
Dickey in the sixth that sealed their fate with a
2-0 triumph. The American's had their revenge and
manager Joe McCarthy had his seventh (and final)
World Series Championship.
1947: Brooklyn Dodgers (3) vs. New
York Yankees (4)
The
1947 season is remembered not for the performance
of any particular team, but that of an individual
named Jackie Robinson. The Brooklyn Dodger's newest
prospect became the first black player to break
baseball's color barrier and the rookie infielder
brought the Negro leagues' electrifying style of
play to the majors. Although he was still subject
to resistance among the ignorant, Robinson quickly
became baseball's top drawing card and a symbol of
hope to millions of Americans. Jackie made quite a
first impression with a .297 batting average,
twelve home runs and a league-leading twenty-nine
stolen bases in his first season.
The
defending World Champion St. Louis Cardinals gave
the Dodgers the best challenge in the National
League pennant race, but ended up five games behind
Brooklyn. Number 42 wasn't the only standout in
Dodger blue as the "Bums from Brooklyn" also got
solid production from its outfield. Pete Reiser
totaled a .309 avg. in one-hundred ten games, Carl
Furillo hit .295 with eighty-eight runs batted in
and Dixie Walker tallied .306 and added ninety-four
runs batted in. On the mound, Ralph Branca finished
with a 21-12 record, Joe Hatten went 17-8 and Hugh
Casey nailed down ten victories in relief.
The
'47 Yankees, rallied down the stretch with a
nineteen-game winning streak that began in late
June and went on to win the American League pennant
by a twelve-game margin. Despite lacking the usual
"Bronx Bombers" mystique (with no player attaining
one hundred runs batted in) and only one, Joe
DiMaggio, reaching the twenty-homer level, the
Yanks managed to counter the missing offense with
great pitching. Allie Reynolds won nineteen games
in his first season with the club (after being
obtained from Cleveland), Spud Chandler led the
league with a 2.46 ERA, rookie Spec Shea and ace
reliever Joe Page both had fourteen wins and two
new acquisitions and Bobo Newsom and Vic Raschi
each won seven games.
Shea drew the start for Game 1 and
got the Yankees off to a strong start with a 5-3
opening victory despite a great four-inning effort
by the Dodger's Ralph Branca that imploded in the
fifth. Reynolds maintained the Yanks momentum in
Game 2 with a 10-3 triumph that featured a
fifteen-hit rally by the Bronx Bombers. Leftfielder
Johnny Lindell led the charge with two RBIs in each
of the first two games. Back at Ebbet's Field, the
Dodgers struck back with a crucial 9-8 win thanks
to a six-run, second inning in which Brooklyn got
two-run doubles from Eddie Stanky and pinch-hitter
Carl Furillo. The Yankees almost came back after
"Joe D" hit a two-run blast in the fifth, Tommy
Henrich doubled home a Yankee run in the sixth and
Yogi Berra added his own homer in the seventh.
Unfortunately, it was too little - too late and the
Dodgers held on for the victory.
Manager Bucky Harris chose Bill
Bevens (winner of only seven-of-twenty decisions in
'47) for Game 4 and the unlikely hero pitched one
of the most amazing 9 2/3 innings in World Series
history. Although he permitted a fifth inning run
(on two walks, a sacrifice and a ground ball), he
entered the ninth with a no-hitter and a 2-1 lead.
Bruce Edwards started the Dodgers' half of the
inning by flying out, and Furillo drew a walk. Then
Spider Jorgensen fouled out, bringing Bevens within
one out of the first no-hitter in World Series
history. Reserve outfielder Al Gionfriddo was sent
in to run for Furillo and Pete Reiser came in as a
pinch-hitter for reliever Hugh Casey. Gionfriddo
proceeded to steal second and Reiser was walked
intentionally, despite the fact he represented the
potential winning run. To add yet another change,
Eddie Miksis was sent in to run for Reiser, who was
bothered by a recurring leg injury. Eddie Stanky
was the next in the line-up, but Burt Shotton, (who
had stepped in as Dodgers' manager after Leo
Durocher was suspended) replaced him with veteran
Cookie Lavagetto. The "Chess like" strategy of
Shotton's multiple player moves proved brilliant as
Lavagetto walloped Bevens' second pitch and
Gionfriddo and Miksis sped home ending the
potential no-hitter and evening the Series at two
games apiece.
Down, but far from out, the
perennial American League Champions responded in
true Yankees fashion by "shaking it off " and
answering the call with a 2-1 tie-breaker on a Spec
Shea four-hitter. Surprisingly, Brooklyn jumped to
a 4-0 lead in Game 6 at Yankee Stadium, but fell
behind 5-4, and then regained the lead with a
four-run, sixth capped off by Pee Wee Reese's
two-run single. Then, with two on and two out in
the bottom of the sixth, Joe DiMaggio made a
valiant effort to tie the game with a rocket
launched toward the leftfield bullpen. Just as it
appeared the ball might drop over the fence,
Gionfriddo (inserted into the game as the Yankees
came to bat) made a phenomenal glove-hand catch
near the 415-foot mark sealing the victory.
Once again, Brooklyn had come from
behind to tie the Series forcing a Game 7. Things
appeared to go their way at the start of the Series
finale when Brooklyn seized a 2-0 lead and drove
Shea from the mound in the second. The rally was
short lived though as the Yankees scored a run in
the second, two in the fourth and had tremendous
relief pitching from Joe Page. The Yankees ace went
on to throw five scoreless innings while allowing
only one hit in the 5-2, Series ending triumph. For
several standouts including Lavagetto, Gionfriddo
and Bevens, it would be not only their last World
Series, but also their last Major League games.
1949: Brooklyn Dodgers (1) vs. New
York Yankees (4)
After nine unsuccessful seasons
with both Boston and Brooklyn (in which he never
finished higher than fifth), manager Casey Stengel
finally had success in the minors while coaching
Oakland to the Pacific Coast League pennant in
1948. Shortly after, he was called up to replace
Bucky Harris as the Yankees skipper in what would
become the start of a long-standing... and winning
relationship. New York, who had fallen from first
to third under Harris, responded to Stengel's
appointment by winning their sixteenth American
League pennant and doing so in dramatic fashion.
Stengel's team trailed Boston by one game as
manager Joe McCarthy's Red Sox arrived at Yankee
Stadium for a season-closing two-game set, but the
Yankees swept them in classic "Curse of the
Bambino" fashion. Across-town the Brooklyn Dodgers
were "cutting it close" as well while managing to
beat the St. Louis Cardinals (by one game) in the
National League pennant race.
Don
Newcombe, who had a 17-8 record as a Dodgers rookie
in 1949, drew the start and did all he could to
spoil Stengel's debut. Through eight innings of
Game 1, Newcombe struck out eleven Yankees, walked
no one, surrendered only four hits and had not
permitted a run. Pitching rival Allie Reynolds
wasn't far behind with nine strikeouts, four walks,
two hits and no runs. Reynolds managed to retire
the order in the ninth on a grounder, pop up and
fly ball, but Newcombe was not as lucky as the
Yankees' Tommy Henrich put one over the right field
stands for the win. The Dodgers answered the close
Yankees' triumph the next day with a Game 2 nail
biter of their own. Preacher Roe out pitched Vic
Raschi for the 1-0 win and Gil Hodges singling home
Jackie Robinson, who had doubled, in the second
inning.
The
tensions continued in the third game as both teams
remained locked in a 1-1 stalemate through the
eighth. Former National League slugger Johnny Mite,
(purchased in August from the New York Giants),
knocked a bases-loaded single off Dodger starter
Ralph Branca in the top of the ninth for the 3-1
Yankee lead and Jerry Coleman followed with a
run-scoring single off reliever Jack Banta. New
York's Joe Page, having pitched 4 2/3 innings of
scoreless relief since taking over for Tommy Byrne
in the fourth, shouldered that lead into the
Dodgers' half of the inning. Page was rocked for
two home runs, the first a one-out shot by Luis
Olmo, who hit one homer for Brooklyn in the regular
season, and the second a two-out smash by Roy
Campanella. But no one was on base either time, and
Page and the Yankees hung on for a 4-3
victory.
In
Game 4, the Yankees drove Newcombe from the mound
with a three-run, fourth (Cliff Mapes supplied the
key hit with a two-run double) and then got three
more in the fifth when Bobby Brown drilled a
bases-loaded triple off Joe Hatten. Brooklyn
answered back with four runs in the sixth off Eddie
Lopat. Reynolds came to the rescue by retiring
Brooklyn's final ten batters and New York, a 6-4
winner, was one victory from their twelfth World
Series title.
Determined to finish the job, the
Bronx Bombers ended all the trends and came out
swinging in Game 5. The Yankee sluggers scored in
five of the first six innings and promptly built a
10-2 lead. Gil Hodges' three-run homer in the
Dodgers' four-run, seventh cut into the deficit,
but Page's relief work in place of Vic Raschi shut
down Brooklyn's batters. In the end, the Yankees
prevailed 10-6 with Coleman driving in three runs
and Brown and DiMaggio both collecting two RBIs
each. "Joe D", (who missed half of the season
because of an injury, but still batted .346 with
sixty-seven RBIs in seventy-six regular-season
games), struggled overall in the Series, but added
a bases-empty homer in the fourth. Although it was
the Yankees twelfth World Series title, it was
Casey Stengel's first and there were many more to
come.
1950: Philadelphia Phillies (0) vs.
New York Yankees (4)
The
Philadelphia Phillies climbed to the top of the
National League thanks to a clutch performance down
the home stretch by twenty-game winner, Robin
Roberts. Roberts pitched three times in the last
five days of the regular season and although he
managed to nail down the National League pennant,
the marathon had left him unavailable for a Game 1
start. Manager Eddie Sawyer was left with a limited
rotation due to the late-season loss of Curt
Simmons (seventeen victories) to the Army and
recurring injuries to rookie pitchers Bob Miller
and Bubba Church. The Philly skipper shocked
everyone after nominating a thirty-three-year-old
right-hander named Jim Konstanty, who had not made
a single start during the 1950 regular season. He
did however appear in seventy-four games and the
standout reliever was 16-7 with a 2.66 earned run
average. Konstanty was confident and certainly up
to the challenge (and what a challenge it would
be).
His
opponent was none other than the defending World
Champion New York Yankees who had swept six
previous World Series (Pirates, Cardinals, Cubs,
Reds) in twenty-four years and captured twelve
World Series titles to date. Many felt that another
sweep was a foregone conclusion, but Philadelphia
was determined to prove their critics wrong.
Konstanty rose to the occasion and pitched a superb
outing against the American League champions while
allowing only one run and four hits in
eight-innings. Unfortunately for the Phillies,
Philadelphia's Vic Raschi spun a two-hit, 1-0
shutout for the opening lead.
By
now, Roberts was well rested and more-than-ready
for Game 2. The Philadelphia ace went up against
New York right-hander, Allie Reynolds and neither
blinked through a 1-1, nine-inning standoff. So
far, through two regulation games, there had been a
total of three runs scored as the pitchers clearly
dominated the contest (much to the dismay of the
crowds). Joe DiMaggio added a fourth to the total
after launching a leadoff homer in the tenth for a
2-1 triumph. Now down two games to none, the
Phillies were desperate for an advantage on the
mound and called upon an unlikely hero named Ken
Heintzelman (a seventeen-game winner for the
Phillies in 1949 but a lowly, 3-9 pitcher in 1950).
Despite his regular season stats, the lefthander
started beautifully in Game 3 against Eddie Lopat
and carried a 2-1 lead going into the eighth. After
retiring the first two Yankees, Heintzelman
stuttered and walked three consecutive batters in
the inning. Sawyer saw that it was time to make a
change and called for Konstanty who induced Bobby
Brown to ground to Granny Hamner. Unable to get a
break, the Phillies' winced as their shortstop
fumbled the ball, and the tying run scored. The
Yankees continued their momentum in the ninth as
Jerry Coleman stepped up to the plate and sealed
the 3-2 victory.
Despite being on the verge of
another Yankees sweep, the Phillies had kept pace
with the perennial champs and only lost by three
consecutive one-run decisions (the closest of any
contender in any previous New York rally). Their
efforts however, would be in vain, as Casey Stengel
introduced a young up-and-coming talent in Game 4.
His name was Ed "Whitey" Ford and the rookie went
9-1 during the regular season after being called up
from Kansas City of the American Association. After
teammate Yogi Berra led-off the Yankees' attack
with a run-scoring single and a bases-empty
homerun, Ford breezed into the ninth inning with a
5-0 lead. A shutout seemed inevitable for Ford as
he forced Andy Seminick to hit a textbook fly to
leftfield. However, Gene Woodling dropped the ball
and both Phillies runners scored. Reynolds came in
to get the last out, making the Philadelphia
Yankees 5-2 winners and repeat champions.
Woodling, who tied Granny Hamner
for the World Series batting lead with a .429
average, was distraught over his failure to protect
the shutout. Ford was less concerned and happy with
the win (which would be the first of many in the
Fall Classic). In fact, the Yankees newest ace
would go on to set several World Series records.
"The Chairman of the Board" as he would later be
called still holds the World Series records for
most wins (ten) and most strikeouts
(ninety-four).
1951: New York Giants (2) vs. New
York Yankees (4)
The
'51 season has been referred to by some as "The
Season of Change" as it witnessed the departure of
several of the games veteran superstars and the
introduction of a new generation of talent. Many of
the games biggest names from the previous two
decades were nearing the end of their careers and
the empty spaces on the line-up cards would need to
be filled by players of the same caliber. Luckily
for the managers (and the fans), there was no
shortage of up-and-coming talent in the various
farm systems around the league. Several new rookies
on the scene included a young switch-hitter named
Mickey Mantle and a phenomenal fielder named Willie
Mays. The nineteen year-old Mantle was called up to
the big leagues from the Yankees Kansas City
franchise and hit thirteen home runs in ninety-six
games. Mays had been called up in late May by the
Giants from their Minneapolis team (where he was
batting .477) and the twenty-year old responded
with twenty homers of his own. It seems fitting
that in their first year of professional play, both
future Hall of Famers found themselves competing
against one another in the biggest game of the
year; the 1951 World Series.
The
Giants had steamrolled their way to the Fall
Classic and were determined to dethrone their world
champion, cross-town rivals. Manager Leo Durocher's
team had rallied to win the National League pennant
after trailing the Brooklyn Dodgers by 13½
games. Beginning August 12, the Giants won sixteen
consecutive outings and thirty-seven of their last
forty-four to forge a tie for the top of the
National League with Brooklyn. They went on to beat
the Dodgers in a best-of-three playoff, ending with
the infamous Thomson three-run homer off Ralph
Branca that gave the Giants a 5-4 victory in the
third game at the Polo Grounds. With Brooklyn out
of the way, the Bronx was next and the Giants
wanted to prove that the last team standing was
truly "New York's baseball team".
Things continued to go the Giants
way as they went on to shock the Yankees in a 5-1
Series opening triumph. Dave Koslo held the Yankees
to just seven-hits and Alvin Dark came up big with
a three-run homer. Monte Irvin was the game's "MVP"
though with three singles, a triple and the first
Series steal of home plate since the Yankees' Bob
Meusel snatched the bag in 1928. Eddie Lopat got
his team back in the running in Game 2 while
pitching a five-hitter and adding a run-scoring
single in the 3-1 victory. However, the biggest
play of Game 2 involved a devastating injury that
would haunt the New York Yankees for years to come.
Willie Mays had led off the top of the fifth with a
high shot to right-center in what was to be an easy
fly-out. Centerfielder Joe DiMaggio prepared to
make the catch while Mickey Mantle followed from
right field in pursuit. According to several
sources, Yankees manager Casey Stengel had
instructed Mantle earlier to "take everything he
could get" as "Joe D" was in the twilight of his
career. The nineteen-year old speedster pulled up
at the last second as DiMaggio made the play and
caught his foot on the wooden cover of a drainage
outlet. His knee buckled forcing him out of the
Series and instigating the start of several leg
problems that would haunt Mantle for the rest of
his eighteen-season career.
Game 3 remained anyone's for
4½ innings as the Giants held on to a slim 1-0
lead. All that would change though as the National
League champs would capitalize on a crucial error
by their American League rivals. With one out in
the fifth, Eddie Starky managed to coax a walk off
of Series veteran Vic Raschi. The Yankees, thinking
the Giants were about to play a "hit-and-run",
"run-and-hit" or "straight steal", called for a
"pitchout" and catcher Yogi Berra responded with a
perfect throw to shortstop Phil Rizzuto in plenty
of time to catch Stanky. However, the determined
veteran kicked the ball out of Rizzuto's hand on
the slide and scrambled up and onto third. Instead
of two out and nobody on, Stanky was standing firm
on third with only one out. Dark scored him in on
his next single and Whitey Lockman delivered the
final blow, a three-run homer for the 6-2 victory
at the Polo Grounds.
With a two-games-to-one lead in the
Series and Games 4 and 5 also at home, the Giants
were in a favorable position. Their momentum was
slightly stalled though as Game 4 was postponed for
a single day due to rain. The inclement weather had
allowed the Yankees to rest Game 1 loser Allie
Reynolds and the "Bomber's" ace responded the
following day with a clutch, 6-2 win over the
Giants' Sal Maglie. "Joe D" added his eighth (and
final) World Series homer and the Yanks were back
in business. The victory by Reynolds inspired his
fellow pinstripes and they went on to crush the
Giants 13-1 in a Game 5 massacre. Yankees utility
infielder Gil McDougald, who alternated between
second and third for Stengel's club, nailed a
bases-loaded homerun in the third off Larry Jansen.
The rocket, which broke a 1-1 tie, was only the
third World Series grand-slam (Cleveland's Elmer
Smith in 1920 and the Yankees' Tony Lazzeri in
1936).
Game 6 was a real nail-biter as
both teams went head-to-head for over five innings.
With the bases loaded and two out in the sixth,
Yankees outfielder Hank Bauer stepped up to the
plate against Dave Koslo attempting to break
through the 1-1 tie. For Bauer, it was the perfect
opportunity to shake off his World Series despair.
In thirty-eight previous at-bats in the Fall
Classic, Bauer had collected only five hits (all
singles), a .132 Series batting average and only
one RBI in postseason play. This time the former
United States Marine came through with "flying
colors" with a bases-clearing triple. Then in the
ninth, after the Giants closed within one and had
the potential tying run in scoring position, a
racing Bauer made a sensational 4-3 game-winning
catch on a hit by pinch-hitter Sal Yvars.
Once again, the Yankees had ended
the Giants "Cinderella" season and although the
Series was nothing compared to the National League
playoff in terms of memorable moments ("The Giants
Win The Pennant!"), it was a sweet ending for some
and a new beginning for others; Game 6 marked the
final Major League game for the Yankee Clipper, Joe
DiMaggio, who was headed for retirement at age
thirty-six, Mantle would appear in eleven more
World Series, and Mays would compete in the Fall
Classic three more times. The Yankees were now 14-4
in World Series appearances and 1951 marked the
start of what would become their second
dynasty.
1952: Brooklyn Dodgers (3) vs. New
York Yankees (4)
In
what was now becoming expected, the New York
Yankees returned for their eighteenth World Series
appearance against their cross-town rivals, the
Brooklyn Dodgers. The Bronx Bombers had finished
off the Giants "Cinderella" season the year before
and were determined to retain their title as the
kings of the "Big Apple" baseball teams. Charlie
Dressen's Dodgers were angered by the heavy
favoritism that the Yankees received in the press
and many fans had already crowned them as champions
before the first pitch was even thrown. Their
frustration was merited and inspired them to a 4-2
victory that featured a six-hit effort by Joe Black
who was coming off a 15-4 season in which he made
fifty-six appearances (the first fifty-four coming
in relief). Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider and Pee
Wee Reese all supported the rookie's debut effort
with home runs of their own.
Perhaps now the press would give
the National Leaguers some respect as Game 1
represented more than just an opening win. The
Dodgers had made a statement and the Yankees were
taking notice. Billy Martin was the standout in
Game 2 and put the Dodgers back in their place with
a three-run blast and a RBI single that backed up
Vic Raschi's 7-1 performance. Not to be outdone,
the Dodgers came back swinging and answered the
Yankees challenge with a strong outing by Preacher
Roe, who held the "Pinstripes" to a 5-3 loss. Once
again, it was anybody's Series and pitching seemed
to be the only deciding factor.
Allie Reynolds continued to tip the
scales back and forth with a dominant 2-0 triumph
in Game 4 that balanced the Series at two games
apiece, but Carl Erskine answered back with a 6-5
win in the eleven-inning, Game 5. The Dodger ace
allowed only four-hits and all five runs in the
fifth inning, but permitted only one other hit,
which was a bunt-single by Mickey Mantle in the
fourth. Duke Snider, who wound up with four homers
and eight runs batted in during the Series, hit a
two-run homer in the fifth to counter a three-run
blast from Johnny Mize in the Yankees' half of the
inning.
The
stalemate continued the following day when New
York's Vic Raschi and Brooklyn's Billy Loes held
each other scoreless for 5½ innings. Loes got
the upper hand however, when Snider knocked a
Raschi pitch into the right field bleachers to lead
off their sixth. Unfortunately for the Dodger
faithful, the 1-0 lead vanished immediately in the
top of the seventh when Yogi Berra led off with a
one-run blast igniting a Yanks rally. Raschi
knocked in the second run by singling off his
adversary's knee and Mickey Mantle kept the
momentum alive in the eighth with a homer of his
own (the first of many). Raschi, working on a 3-1
lead, retired the first Dodger in the bottom of the
inning, but the irrepressible Snider followed with
yet another home run. After George Shuba doubled
with two out, Allie Reynolds came in as relief.
Reynolds, the Yankees' big winner in 1952 with
twenty victories, struck out Roy Campanella to end
the inning and, outside of allowing a walk to Carl
Furillo, held the Dodgers to no runs in the
ninth.
With the Game 6, Series-tying 3-2
triumph, the Yankees were once again ready to
finish the job and add yet another World
Championship to their mantle. In an unusual, but
indisputable move Casey Stengel started Eddie Lopat
against Game 1 winner and Game 4 loser, Joe Black.
The veteran, bothered by shoulder problems, had won
only ten games for the Yanks in '52 (after going
21-9 in '51), but it mattered little as the Yankees
dominated the seventh inning thanks to Mantle and
Gene Woodling who both added homers for the 4-2
lead. Brooklyn almost took the lead after loading
the bases when Furillo reached first on balls,
Billy Cox singled and Pee Wee Reese walked as well.
Anticipating a disaster, Bob Kuzava was summoned
from the bullpen. The lefthander came up huge and
got Snider to fly out to third bringing up Jackie
Robinson. With the count at 3-2, Robinson snapped a
textbook pop-up towards the mound. Kuzava seemed
confused on the location and Joe Collins, the man
in position to make the play, lost sight of the
ball. All the while, Dodger runners were tearing up
the baselines with two crossing the plate and
another rounding third. Billy Martin, who was
caught in the middle at second quickly sized up the
situation and made a miracle catch inches from the
ground.
The
phenomenal grab not only ended the chances of a
Dodger comeback, but also inevitably sealed the
Series victory for the defending champions. Despite
their best efforts, "the Bums from Brooklyn" lived
up to their nickname, as Kuzava remained in control
the rest of the way. The loss was especially
devastating after winning Games 1, 3 and 5 and the
4-2 triumph enabled Stengel to match Joe McCarthy's
mark of managing a club to four consecutive World
Series titles.
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