1949 World Series

We continue our look at the eleven World Series contested between the Yankees and Dodgers, with the 1949 Fall Classic. Things weren't about to get any better for Dem Bums.

-1949-

Both clubs entered the Fall Classic coming off furious pennant races. With four games remaining in the season, the Dodgers trailed the Cardinals by a game and a half. On the final Thursday of the season the Dodgers swept a doubleheader against the Braves while the Cardinals dropped their game to the Pirates. It put the Dodgers up a half game, and another loss by the Cardinals on the Dodgers' Friday off day ran the lead to a full game. Both clubs lost on Saturday, then won on Sunday, giving the Dodgers the flag by a single game.

Meanwhile, the Yankees entered the season's final weekend trailing Boston by a game. The Red Sox needed to win just one of the two games at Yankee Stadium to clinch the pennant. Instead, the Yankees swept, capturing their fifth AL Pennant of the decade and setting up a third World Series against the Dodgers.

Brooklyn once again carried a potent offense into the Series, led by Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, Carl Furillo, and Duke Snider, but without an easy out anywhere in the lineup. The pitching staff was fronted Don Newcombe and Preacher Roe. Meanwhile the Yankees were once again led by Joe DiMaggio, who despite missing half the season with a heel injury, had one of the finest seasons of his career. He was supported by trusty veteran Tommy Henrich, shifted fom right field to first base, and emerging slugger Yogi Berra.

The Yankee roster had seen some turnover since their last meeting just two years prior. Casey Stengel was at the helm, having replaced Bucky Harris following the 1948 season. Youngsters Gene Woodling and Hank Bauer had replaced Henrich and Charlie Keller as DiMaggio's flanks in the outfield, and the hodgepodge pitching staff that led the team to victory in '47 had morphed into the reliable starting trio of Allie Reynolds, Vic Raschi, and Eddie Lopat.

As it had in both '41 and '47, the Series began at Yankee Stadium. The 66,000 plus in attendance that Wednesday afternoon were treated to one of the great pitching duels in World Series history. Reynolds and Newcombe matched zeros for eight innings, Reynolds allowing just two hits and four walks with nine K's, Newcombe five hits and no free passes with 11 K's. Reynolds retired the Dodgers in order in the ninth, and Old Reliable Henrich led off the bottom half with a game winning home run.

Game Two was an equally compelling pitchers duel, with Raschi squaring off against Roe. Jackie Robinson led off the second inning with a double, and came around to score on a Gil Hodges single. It was the only run Raschi allowed before being lifted for a pinch hitter in the eighth, but it was one too many, as the Yankees came out on the short end of another 1-0 final score.

As the series shifted to Ebbets Field for Game Three, whatever momentum the Dodgers gained in Game Two was left in the Bronx. The Yankees took a 1-0 lead in the third, as a sacrifice fly from Phil Rizzuto scored Cliff Mapes. Brooklyn pulled even in the fourth thanks to a leadoff home run from Pee Wee Reese. Yankee starter Tommy Byrne, given the Game Three nod over Lopat, had an effective '49, winning fifteen games and posting an ERA 10% better than league average. But as it was throughout his career, Bynre's control was spotty. He issued a league leading 179 walks in '49, his first of three consecutive years leading the AL in free passes. His control hurt him again in that fourth inning, as a single and back-to-back walks left Byrne in a bases loaded, one out jam after the Reese homer.

Sensing the game was about to slip away, Stengel gave Byrne the hook, and handed the ball to fireman Joe Page. In spite of his Game Six implosion two years earlier, Page saved the Yankees bacon three times in the '47 Series, tossing twelve innings of two run ball in closing out Games One, Three, and Seven. Page came through again here, cleaning up Byrne's mess and keeping the Dodgers off the board through the eighth.

Heading into the ninth the game was still tied. With the bases loaded and two outs, Stengel sent Johnny Mize up to pinch hit for Mapes. Mize's two run single gave the Yankees the lead and chased Dodger starter Ralph Branca. Jerry Coleman followed with an RBI single, plating what would become an important insurance run. With a three run lead in the bottom of the ninth, Page, in his sixth inning of relief, finally flinched. Solo homers by Luis Olmo and Campanella pulled the Dodgers within one, but Page fanned pinch hitter Bruce Edwards to give the Yankees a two games to one lead.

Game Four wouldn't be quite as dramatic. The Dodgers brought back Newcombe on just two days rest, and the Yankees touched him up for three runs in both the fourth and fifth innings., behind a two RBI double from Mapes, an RBI double from starter Eddie Lopat, and a three run triple from Bobby Brown. Lopat cruised into the sixth, but got into trouble with two outs, allowing five straight singles to cut the lead to 6-4. Stengel yanked Lopat and handed the ball to his Game One starter. Allie Reynolds was perfect over three and a third innings of relief, striking out five and pushing the Dodgers to the brink.

The Yankees sucked all the drama out of Game Five early, scoring two in the first and three in the third to take a 5-0 lead. The Dodgers got one back in the third, but the Yankees responded with five more runs over the middle three stanzas. Raschi got in a jam in the seventh, allowing four Dodger runs to make it 10-6 Yankees, but Page came on to get the final seven outs and give the Yankees their fourth World Series victory of the forties, three of them over the Dodgers.

1941 & 1947 World Series

Good morning Fackers. The Yankees have just wrapped a series against the Diamondbacks, a team the Bombers faced in one very memorable World Series. I have mixed emotions about that series. The heroics of Tino Martinez, Derek Jeter, and Scott Brosius won't soon be forgotten. An equally momentous longball from Alfonso Soriano is all but forgotten thanks to what happened after it, but I still remember it fondly. And the Yankees' run through the entirety of that postseason will always be memorable because of what was going on in the city around them at the time. But in the end, that Series will be remembered for its painful conclusion. And given the youth of the Diamondbacks' franchise and the lack of history between the two clubs, interleague series such as this week's will always conjure up bitter memories.

After today's off day however, the Yankees will begin an interleague series against a franchise with whom they have far, far more history. And those memories are much more pleasant than those against Arizona.

The Yankees and Dodgers have faced each other in eleven World Series, far and away the most frequent match up in the 105 Fall Classics played. In fact, even if you were to discount their four October meetings after the Dodgers moved west, the seven Subway Series between the Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers would still be the most common pairing in World Series history. The Tigers, Reds, Braves, Pirates, Orioles, Phillies, Twins, White Sox, and Indians - all in existence since the first World Series in 1903 - have all appeared in fewer World Series than there have been Yankee-Dodger match ups.

Having Thursday off in advance of the weekend series gives us a little time and space to fill. As such, we're going to attempt to give at least a cursory overview of all eleven Fall Classics between the Yankees and Dodgers. We'll start in this very post with the first two Subway Series between the clubs and go on from there.

-1941-

1941 marked the fifth Yankee pennant in a six year period, and their twelfth in twenty one years. During that time they faced the cross-town Giants five times, but never once squared off against the Dodgers despite both leagues consisting of just eight teams. Prior to 1941, the Dodgers had last reached the Fall Classic in 1920, when they were still know as the Robins. The following year they would begin a twenty one season World Series drought. At the same time, the Yankees would win the first of three consecutive pennants, playing Subway Series against the Giants each time.

The Dodgers, under the tutelage of former Yankee infielder Leo Durocher, won the NL by 2.5 games over the Cardinals. They featured a potent offensive attack led by slugging first baseman Dolph Camilli and outfielders Pete Reiser, Dixie Walker, and Ducky Medwick. Meanwhile, the Yankees featured a balanced attack with future Hall of Famers Joe DiMaggio, Bill Dickey, Joe Gordon, and the rookie Phil Rizzuto on offense, and Red Ruffing and Lefty Gomez on the mound.

The Series began at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday October 1st. The Yankees cruised to a 3-2 victory behind a complete game from Ruffing. They never trailed, with Joe Gordon driving in two of the runs, one of them on a solo homer. Charlie Keller scored the other two runs with Bill Dickey adding two hits and picking up the remaining RBI. Ruffing allowed just nine base runners and fanned five, with one of the runs being unearned thanks to a Rizzuto error.

The Dodgers evened things up in Game Two, overcoming an early two run deficit to beat Spud Chandler 3-2. The winning run was unearned, courtesy of a Joe Gordon error.

From there the Yankees took over the Series. After playing seven scoreless innings in Game Three, in the eighth Joe DiMaggio drove home Red Rolfe, then Keller plated Tommy Henrich. Yankee starter and Brooklyn native Marius Russo gave one back in the bottom half, but it was the only blemish on his record as he went the distance for a 2-1 victory.

The Dodgers were poised to tie the Series in Game Four, as they carried a 4-3 lead into the top of the ninth inning. Dodger pitcher Hugh Casey retired the first two batters to put the Dodgers within an out of making the Series a best of three. Tommy Henrich was the Yankees last hope, and he went down swinging. It would have ended the game, but in one of the more notorious moments in World Series history, Dodger catcher Mickey Owen couldn't squeeze strike three. Henrich raced to first and the rally was on. DiMaggio followed with a single, then Keller doubled them both home to give the Yankees the lead. Dickey followed with a walk, the Gordon doubled both runners home to make it 7-4. Yankee fireman Johnny Murphy worked a flawless bottom half of the inning to push the Dodgers to the brink.

Their season died at Ebbets Field the very next day. Once again, the Dodgers helped squander the game, as a third inning wild pitch from Whit Wyatt allowed Keller to score the game's first run and Dickey to move into scoring position. Gordon promptly drove him in, to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead. The Dodgers got one back off Tiny Bonham in the third, but it would be their only offense on the day. Bonham went the distance, allowing only six men to reach base. A Tommy Henrich solo shot in the fifth iced the game, and the Yankees clinched their fifth championship in the last six seasons, and their ninth overall.

The World Series MVP award was first issued in 1955, but had it existed in 1941 it surely would have gone to Gordon. The second baseman hit .500/.667/.929 over 21 PA, with one of only three home runs in the Series and a series leading 5 RBI and 7 BB. Charlie Keller (.389/.476/.500, 5 RBI) also had an outstanding Series.

-1947-

Two months after the conclusion of the 1941 World Series, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, drawing the United States into the Second World War. American life was severely altered for the better part of five years, and Major League Baseball was far from immune to the changes. Several prominent players, and many Yankees, lost years serving in the armed forces. The Yankees picked up two more pennants and another championship during the war years, but it was with players,and against competition, that were diminished. Many players began returning to action in 1946, but it wasn't until 1947, when the war was over in both theaters, that things began to return to normal in MLB.

Just as they had in the final pre-WWII season, the Yankees and Dodgers met in the World Series for the first post-WWII. Though only six years had passed, much had changed with the two clubs. Gone were Hall of Fame managers Leo Durocher and Joe McCarthy. Durocher had been issued a season-long suspension for associating with gamblers, and was replaced by Burt Shotton. McCarthy had resigned during the '46 season, and after finishing the year under interim managers Bill Dickey and Johnny Neun, the Yankees had hired longtime Senators manager Bucky Harris.

In many ways it was a transitional year for both clubs, and not just in returning to normalcy after the war. Shotton was intended to be just a stopgap while Durocher served his suspension. Durocher returned in '48 for a ninth season as Dodgers skipper, but he would last only half a season before being replaced again by Shotton and heading across town for eight years at the helm of the Giants. Meanwhile, after fifteen and a half dynastic years under McCarthy, the Yankees were seeking stability after the chaos of three different managers in '46. Harris was supposed to be the steady hand, but he would last only two years in the Bronx before giving way to Casey Stengel and the next Yankee dynasty.

Yet as the two clubs opened the Series at Yankee Stadium on September 30th, no one knew of the sweeping changes that would come over the next year plus. Rookie Spec Shea got the ball for the Yankees. The Naugatuck Nugget spotted the Dodgers to a first inning 1-0 lead, but the Yankees struck back with five of their own in the fifth, on strength of a two run double from Johnny Lindell, a bases loaded walk from Bobby Brown, and a two run single from Tommy Henrich. Armed with a lead, Harris summoned fireman Joe Page to pitch the final four innings. Brooklyn scratched out single runs in the sixth and seventh, but would get no closer as the Yanks took the opener 5-3.

In Game Two Allie Reynolds made the first of his fifteen World Series appearances with the Yankees. Acquired for 1941 World Series hero Joe Gordon after the '46 season, the Super Chief went the distance, scattering nine hits, three walks, and allowing three runs while striking out six. The Yankees scored in six of their eight innings, pounded out ten runs on fifteen hits, and got multi-hit games from Henrich, Lindell, Snuffy Stirnweiss, George McQuinn, Billy Johnson, and even Reynolds.

Brooklyn got in the win column in a Game Three slugfest, winning 9-8. Yankee starter Bobo Newsome, and relievers Vic Rashci, Karl Drews, and Spud Chandler all got knocked around until Page shut the door for the final three innings. Dodger pitchers Joe Hattan and Ralph Branca weren't much better, but they did enough to withstand the Yankee offensive, which included home runs from Joe DiMaggio, and a youngster named Yogi Berra, playing in just the third of his record 75 World Series games.

Game Four saw Brooklyn even the series at two with a 3-2 walkoff victory, but the lasting story of the game was the tough luck loss for Yankee starter Bill Bevens. Bevens flirted with history, carrying a no-hitter into the ninth inning. He had surrendered a run on walks, a sacrifice, and a fielders choice in the fifth, but carried a 2-1 lead into the final frame on the strength of a bases loaded walk from DiMaggio and yet another RBI double from Lindell. Things went awry for Bevens on his way to making history though. After retiring the leadoff batter, he issued a walk to Carl Furillo. After getting the second out, pinch runner Al Gionfriddo stole second, prompting the Yankees to intentionally walk the winning run to first base. Bad idea. Cookie Lavagetto followed with a double, the first hit surrendered by Bevens all day, and the Dodgers walked off with a best of three looming.

The Yankees took control once again with a Game Five victory. Shea pitched with moxie that belied his inexperience, going the distance with seven strikeouts and just one run allowed. He also chipped in with an RBI single, and that combined with a Joe DiMaggio solo homer gave the Yanks a 2-1 victory.

Back at Yankee Stadium for Game Six, Brooklyn again pulled even in another slugfest. The Yankees burned through six pitchers in trying to close out the Dodgers, but a four run sixth was enough to propel Brooklyn to an 8-6 victory. Trailing 8-5 in the bottom of the sixth, Joe DiMaggio came to the plate with two outs and two on. He blasted one deep into Death Valley, a would-be game tying home run, but Gionfriddo made a running, lunging catch on the warning track. DiMaggio kicked at the dirt as he approached second base, perhaps his only outward display of frustration in his entire career.

With the entire season riding on one game, and the pitching staff decimated by the previous day's slugfest, the Yankees were in need of starter for Game Seven. On just a day's rest, Shea took the ball for the third time in the Series. He got the Yankees through the first, but when he got into a jam in the second, Harris wasted no time in going to Bevens. The Dodgers pushed two across to take the lead. An RBI single from Phil Rizzuto in the bottom of the inning cut the lead in half. Bevens held the fort through the third and fourth, and the Yankees plated two in the bottom of the fourth to take a 3-2 lead.

Given the lead, Harris went right to Page, despite his getting touched up for four runs in one inning the day before. Page rewarded Harris' trust by finishing the final five frames, allowing just one hit. For the second time in seven years the Yankees had beaten the Dodgers in the World Series. Unfortunately for Brooklyn, it was only the beginning of the heartbreak.

Double Triples

Good morning, Fackers. We're going to start off this Friday with some fun stuff we found by digging through Baseball-Reference's Play Index. Basically, we are going to go Jayson Stark on your asses for a moment.

Last night, Curtis Granderson notched the first and second triples of his young Yankee career, the first down the right field line off Scott Kazmir in the 4th inning and the second a deep fly to right center off of Brian Stokes in the following inning.

• Granderson led the league with 23 triples during his monster 2007. That year he became the 6th member of the 20-20-20 club, by collecting more than 20 doubles and 20 homers as well.
  
  
• Two triple games are nothing new to Granderson, as the one last night was the 5th of his career. He had two of them in 2007 (one against the Yankees) and two more in 2008. One of those '08 games was against the Rangers in August, and like last night, he did it in back to back ABs in consecutive innings. Unlike last night though, he drove in 4 runs in the process.
  
  
• The last Yankee to have two triples in one game was current Angel Bobby Abreu in 2008, but that happened in the Metro Dome. The last Yankee to do it at home was Enrique Wilson back in 2002 against the Indians.
  
  
• Twenty years and two days before Wilson did it, Ken Griffey Sr. pulled off the same feat against the Brewers at the Stadium. Like Granderson, Griffey did it in consecutive at bats (his 1st & 2nd) in back to back innings (the 1st and 2nd) off of two different pitchers (Moose Haas & Jerry Augustine).
  
  
• The only Yankees ever to collect three three-baggers in one game were Joe DiMaggio back in 1938 (who somehow only scored one run in that game) and Earle Combs in 1928. The Yanks happened to win both of those games by a score of 8-7. Furthermore, they blew one run leads in the top of the ninth inning in both of them and came back to walk off with the win in the bottom half.
  
  
• There were at least 32 multiple triple games by Yankee batters in the pre-renovation years of Yankee Stadium and likely more because the Play Index isn't totally complete. Conversely, there were only 4 from 1973 to 2008.
  
  
• Now there is one in the first 84 regular season games in the new joint, a park which suppresses extra-base hits that aren't home runs.
  
  
• On Wednesday night Nick Swisher had a triple as well, giving the Yanks 3 of them in 2 games, something that hasn't happened since 2007. Before that though, you have to go back to 1998, when the Yanks hit four triples in the same night against the Rangers in Arlington (two by Bernie Williams and one each by Derek Jeter and Tim Raines). That game was a 15-13 battle during which the Yanks and Rangers each had a 7 run inning.

They say triples are the most exciting play in baseball and I can't argue with that. Granderson is going to have a tough time legging out too many of them in Yankee Stadium but if he can pick up 10 of them, he'd be the first Yankee to do it since Jerry Mumphrey in 1982. Keep chuggin', Curtis.

5 Days Until Spring Training: Joe DiMaggio

The son of Sicilian immigrants, Joe DiMaggio's given name was actually Guiseppe. He grew up in San Francisco where his father made a living as a fisherman, manning a boat that wasn't quite large enough for crabbing but was sufficiently sizable to make a living on during the 1920's in the rich waters of the San Francisco Bay. DiMaggio's father, also named Guiseppe, came from a long line of Sicilian fisherman as did the fathers of most of the boys Joe D. used to play baseball with on North Beach playground.

Naturally, the elder Guiseppe wanted all five of his sons to become fisherman, but he didn't understand that by immigrating to America, he had opened up their options far beyond anything they could have conceived back on Isola delle Femmine. They weren't consigned to the sea like he had been at their age. Only the two oldest DiMaggios became fisherman. The youngest three all went on to play Major League baseball.

Dom and Vince both had pretty decent careers. Each player over a decade and both brothers retired with OPS+ around 110. Not bad, but Joe was clearly head and shoulders above his kin.

Vince was actually the one who got Joe back into baseball after he briefly lost interest in his mid teens. Vince asked his manager with the San Francisco Seals to let his kid brother to fill in at shortstop for three games at the end of the 1932 season while the incumbent Augie Galan was barnstorming in Hawaii. In 1933, Joe officially became part of the team.

During his rookie season, just 18 years old, DiMaggio started the season on the bench. Eventually he took the place of a slumping right fielder and began his inexorable march to superstardom. Starting on May 27th, DiMaggio recorded a hit in 61 straight games, shattering the previous Pacific Coast League record. It was then he truly became hooked on baseball:

Baseball didn't really get into my blood until I knocked off that hitting streak. Getting a daily hit became more important to me than eating, drinking or sleeping. Overnight I became a personality.

DiMaggio had a unique minor league baseball experience. Instead of being drafted by an franchise and assigned to one of their teams thousands of miles from where he grew up, he played all of his minor league ball for his hometown Seals. He later explained:

I had the good luck to spend my entire minor league career in the Pacific Coast League, in which all travel and accommodations were first-class, and with my hometown team, the San Francisco Seals, at that. Playing on my hometown team meant when the club played its home stands I could live with my parents, occupy my own room.

The Yankees originally wanted to purchase DiMaggio at the beginning of the 1935 season but Charley Graham, owner of the Seals, drove a hard bargain. He agreed to give up Joltin' Joe, but only after he completed the '35 season in San Francisco. Additionally, the Yankees had to send three players to the Seals before the '35 season began. This made the Seals a heavy favorite in the PCL that year, and they took full advantage.

DiMaggio hit .398 with 100 extra base hits and 173 RBIs. The Seals captured their first Pacific Coast League title in 4 years and Joe was named League MVP. After the season ended, the Yankees sent $75,000 and completed the deal. DiMaggio made the long trip from California to Spring Training in St. Petersburg with fellow Italians and Bay Area natives Tony Lazzeri and Frank Crosetti, the latter of whom was bought from the Seals in 1931.

DiMaggio's personality didn't seem fit for the Big Apple. The Daily News called him "timid" and referred to his as Dead Pan Joe when he first arrived. Later in his career Hank Greenberg noted that if DiMaggio said "hello" to you, that was a long conversation by his standards. He was hyped endlessly by the New York papers and billed as the "Babe Ruth's successor", but in terms of disposition, he was much more like Lou Gehrig than Ruth.

Joe hit .323/.352/.576 with 29 HRs and 125 RBIs in his first year in the Bronx, made the All-Star team and finished 8th in the MVP vote. Had there been a Rookie of the Year award then, he surely would have won it. His sophomore campaign was even better, with a line of .346/.412/.673 and a whopping 46 home runs despite hitting right handed in Yankee Stadium for half of his games.

Over the course of his career, DiMaggio his 148 homers in the Bronx compared to 213 on the road. Left-center field at Yankee Stadium was 460 feet away during his playing days and straight away center was 490. It was a short 281 feet down the line, but the 45 degrees directly ahead of DiMaggio ranged from 430 feed in left field to 406 in right. It suffices to say that the Yankee Clipper lost a fair amount of home runs to Death Valley.

If anything, the extra square footage in the Yankee outfield help Joltin' Joe hit for average. With more ground for the outfielders to cover, there were more places for DiMaggio's hits to fall. On May 14th, 1941, he began his legendary 56 game hitting streak which lasted until July 17th in Cleveland. That day, three great defensive plays - two by third baseman Ken Keltner and one by shortstop Lou Boudreau - kept Joltin' Joe hitless. Undeterred, DiMaggio hit safely in 16 straight games immediately, collecting a hit in 72 of 73.

That year, primarily on the strength of his hitting streak (and maybe aided by the fact that he only struck out 13 times in 621 PAs), the Yankee Clipper stole the MVP from Teddy Ballgame, who hit .406 and roundly trounced him in every other significant batting category, save for runs batted in.

From 1936-1942, DiMaggio hit .339/.403/.607 (159 OPS+), averaged 31 home runs and 133 RBIs and won two AL MVPs. He homered more often that he struck out and played excellent defense.

DiMaggio was known for his long strides that allowed him to cover wide swaths of Yankee Stadium's expansive center field. According to Tiger slugger Hank Greenberg, the only way to get a hit against the Yankees was "to hit 'em where Joe wasn't." He developed his nickname "The Yankee Clipper" because as he patrolled center field he looked as smooth and graceful as the popular 19th century clipper sailing ships known for their speed and ability to cut through wavy waters.

After 7 excellent seasons for the Yanks, DiMaggio went to war in 1943. Well, more correctly, the was drafted into the Army Air Force. He traded in his $43,750 salary from the Yanks for a $50/month wage from the Army, but he continued playing baseball. He became a part of the 7th AAF and was stationed in Santa Ana, California. Joe spent most of his time in the service as a physical education instructor and playing baseball on the Santa Ana team. By contrast, Ted Williams was a fighter pilot.

While his time in the Army was a relative walk in the park, his parents were not so lucky. Since they were Italian immigrants, they were classified as "enemy aliens" and forced to carry identification cards on them at all times. They were not allowed to go beyond five miles from their home with out a government-issued permit. DiMaggio's father was banned from fishing in San Francisco Bay, where he had made a living over the previous 30 years.

The Yankee Clipper lost three full seasons to WWII. When he returned to the Yankees, he was 31 years old and it took him a bit to regain him form, hitting only .290 in his first year back. He hit for a lower average and with less power in his final six seasons than he did in his first seven but still managed a 150 OPS+ over that span. He picked up his third and final MVP in 1947, nudging out Ted Williams by one point despite on-base and slugging percentages over 100 points lower than the Splendid Splinter's, not to mention significantly fewer homers, RBIs and runs scored. It probably helped that the Yanks made it to the World Series and the Sox finished 3rd in the AL.

Williams and DiMaggio were almost swapped for each other in 1949. Boston Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey and Yankees GM Larry MacPhail verbally agreed to a trade, however it fell apart when McPhail balked at Yawkey asked for a young catcher by the name of Yogi Berra. It seemed at the time that the two principles of the trade were stuck in the wrong parks - the left handed Williams in Fenway and the righty DiMaggio in Yankee Stadium. However, they made out pretty well despite their inhospitable home parks. Berra, it turns out, would have been a much bigger loss for the Yanks because DiMaggio was done as a player only two seasons later.

Helped greatly by his hitting streak, DiMaggio became a central figure in American pop culture. Although he was an incredibly great player, his fame outpaced his talents. He was referenced in countless songs such as John Fogarty's Center Field, We Didn't Start the Fire by Billy Joel and Mrs. Robinson by Simon and Garfunkel. He was mentioned on I Love Lucy, Seinfeld, and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Hemingway even mentioned him in The Old Man and the Sea.

The Yankee Clipper accomplished an awful lot despite playing in only 13 seasons in the Big Leauges. He was a 9-time World Champion, 3-time AL MVP, 2 time batting champion, and a 13-time All-Star (the only player to be selected for the All-Star Game in every season he played). His career line was .325/.398/.579 BA and he tallied 361 HRs, 1537 RBI.

Joltin' Joe was a private man. He never seemed to be interested in the trappings of fame despite being one of the most famous people in the country for much of his life. He married Marilyn Monroe in 1954, of course, but the marriage lasted less than a year, due in part to Joe's jealousy and public nature of her character. They reunited seven years later and Joe asked her to marry him just four days before she died on August 5th, 1962. Joe had roses delivered to her grave three times a week for twenty years after she passed away. He never married again.

DiMaggio lived a full and long life which ended when he was 84 years old. He spend the last 100 days of his life in a hospital battling lung cancer and passed away on March 8th, 1999. The Yankees wore a black #5 patch on their uniforms to commemorate his life that season which culminated with a World Series victory over the Braves.

Mostly due to the length of his career, it took 3 ballots for DiMaggio to enter the Hall of Fame but he gained admittance to Cooperstown in 1955 and lived more than half of his life as a member of the Hall of Fame. He was to Yankees fans what Ruth was before him and Mantle and Jeter have been after: larger than life legends both on and off the field.

Ain't Superstitious

Well, these are slow times in the Hot Stove League, and even slower times on the Fack Youk factory floor. Unfortunately, things like "real work" sometimes get in the way of semi-coherent content. Or we just got an early start on the weekend....

A few things before we go:

• AL Silver Sluggers were announced yesterday and both Mark Teixeira and Derek Jeter picked up some additional hardware to add to their Gold Gloves. Silver Sluggers, Gold Gloves, what's next for these two? Bronze Cleats?

• Earlier this week we touched on former Yankee closer John Wetteland. Emergency personnel were summoned to his Texas home yesterday. Depending upon which story you read it was for something as simple as an elevated heart rate, or something as serious as him being suicidal. The good news is he's home now and all appears to be well. We certainly wish him the best. Eerily, fellow 1996 World Series hero Jim Leyritz had a similar incident at his Florida home earlier this year.

• Check out Walkoff Walk's classic TV post from earlier today. Some cool stuff there with The Mick, Hank Bauer, Billy Martin, Joe D., Lefty Gomez, and Tommy Henrich.

• We're a little late on this as it's made the rounds throughout the blogosphere already, but check out No Mas' excellent video about the notorious Doc Ellis LSD no-hitter.

• Big college football game on ESPN2 at 8:00 tonight, as #25 West Virginia visits undefeted #5 Cincinnati. The Big East will likely come down to Cincy and Pitt, but the Mountaineers are hanging close with just one conference loss. They need to win tonight to have any realistic shot at the conference title, and if they do, maybe they can screw Pitt's season in two weeks in the Backyard Brawl, just as Pitt did to them two years ago.

That's it for today. We'll be back in the AM with far, far more college football, though perhaps some would prefer that we do nothing again rather than do that. Anyway, sorry about the lack of content today. It certainly had nothing to do with it being Friday the Thirteenth.

Life During Wartime

The United States military has spent the past seven plus years involved in military operations in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Thanks largely to the abolition of the draft in 1973, not a single day of Major League service time was lost by players serving in the military. As we have explored here today, there was a time when that was not the case.

World War I was the first major military event to involve Major League players. Hundreds of former, current, or future Major Leaguers served, including Hall of Famers Pete Alexander, Eddie Collins, Tris Speaker, and Ty Cobb; eventual Yankees Waite Hoyt, Herb Pennock, and Casey Stengel; as well as future Yankee outfielder and eventual Chicago Bears owner George Halas.

Though retired, Christy Mathewson - a member of the Hall of Fame's innuagural class of 1936 - enlisted as part of the Chemical Service. He developed tuberculosis as a result of accidental exposure to mustard gas, leading to his early death in 1925. The continued enlistment of players in 1918 forced MLB to reduce their schedule to less than 130 games, down from the usual 154, finishing the regular season on Labor Day weekend and wrapping the World Series before mid-September.

Yet all of that pales in comparison to the impact World War II had on MLB. More than 500 Major Leaguers served. Despite that, President Roosevelt asked baseball to carry on, to provide some needed leisure to the war focused nation.

With rosters depleted, baseball was hardpressed to find players. Aging veterans held on longer than they would have otherwise; players like future Hall of Famer Ted Lyons and Hod Lisenbee finished their military tours of duty and temporarily ended years long retirements to help round out rosters. Joe Nuxhall debuted as a 15 year old pitcher for the Reds. The St. Louis Browns employed a one armed outfielder named Pete Gray. All time greats like Bob Feller, Stan Musial, Joe DiMaggio, and Ted Williams missed prime years of their careers.

Between his service time in WWII and the Korean War, the Splendid Splinter missed nearly five full years of his career, potentially costing him a shot at Babe Ruth's home run record. Though MLB had far fewer players involved in Korea, several of them still missed time due to military service, including Whitey Ford, Jerry Coleman, and Billy Martin. Major League players would continue to serve in the military until the end of the abolition of the draft in 1973, Tony Kubek, Thurman Munson, and Bobby Murcer amongst them.

Thankfully, our nation's volunteer forces have been sufficient for the past 35 years that conscription hasn't been needed. I'm certain that - God forbid - if the need were ever again to arise for a major military operation that baseball and the rest of us would step up as in the past. But for now, as far as MLB is concerned, life during wartime is far different than it was nearly seventy years ago.

Once again, thanks to all our nation's armed forces. Happy Veterans Day. We'll see you tomorrow.

The Yankees During WWII

While it took only a month after FDR signed the Burke-Wadsworth Act into law for for the draft to begin, it took much longer for its effect to be felt on baseball. A few players, such as Yankee first baseman Johnny Sturm enlisted voluntarily, but most waited for their number to be called by the draft boards.

Many Major League players were not considered for the draft for a couple of reasons. First, men who supported a family, event those who were married without children such as Joe Dimaggio were originally bypassed by many draft boards. Phil Rizzuto, who was not yet married, was similarly overlooked because he supported his parents and younger brother with his baseball salary. Additionally, there we players like Tommy Holmes who had a condition that didn't prevent them from playing baseball, but did preclude them from military service. Holmes, who was an outfielder for the Boston Braves, had a sinus condition.

As a result, the Yankees (and most of the major leagues) remained largely intact during the early years of the war. The Yanks made it to the World Series in 1941 with a full compliment of players, including hitters Dimaggio, Rizzuto, Gordon, Charlie Keller, Tommy Heinrich and pitchers Red Ruffing, Spud Chandler and Tiny Bonham, where they beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 4-1.

The Green Light Letter wasn't written in January of 1942 and the rest of baseball started to feel the affects of the war. Not the Yankees though, who returned all those players the following year and went off as 2 to 5 favorites to repeat. The Yankees started slow but won 103 games that year en route to an American League pennant.

When time came for the World Series, Tommy Henrich wasn't around because he had been called to duty by the Coast Guard in August. However, the Yankees had replaced him with Roy Cullenbine, who hit .364 from then until the season's end.

The Yankees faced the Cardinals in the Fall Classic and won Game 1 behind Red Ruffing, who took a no-hitter into the 8th inning. They lost 4-3 in Game 2 with Tiny Bonham on the hill despite an 8th inning really and dropped all three in New York to lose the Series. Had it gone beyond 5 games, Phil Rizzuto wouldn't have been able to play, as he was ordered to report to the Navy in Norfolk, Virgina the following day.

Joe Dimaggio enlisted the following January. Outfielder George Selkirk, first baseman Buddy Haskett and even 39 year old Red Ruffing who had lost 4 toes in a childhood accident were all called upon to serve.

That season, the Yankees were also ordered to move Spring Training closer to home to cut down on unnecessary transportation. They chose Asbury Park, New Jersey whose seaside breezes were welcomed in the summertime, but not as much in early March, forcing the majority of the workouts to be held inside. With little actual baseball to base his decisions on, manager Joe McCarthy inserted Snuffy Stirnweiss into shortstop and named Johnny Lindell is right fielder.

Although their position players had been decimated and Stirnweiss was quickly demoted from his starting post, their pitching staff was still in good shape. Spud Chandler led the way that year, going 20-4 with a 1.67 ERA along the way to a league MVP. Tiny Bonham, Butch Wensloff and Hank Borowy all started close to 30 games and posted ERAs under 3, and their pitching staff allowed the fewest runs since the Deadball Era. They met up with the Cardinals again in the World Series and this time returned the favor, besting them 4-1.

As the war dragged on, the Yankees were no longer able to dodge the effects of the conflict. For Spring Training in 1944, the Yanks moved south the Atlantic City. They practiced inside of an armory, but needed to relocate once the space was necessary to care for wounded soldiers and were moved to an abandoned airplane hangar.

By the time the April rolled around, Joe Gordon, Charlie Keller and Billy Dickey were gone. A week into the season, Chandler left as well. Stirnweiss, who hit .219/.333/.288 the year before was suddenly the team's biggest star. Other teams were facing the same difficulties so the Yankees were still competitive but they faded down the stretch.

The St. Louis Browns, who were the perennial basement-dwellers of the American League finally won their first pennant in 1944 because their original roster included 13 players who were determined to be (4-F) or unfit for service according to the military.

Meanwhile, many of the Major League players who had been enlisted in the Army were still on American soil, playing baseball against one another. Many commanders sought to assemble great baseball teams instead of sending the best players overseas to fight.

As a result, many Major Leaguers never saw active duty (with Bob Feller being one notable exception) and only two men who could rightly be called Big Leaguers before the conflict started died in combat.

At the end of the 1944 season, the Yankees were still under the control of the estate of Colonel Jacob Ruppert, who, as Matt mentioned earlier, up for induction to the Hall of Fame. The team was sold that offseason to an ownership group consisting of former Dodgers GM Larry MacPhail, a jetset socialite named Dan Topping and construction mogul by the name of Del Webb. For $2.8M, they not only got the Yankees, Yankee Stadium and their entire farm system.

The team shifted from a family run business to one that operated with the single-minded profit goals of a corporation. MacPhail and Co. sold pitcher Hank Bowory to the Cubs for $97,000 a move which infuriated manager Joe McCarthy. The Yanks finished fourth that year, but it didn't seem to bother the ownership much.

Before the 1946 season, Spring Training moved back to Florida, but MacPhail took the Yankees on a series of 50 exhibitions against minor league teams across the country. Midway through the season, after a contentious flight to Detroit, McCarthy resigned as manager of the team. Winner of 7 World Series in 8 trips over his 16 year career with the Yanks, McCarthy had been driven to the edge by the new ownership and an era in the Bronx had ended.

The Yankees has returned Rizzuto, Dimaggo, Chandler, Keller, Heinrich and Ruffing, but weren't the same dynastic force they were before the war. Their players had aged and their manager was gone. The Yankees did beat the Dodgers in the 1947 World Series but Larry MacPhail was forced out of ownership due to his actions at the parties after the victory.

The Yankees fared very well during the war, all things considered. The won the AL pennant three times and the World Series twice while it was going on, and even in the years that their financial resources and large minor league system couldn't buoy them to the top, they still finished 3rd and 4th.

[As you can tell if you click through the hyperlinks, I relied heavily on Yankees Century by Glenn Stout and Dick Johnson and For The Good Of The Country by David Finoli. Both were invaluable resources in generating this post.]

Joe Nathan, Brian Fuentes... Brad Lidge

Along their way to the World Series the Yankees - or more accurately, Alex Rodriguez - bested both opposing closers put in front of them on the way to crucial wins in both the ALDS and ALCS. In Game 2 against Minnesota, A-Rod launched a game-tying 2 run shot in the bottom of the 9th inning off Joe Nathan in a game the Yanks won in the 11th. In the bottom of the 11th in Game 2 against the Angels, with Freddy Guzman and Brett Gardner batting behind him and the count 0-2, A-Rod served a shot over the short porch in right to tie the game at 3. The Yanks finally nailed that one down in the 13th.

Tonight, the game was on the road so it wasn't Game 2, extra innings weren't necessary, it wasn't a home run, and it didn't tie the game, but the at bat that changed the lead again came down to A-Rod and the other team's closer - this time Brad Lidge.

Two batters into the inning, it seemed highly unlikely that A-Rod would get a chance to bat against Lidge. The pitcher's spot was due up first in the bottom of the 9th and Charlie Manuel had opted not to double switch to begin the inning, thereby limiting Lidge to three outs of work. The way it turned out, nobody needed to pitch the 10th inning for the Phillies anyway.

The Yankees' pitchers' spot was due to bat first in the top of the 9th and Hideki Matsui was called on to pinch hit. As the best hitter on the bench and with two home runs in the last two games, Matsui was the obvious choice, but popped out to short for the first out. Up next, Derek Jeter worked the count to 3-2 but struck out swinging on a nasty slider just below his knees. Down to their last out of the inning, the Yankees needed Johnny Damon to get on base to keep their hopes alive or snatching the lead alive, lest the Phillies come to the plate in the bottom of the 9th needing only one run to steal a win in the ballgame and change the complexion of the series entirely.

Damon took three balls and fouled off five pitches from Lidge before he got one he could put some good lumber on. It was a fastball on the outside part of the plate that he served into left field for a single. Now Mark Teixeira represented the Yankees best hope to take the lead. On the first pitch of the at bat, Damon took of running for second base. The throw from Carlos Ruiz wasn't in time. Since the Phillies were playing a huge infield shift for Teixeira, third baseman Pedro Feliz was the one who was there to receive the ball.

Feliz caught the throw well in front of the bag and as he turned around towards the pitcher's mound, Damon inexplicably popped up from second base, and took off running for third, just out of the reach of Feliz. Since the camera had a tight shot of second base, I wasn't thinking about the shift and thought he was about to be caught in a run down, ending the Yankees chances in the inning. But as the camera panned out, it was apparent that no one was covering third base and Damon got there easily. Perhaps the fact that Feliz wasn't used handling the throw to second base had something to do with it, but to Damon's credit, he took full advantage of that error with a play demonstrating a keen sense of baseball awareness.

Two pitches later, Brad Lidge hit Mark Teixeira on the right elbow, bringing A-Rod to the plate with men on first and third. He took the first pitch for a strike. Perhaps it was the chance that the runner on third could score on a wild pitch that made Lidge reluctant to throw his best pitch - the slider - but he dealt A-Rod another fastball. It wasn't a bad location - right on the inside part of the plate where "the book" says to pitch him - but A-Rod turned on it, hooking a double down into the corner in left field, scoring the go-ahead run in Damon with ease and putting runners on 2nd and third for Jorge Posada.

Jorgie's at bat seems like a footnote in hindsight, but he poked a 2-2 fastball from Lidge into left field, scoring Teix and A-Rod to give the Yanks some much needed insurance runs. He was tagged out trying to advance to second, but the damage was already done.

In stark contrast to Lidge, Mariano Rivera came in for the bottom of the 9th inning and mowed down pinch hitter Matt Stairs, Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino in 8 pitches.

There were obviously many other important moments that led up to the top of the 9th inning - many of them frustrating - but we'll have plenty of time to rehash those in the morning. For now, just enjoy this, and in the words of Joe DiMaggio, "Thank God for making [Mariano Rivera] a Yankee".

1950 World Series: Games Three & Four

Game Three

Ahead two games to none, the Yankees returned to the Bronx. Game Three was Friday afternoon; no major TV contract and the short distance between our nation's first and second Capitol cities meant that no off day was necessary between Games Two and Three.

Philly made the interesting choice to turn to Ken Heintzelman. Eight days shy of his 35th birthday, Heintzelman had appeared in only 23 games in 1950, just 17 of them starts. He went 3-9 and is his 4.09 ERA was a just a tick below league average. He had gone 17-10 with a 3.02 ERA and a league leading 5 shutouts in 1949, but it was the only season of his career that he was remotely above average. But, Heintzelman, like Joe Saunders, was a lefty. And even more than it does today, Yankee Stadium in 1950 favored left handed pitchers.

The Yankees countered with a lefty of their own, Ed Lopat, the final member of the Big Three in their starting rotation. Like Reynolds, Lopat came to the Yankees via trade, in a deal with the White Sox prior to the 1948 season. Lopat went 18-8 for the Yankees in 1950 with a 124 ERA+ and a 1.31 WHIP, good for third best in the AL. He picked up a win in his only start of the '49 Series, but gave up 4 ER in 5.2 IP. He would turn in a better performance without the benefit of such a positive personal outcome in 1950.

The Yankees used a two out rally to take a one run lead in the third inning. Phil Rizzuto worked a walk, stole second, and moved to third on an errant throw. With a southpaw on the mound, platoon master Stengel had benched the lefty swinging Gene Woodling, so the hot bat of Jerry Coleman had been moved up to second from eighth in the batting order. Coleman rewarded Stengel by singling Rizzuto home for the game's first run.

The Phillies tied the score in the sixth with a two out rally of their own. Lopat fanned the inning's first two batters, then allowed a double to Del Ennis, who was singled home by Dick Sisler. They took the lead the following inning. Granny Hamner led of with a base hit and was sacrificed to second. Mike Goliat, who grounded into a double play when he had a chance to win Game Two, drove Hamner home to give the Phils their first lead of the Series.

Heintzelman retired the first two batters of the eighth, including Woodling, who pinch hit for Lopat. Then, Heintzelman unraveled, walking Coleman, Yogi Berra, and Joe DiMaggio in consecutive plate appearances. Despite having his number two, three, and four starters available, Philadelphia manager Eddie Sawyer called upon his relief ace, Jim Konstanty, who had thrown eight innings in Game One just two days earlier. Konstanty got Bobby Brown to bounce to short, but an error by Hamner allowed Coleman to score the tying run. Konstanty managed to strand the three baserunners after that, but the damage was done.

In the ninth, Stengel turned to Tom Ferrick, another interesting pitching choice. Ferrick, like Heintzelman, was a bit of a journeyman, though one with a better track record. He came to the Yankees from the Browns in a mid-season deal and went 8-4 with 9 saves and a 3.65 ERA in 56.2 innings of relief work. In tapping Ferrick, Stengel passed over former relief ace Joe Page, who like Brad Lidge had a miserable season, and number four starter Tommy Byrne.

Ferrick gave up a leadoff double to Hamner, who was then moved to third on Philadelphia's fourth sacrifice of the game. Ferrick then intentionally walked Goliat to set up a potential double play. Dick Whitman pinch hit for Konstanty and grounded to first. Joe Collins, who replaced Johnny Mize for defense at the start of the inning, came home and got Hamner for the second out. Ferrick then recorded a flyout to end the inning and escape the jam.

In the bottom of the inning, the Yankees made two quick outs before Woodling and Rizzuto struck back-to-back infield singles up the middle. That brought Coleman to the plate, and he came through once again, singling Woodling home with the winning run. He didn't get a pie in the face, but he did the give the Yankees a commanding three games to none lead despite having outscored Philly by just three runs over the course of the three games.

Konstany took the loss for Philadelphia. The Yankees picked him up off waivers late in 1954 and he spent parts of three seasons with them. Ferrick got the win for the Yankees. They traded him away to the Senators the next season, one year to the day after they acquired him. In return they received Bob Kuzava, who would come up big for the Yanks in the 1951 and '52 World Series. Ferrick's son, Tom Jr, just a year old during his father's Game Three win, would go on to be a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Game Four

In Game Four, Philly turned to one of their Whiz Kids, 24 year old Bob Miller. The rookie went 11-6 with a 114 ERA+ and two shutouts on his way to a second place finish in the NL Rookie of the Year voting.

The Yankees turned to a whiz kid of their own. Without the benefit of an off day at any point, Stengel couldn't go back to Game One starter Vic Raschi. As he did late in Game Three, Casey skipped over number four starter Tommy Byrne and his league leading 160 walks and this time gave the ball to rookie Eddie Ford. Cocksure and confident, Ford, like Game Three pitchers Ed Lopat and Tom Ferrick, was a New York City native. As the Yankees battled the Red Sox down the stretch in 1949, Ford, then just in A-ball, phoned Stengel to offer his services for the pennant drive. Stengel didn't take Ford up on his offer, but he didn't disappoint when he got the call in July of 1950. In twenty games, twelve starts, Ford went 9-1 with a 2.81 ERA (153 ERA+), 1.24 WHIP, two shutouts, and a save. Like Miller, he finished second in the RoY race for his league.

Ford worked around a bit of trouble in the top of the first, then the Yankees came out swinging in the bottom of the inning. Gene Woodling reached on an E4, then moved to second on a groundout by Phil Rizzuto. Yogi Berra singled Woodling home, then moved all the way to third on a wild pitch. Joe DiMaggio's double plated Berra and chased Miller. Once again, Konstanty got the call for Philadelphia, and managed to end the inning.

Staked to a two nothing lead, Ford settled down, retiring six of the next seven with just one runner advancing past first through the sixth. The Yankees added more runs in the bottom of the sixth, starting with a leadoff homer from Berra. DiMaggio was hit by a pitch, then scored on Bobby Brown's triple. Brown scored the Yankees fifth run on a sacrifice fly from Hank Bauer.

Ford tossed perfect frames in the seventh and eighth. In the ninth he surrendered a leadoff single, then hit a batter. A groundout moved the runners up, then Ford recorded a strikeout to get him within an out of complete game, Series clinching shutout. Ford induced a flyball from Andy Seminick. It went to left, Yankee Stadium's sun field, and Woodling lost in the low hanging sun of the autumn afternoon. Two runs scored and then Mike Goliat's single brought the tying run to the plate. Taking no chances, Stengel, as he often did, called Allie Reynolds in to close it out. The same late day sun that caused Woodling to lose the flyball also caused the Stadium's upper deck to cast shadows over home plate. Armed with one of the best fastballs in the league, the shadows made Reynolds nearly unhittable. Reynolds struck out Stan Lopata, ending the game and giving the Yankees their second straight championship and third in four years.

The Yankees received outstanding pitching from all five men they sent to the mound. DiMaggio, Brown, and Woodling all put up gaudy offensive numbers. But Jerry Coleman always seemed to be in the middle of the big innings. His three RBI led the team, and all came in big situations. As such, Coleman was named the Series MVP.

For Ford, Game Four was the final game he would pitch for two years, as he spent 1951 and '52 in the military. But without a doubt, his Game Four start was a changing of the guard. When he returned in 1953 Raschi, Reynolds, and Lopat were all two years older. Ford became the unquestioned ace for the remainder of the Stengel-Houk dynasty years. His victory in the clinching game of the 1950 World Series was the first of his record ten in World Series play.

1950 World Series: Games One & Two

Game One

Like this year, the 1950 World Series began on a Wednesday, October 4th. Philadelphia's Shibe Park, home to both the Phillies and the Athletics, hosted Games One and Two. Thanks to a late season slide coupled with a push from 1949 pennant winners Brooklyn, the Phillies had to pitch their ace, Robin Roberts on the regular season's final day in order to clinch the NL flag. As such, Philly skipper Eddie Sawyer gave the Game One start to relief ace Jim Konstanty, who would win the NL MVP that year. Konstanty had started just one game since the end of the 1944 season, but was the NL's premier reliever. He earned 16 wins, 22 saves, and posted a 152 ERA+ and a 1.04 WHIP in 152 innings of relief work.

Konstanty was opposed by Vic Raschi. Despite being 31 years old, thanks in part to his time at William and Mary and serving in World War II, Raschi was in just his third full Major League season. His ERA that year slipped a bit from his previous seasons, but the Yankees' prolific offense propelled him to 21 wins for the second consecutive season. He saw action for the Yanks in the 1947 and '49 Fall Classics, going 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA in four appearances, two starts.

The teams matched zeros through the first third of the game. In the top of the fourth Yankee third baseman (and future cardiologist and AL President) Bobby Brown led off with a double, then moved to third on a Hank Bauer flyout. With Raschi waiting on deck, Konstanty elected not to walk number eight hitter Jerry Coleman. The Yankee second baseman came through with a deep flyball, scoring Brown.

It was the game's only run. Raschi went the distance, allowing just two hits, a walk, and striking out five. He was perfect through the first four and a third innings, with the two Phillie hits, both singles, coming in the fifth. He retired the last eleven men he faced and no baserunner made it past second base.

Game Two

Down a game, Thursday's Game Two allowed Philadelphia to bring back ace Robin Roberts. Roberts debuted in mid 1948 and enjoyed a breakout season in 1950. His 39 starts and five shutouts led the league. He went 21-11 with a 135 ERA+, a 1.18 WHIP, and recorded a save in his only relief appearance of the year.

Roberts would face the Yankees' Allie Reynolds. The Superchief came to the Yankees following the 1946 season, with future Hall of Famer Joe Gordon heading to Cleveland for him. Reynolds immediately became the Yankees' ace. His 16-12 mark in 1950 was his poorest winning percentage since donning Pinstripes, but his 115 ERA+ was his best, as were his 160 strikeouts, good for second in the AL. He appeared in four games, three starts, between the '47 and '49 World Series and went 2-0 with a save and a 2.28 ERA. According to Peter Golenbock's Dynasty, Casey Stengel held Reynolds back specifically to oppose Roberts. The two would engage in one of the World Series' greatest, if forgotten, pitching duels.

After stranding two runners in the first, the Yankees struck in the second inning. With two outs Jerry Coleman, who had the lone RBI in Game One, drew a walk. Reynolds was up next, and though he was a pitcher, he was a decent hitter and had gone 4 for 8 with a double and an RBI in his two previous World Series. Reynolds singled the other way, pushing Coleman to third, who then scored on an infield single by leftfielder Gene Woodling.

Reynolds worked around an extra base hit in each of the first three innings, and stranded a runner in scoring position in the fourth following a walk and a stolen base. He finally yielded a run in the fifth, as a pair of singles put runners at the corners and a Richie Ashburn sacrifice fly knotted the score at one.

It would remain that way into extra innings, but both teams would have one more good chance before then. In the top of the eighth, Bobby Brown and Hank Bauer hit back-to-back singles to left, giving the Yankees two on with one out. Coleman grounded to short for the second out, moving the runners up. Reynolds was due, with six outs to go and the go-ahead run just 90 feet away. Stengel, never shy to pinch hit when he sniffed an opportunity, let Reynolds, who was 1 for 2 with a walk, hit for himself. He went down looking, ending the threat.

Reynolds, who had allowed just a walk and a bunt single since the run in the fifth, faced a jam of his own in the bottom of the ninth. With one out, he surrendered a double to Granny Hamner. With the potential winning run in scoring position, Philly pinch hit for their catcher for the second time on the day. Reynolds intentionally walked pinch hitter Dick Whitman to set up a force at any base, then induced an inning ending 6-4-3 double play off the bat of Mike Goliat.

In the top of the tenth, Joe DiMaggio led off with a home run to left field to give the Yanks a 2-1 lead. Reynolds issued a lead off walk in the bottom half, and the runner was promptly sacrificed to second. With the tying run in scoring position, Reynolds got a foul out from Ashburn, then got number three hitter Dick Sisler looking to give the Yanks a 2-0 Series lead in a game that neither pitcher deserved to lose. Both starters went the distance. Reynolds surrendered seven hits and four walks in ten frames while striking out six. Roberts gave up ten hits and three walks while striking out three.

After going 1-10 with 5.08 ERA in 1961, the Phillies sold Roberts to the Yankees. He pitched well for them in Spring Training in 1962, but the Yankees cut him in favor of youngster Jim Bouton. Roberts landed with Baltimore, where he had three more good years. The '62 Yankees won the World Series, but couldn't get past the Dodgers in '63 or the Cardinals in '64. Perhaps Roberts could have helped.

Yanks & Phils Post-Season History

Prior to the start of the 1903 season, the Baltimore Orioles relocated to Manhattan, giving the fledgling American League a team in New York City, the Highlanders, who soon became known as the Yankees. That fall the first World Series was played, ushering in the modern era of Major League Baseball. While the Fall Classic would be skipped the next year (John McGraw's Giants refused to play against an American League team), by and large the format of Major League Baseball would be unchanged for 58 seasons. Both the American and National League consisted of eight clubs, playing a 154 game schedule, with the two league champions meeting in the World Series.

In the forty one seasons from 1921 through 1961 - the final pre-expansion season in the National League - the Yankees won twenty six American League pennants. In those World Series, the Yankees saw seven of the eight National League clubs at least twice. The only NL club they faced once was the Phillies, in the 1950 World Series. They haven't met in the post-season since.

The two clubs had several near misses in the late seventies and early eighties. While the Yankees won three straight AL pennants from 1976 through 1978, the Phillies lost in the NLCS in each of those years. In 1976 they were knocked out by the Reds, who then became the last National League club to win back-to-back championships, while '77 and'78 came at the hands of the Dodgers, who the Phillies have bounced from the NLCS two years running now.

In 1980 the Phillies advanced to the World Series for just the third time in their history. The Yankees had the best record in baseball that year, but were knocked out in the ALCS by the Royals (who like the Phillies, had lost in the LCS in 76, 77, and 78). The Phillies won that 1980 Series, which until last year was the only championship in their history. In the 1981 the Yankees returned to the Fall Classic, but the Phillies were knocked out in the Division Series round necessitated by that year's lengthy players' strike.

So, when the Yanks and Phils square off tomorrow night, it'll be the first World Series game between the two teams in more than 59 years. There will be some similarities between the two Series as well. Just as in 1950, the Yankees will enter the Series with a manager in his second season at the helm, and the Series will feature the defending World Champions. The difference is that in 1950 Casey Stengel and his Yankees were the defending champions; this year Joe Girardi will be facing the club looking to repeat.

The 1950 Phillies were known as the Whiz Kids. Four of their eight position players and five of their top six pitchers were twenty six or younger, including future Hall of Famers Richie Ashburn and Robin Roberts. They had finished 16 games off the pace in 1949 and weren't expected to contend in '50. But they moved into a tie for first place shortly after the All-Star break and never relinquished the lead, despite a late season push from defending NL champs Brooklyn, who forced an elimination game on the season's final day.

Meanwhile, the 1950 Yankees bettered Detroit for their second consecutive pennant and third in four years. Though 35 and past his prime, Joe DiMaggio had an outstanding season, posting a .301/.394/.585 line (151 OPS+) with 32 HRs, leading the league in slugging. Yogi Berra, in his fourth full season, posted his best line yet, with new career highs in every major offensive category. And veteran shortstop Phil Rizzuto had the finest season of his career, knocking 200 hits while batting .324/.418/.439 and playing his usual spectacular defense on his way to the AL MVP. The pitching staff was led by the old guard of Allie Reynolds, Vic Raschi, and Eddie Lopat, with Tommy Byrne chipping in 15 wins and a rookie named Eddie Ford, later dubbed Whitey, going 9-1 after getting called up in July.

On paper, the Series was a bit of a mismatch. While Philly had the best pitching in the Majors, the Yanks were better than league average and had a wealth of World Series experience on their staff.

On offense, Philly was just below league average while the Yankees were second in baseball in runs and batting average, third in on base and slugging, and tied for the lead in OPS+. They outlasted Detroit, Boston, and Cleveland in the extremely tough American League, where the Phillies' 91 wins would have left them in fifth place.

The result of the Series was in line with what most expected entering the Fall Classic, but much like the ALDS and ALCS were for the 2009 Yankees, the games were much closer than final results of the series would indicate. We'll be back later on with a detailed look at that 1950 World Series.