Game 75 Recap

[WE data via FanGraphs]

When Joba Chamberlain gave up an RBI double to Rafael Furcal with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, the Yankees looked to be dead to rights. It cut the Yanks' chances of winning from about three percent to one percent. When Mark Teixeira struck out looking on a 97mph fastball from Jonathan Bronxton leading off the ninth inning, it hacked the Bombers' odds of pulling it out by a third once again from 1.2% all the way down to 0.4%.

There wasn't much reason to be hopeful, either. Andy Pettitte had a bad start (by his high standards this year) despite not getting hit all that hard. The Dodgers laid down three consecutive bunts in the third inning and none resulted in outs - Andy made throwing errors on two of them and the third was a single. He gave up two more on a sac fly and a homer in the fourth, putting the Yanks in a 5-0 hole. The offense had been stagnant up until that point, the only two runs they scored coming on a home run by Alex Rodriguez, but unfortunately he was up after Teixeira and you can't hit a grand slam with the bases empty.

A-Rod did his job of not using up an out, poked a single through left field and advanced on defensive indifference before Robinson Cano drove him in with a double. Jorge Posada singled, moving Cano to third, and advanced on indifference as Curtis Granderson was in the process of working a tough 8 pitch walk from Broxton to load the bases. All of a sudden the Yanks had the go-ahead run at the plate and still only one out.

Recent call-up Chad Huffman (who came in for an injured Brett Gardner) let two 96mph heaters pass, one for a ball and one for a strike, but smacked the third one into right field, driving in Posada and Cano. Colin Curtis, who was also in Scranton not too long ago, battled through a 10 pitch at bat against Broxton and grounded a ball to first. James Loney fielded it and instead of trying to start an inning-ending double play at second or throw home to save the run, he attempted to get the force at first and then throw home. However, Granderson beat the ball to the plate and the score was tied at six runs apiece.

The Dodgers intentionally walked Derek Jeter and retired Frankie Cervelli, but the Yankees had made a divine comeback and gave themselves a chance to steal the series on their way out of the City of Angels.

It wouldn't take long. Riding the momentum of the moment, Girardi went to Mariano Rivera and he took down the side in order in the bottom of the ninth. Robinson Cano rewarded the aggressive move by launching a two run homer in the 10th off of George Sherrill (who Torre brought in specifically for him) to give the Yanks the lead. James Loney led off the bottom half of the inning with a single but Rivera struck out Russell Martin (who got ejected after throwing a tantrum over a pitch that was obviously a strike) and Reed Johnson (who was 3-4 on the night at that point) before inducing a game inning grounder from Jamey Carroll.

Without looking up the specifics, it's feels like it's been a long time since the Yankees have had a miraculous late comeback like this one [Update: Larry says it's the biggest 9th inning rally since April 2007]. It would have been sweet regardless, but the fact that it nailed down a series victory and came against some old friends makes it a little bit sweeter. The team has the day off today as they head back home and rest up before a three game set against the Mariners.

Game 73: My Old School

As the Dodgers and Yankees saw their paths cross in both the 1955 and '56 World Series, there was a movement beginning to take shape beneath the surface which would ultimately change the face of Major League Baseball and foreshadowed what would become a major trend in American society in the second half of the twentieth century, the second time in less than a decade they were ahead of the societal curve.

Just as the Dodgers were the first team to break the race barrier in baseball, they and the Giants were the first franchises to put down roots significantly west of the Mississippi when they shipped out to California after the 1957 season (the A's had moved to Kansas City three seasons prior). As the years went by, more and more baseball teams would add African-American players to their rosters until the league was completely integrated. Similarly, more and more citizens would flee the urban metropolises of the East Coast, causing the population to disperse into suburbs both along the eastern seaboard and into the western expanses of the country.

Of course, today, California is the most populous state in the union and there are five baseball teams in it, in addition to five more clubs - the Rangers, Astros, Mariners, Diamondbacks and Rockies - spread out over the western portion of the nation.

Why did the Dodgers flee the city that was home to their team since 1884 on the heels of their first World Series victory over the Yankees? As we've seen with countless sports franchises (including the Yankees), while Ebbets Field was becoming outdated if not untenable in the 1950's, the ownership group, headed by Walter O'Malley, threatened relocation so as to exert leverage upon the city in the negotiations for a new stadium. The team played seven regular season games at Roosevelt Field in Jersey City in 1956, which management thought would get the attention of and possibly frighten policy makers in Brooklyn into caving to their stadium-related demands, but their posturing was largely ignored.

O'Malley already had a 1/4th ownership stake in the franchise that he acquired when he became the team's lawyer in 1944, but it wasn't until the beginning of the next decade that he took full control of the club. The Bronx-born Giants fan bought out the ownership shares of Branch Rickey and John L. Smith after Smith's death in 1950, and through a series of complicated and somewhat shady transactions, took a majority stake in the team.

While Rickey was the driving force behind bringing Jackie Robinson to Brooklyn (along with creating the farm system), the move to Los Angeles probably never would have happened with him at the helm. He was considered far more conservative than O'Malley and the two frequently butted heads in board of directors meetings, disagreeing on everything from the construction of Dodgertown (O'Malley thought it was ostentatious although he came to embrace and modernize it when he became full owner) to whether or not the team should accept money by taking on an official beer sponsor (Rickey was against it). It seemed unlikely that the two would agree on a move this major, but with Rickey out of the picture in 1956, word got out that Los Angeles was looking for a baseball team and O'Malley was quick to let them know that he might be interested in making that leap.

At the time, professional baseball was limited to the eastern half of the country and unquestionably centered in New York. From 1936 to 1956, the three New York teams combined for 26 World Series appearances, seven of those 21, as Matt has been meticulously detailing, featuring the Yankees and the Dodgers and a smaller portion (3/21) pitted the Yanks and the Giants against one another.

When the City of Angels offered O'Malley something that New York could not - the opportunity to buy land to build a park on and the ability to own the facility - it was only a matter of time before New York went from having three baseball teams to just one.

At the time, the Giants were playing in the badly outdated and structurally-suspect Polo Grounds and were in the market for a new stadium as well. Knowing that he needed another team to make the jump to California with him, O'Malley convinced the owner of the Giants, Horace Stoneham, to relocate to San Francisco. In just one year, National League baseball had evaporated from New York City and the MLB had been stretched from sea to shining sea.

=====

Like O'Malley, Joe Torre grew up a New York Baseball Giants fan. He was raised in Brooklyn and according to legend, was in the stands when Don Larsen threw his perfect game in the 1956 World Series. Like O'Malley, baseball also caused him to leave New York for Los Angeles, albeit under very different circumstances.

By all accounts, Torre didn't want to leave the Yankees and has said as recently as yesterday that the performance-based incentives were what most made him turn down the offer from the Yankees that day in Tampa, get back on the private plane he flew in on, and leave his twelve year career with the team behind him.

Perhaps it was best for both parties. The Yankees now have a top-notch skipper in Joe Girardi who has already led them to another World Series title and Torre, with his wheatgrass and his longboard, seems to be getting along just fine out in Hollywood. Managerial tenures aren't meant to last forever and even though Joe said he would have preferred to stay, he acknowledged yesterday that his time in the Bronx seemed to have run its course:

I stayed there a long time. Maybe too long. But you don't know that until you stay there too long.

With exceptions of Alex Rodriguez and to a lesser extent, Brian Cashman (relationships which were strained mostly because of what was written in The Yankee Years), the Joe Torre Era - and by extension, Torre - still inspires fond memories for supporters of the Yankees. There is a much deeper bond with many of the players who were a part of those twelve seasons, particularly Jeter, Pettitte, Rivera, Posada and Joe Girardi, who all spoke glowingly of their old skipper when they met with the media Wednesday.

Tonight is going to be a little odd for everyone involved. There will surely be plenty of talk on the broadcast about Torre and Don Mattingly and "how strange it is to see them in another uniform", but at this point it would be significantly more odd to see them back in their old Yankee duds.

It will of course be bittersweet to see two significant parts of the franchise - guys that we felt connections to that transcended baseball - in the opposing dugout. There are Yankee fans of a wide swath of ages who grew up idolizing Donny Baseball and for whom Joe Torre almost seems like a distant relative.

It's probably best to look at those two like we would some childhood friends or old roommates from college. The bond is there, without question, but with the feelings of nostalgia comes a realization that the era during which you were extremely close is now gone. The circumstances that brought you together were extraordinary while they existed and should be reflected upon fondly even if they are never going to come back.

Well I did not think the girl, could be so cruel.
And I'm never going back, to my old school.

California tumbles into the sea,
That'll be the day I go back to Annandale,
Tried to warn you, about Chino and Daddy G,
But I can't seem to get to you through the U.S. Mail,
Well, I hear the whistle but I can't go,
I'm gonna take her down to Mexico,
She said "Oh no, Guadalajara won't do".

[Song Notes: Walter Becker and Donald Fagen (the two members of Steely Dan) first met when they, along with Chevy Chase, were both students at Bard College, located in Annandale-on-Hudson, just north of Kingston, NY. The full story behind this song can be found in this article in Entertainment Weekly from 2006, but here's a partial explanation of why they were "never going back" to Bard, starting with a quote from Fagen:

Bard hired a lawyer and bailed out the 50 or so students who'd been hauled in during the raid. Problem was, Becker and White weren't technically students at the time. ''I asked them to bail my girlfriend out,'' says Fagen. ''She had nothing to do with this and was just visiting me. And they refused to do it. So when graduation time came I protested by not going. My case had already been dismissed—they had withdrawn the charges, actually. So I was sitting on a bench in front of Stone Row with my father and lawyer, just watching the graduation. A lot of the students were also angry because apparently the school had let an undercover policeman be planted in the building and grounds department. Their cooperation with the investigation was despicable.

After the incident, Becker and Fagen moved to Brooklyn and divided much of the rest of their careers between New York City and Los Angeles.]

-Lineups-

Yankees:

Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada C
Nick Swisher RF
Brett Gardner LF
CC Sabathia LHP

Dodgers:

Rafael Furcal SS
Russell Martin C
Andre Ethier RF
Manny Ramirez LF
Matt Kemp CF
James Loney 1B
Casey Blake 3B
Jamey Carroll 2B
Vicente Padilla RHP

1956 World Series

After finally dropping a Fall Classic to Brooklyn, the Yankees didn't have to wait long to get a shot at revenge. The Yankees took the AL by nine games in 1956, their most comfortable margin of victory since 1947. The Dodgers meanwhile, entered the season's final weekend hosting lowly Pittsburgh and trailing Milwaukee by a half game. Brooklyn swept a Saturday doubleheader while the Braves lost, putting the Dodgers up a game. Brooklyn completed the sweep on Sunday, clinching their fourth pennant in five years and setting up another World Series rematch with the Yankees.

-1956-

A year removed from their last meeting, both teams carried essentially the same rosters as the previous fall. Phil Rizzuto was unceremoniously released late in the season, but overall the position players for both teams were virtually the same as the year before, with the occasional variation depending upon how platoon masters Casey Stengel and Walter Alston tweaked the line up. The biggest change came on the pitching front. The respective staffs were still fronted by Whitey Ford and Don Newcombe, but Johnny Kucks had supplanted Tommy Byrne as the Yankees' number two man, while longtime Giant Sal "The Barber" Maglie joined Brooklyn early in the season and became their number two starter.

The Yankees featured their typical balanced attack, ranking at or near the top of the AL in most major batting and pitching categories. The Dodgers meanwhile, had changed the nature of their team. Long an offensive juggernaut with average pitching, the '56 club had an offense just slightly better than the NL average. Their pitching staff though, led by Newcombe, Maglie, and sophomore Roger Craig, and featuring two seldom used youngsters named Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale, was the class of the NL.

The Series opened at Ebbets Field on Wednesday October 3rd. It was five years to the day since the Giants won a three game playoff against the Dodgers, courtesy of Bobby Thompson's "Shot Heard 'Round the World". Maglie started for the Giants that day, and on the five year anniversary it was him, not his 1951 opponent Don Newcombe, who took the ball for Brooklyn. For the Yankees, Ford predictably got the Game One nod.

The Yankees defeated Maglie in Game Four of the '51 Series, and Game One started out looking like much the same. They took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first on the strength of a two run homer from Mickey Mantle, who had destroyed AL pitching that summer, posting a career best OPS+ of 210, winning the Triple Crown, and leading the league in runs, slugging, OPS, OPS+, and total bases as well. He finished second in OBP and walks, fourth in hits, and seventh in stolen bases. He would later call it his Favorite Summer, and his 12.9 WAR remains baseball's fourth best total since the Dead Ball Era.

Maglie settled in during the second inning though, retiring the side in order to make it five straight outs for him. His offense evened the score in the bottom half. Jackie Robinson led off with a home run; Gil Hodges then singled and was doubled home by Carl Furillo. Maglie worked around two singles in the third, then the Dodgers plated three more on a Hodges homer in the bottom half. Billy Martin started the top of the fourth with a solo shot to cut it to 5-4, but with Ford chased from the game in bottom of the inning, the Dodgers added a run off reliever Johnny Kucks. The teams stayed scoreless for the remainder of the day, and Maglie's complete game gave the Dodgers a 6-4 victory and one game lead in the Series.

After a rainout on Thursday, Game Two matched Don Newcombe against Don Larsen. Both turned in poor performances in their only starts in the '55 Series, and things didn't get any better for them in Game Two. Joe Collins singled Enos Slaughter home in the first to give the Yankees an early lead for the second straight day. The Yankees broke out the heavy lumber in the second. Martin led off with a single and was bunted second. Larsen, a fairly good hitting pitcher, singled him home and turned the lineup over. Gil McDougald reached on an infield single, and after Slaughter made the second out, Mantle drew a walk to load the bases. Yogi Berra then unloaded them, blasting a grand slam to right and ending Newcombe's day.

Larsen took the hill in the bottom of the second with a 6-0 lead, but he, his defense, and his relief promptly gave it all back. Hodges led off with a single and an error by Moose Skowron allowed Sandy Amoros to reach. Furillo walked to load the bases. Roy Campanella hit a sacrifice fly to put Brooklyn on the board, and then pinch hitter Dale Mitchell popped up for the second out. Larsen couldn't close the door though, walking Junior Gilliam to reload the bases and end his afternoon. Kucks replaced him and immediately surrendered a two run single to Pee Wee Reese. Stengel then lifted Kucks for Tommy Byrne, who served up a three run bomb to Duke Snider, knotting the score at six. All six Brooklyn runs were unearned, but it didn't change the fact that the Yankees had just squandered a six run lead.

The Dodgers took a one run lead in the third, with pitcher Don Bessent driving in Hodges. The Yankees answered in the top of the fourth as a sac fly from Slaughter scored Yankee pitcher Tom Morgan. In the fifth, Hodges' two run double gave the Dodgers the lead for good, as Brooklyn went on to take a 13-8 final. Both Newcombe and Larsen pitched poorly. Both would have an opportunity to redeem himself before the Series ended; only one did.

The Yankees retreated to the Bronx in an 0-2 hole, having lost three in a row and six of seven to the team they had previously dominated. In desperate need of a win, the Thursday rainout allowed Stengel to bring back Ford on two days rest for Game Three. Brooklyn countered with Roger Craig. The clubs traded runs in the second, a sacrifice fly from Campanella scoring Robinson with the game's first run, and a solo homer from Billy Martin evening things up. It remained that way into the sixth, when a sac fly from Snider scored Pee Wee Reese. Once again the Yankees responded in the bottom half, as a three run home from Enos Slaughter gave the Yankees a 4-2 lead. Both teams scored an unearned over the final innings before Ford closed it out to bring the Yankees within a game.

Game Four was a match up of serviceable back of the rotation options. Carl Erskine had been one of the better pitchers for Brooklyn earlier in the decade, but now nearly thirty, he had slipped down the Dodger pecking order. For the Yankees, sophomore Tom Sturdivant was a valuable swingman on the club, logging the fourth most innings on the team while splitting his appearances between starts and the bullpen. Yogi Berra singled Joe Collins home in the first to spot the Yankees a lead. Hodges drove home Snider in the fourth to tie the score, but in the bottom half Martin singled Mantle in, then McDougald plated Slaughter with a sac fly to give the Yanks a 3-1 lead. Home runs from Mantle in the sixth and Hank Bauer in the eighth made it 6-1. The Dodgers loaded the bases with one out in the ninth, but Stengel stuck with Sturdivant. He surrendered and RBI single to Campanella, then retired the next two men to earn a complete game victory and pull the Series even at two apiece.

When Don Larsen entered the Yankee clubhouse on the morning of Monday October 8th, he found a baseball tucked in his spikes, Stengel's way of informing he was starting that afternoon. Six feet four inches tall, Larsen was nicknamed the Gooney Bird, not only for his height, but also for his sometimes aloof demeanor. He was known to have a drink from time to time, like many of his teammates. The Yankees had acquired Larsen following the '54 season, as part of a massive 17 player trade. He pitched rather well for the club over the two intervening seasons, but his two World Series starts had been disastrous to the tune of nine runs (five of them earned) over five and two thirds innings. As we've seen over recent years, small doses of post-season performance aren't always indicative of true talent level. Larsen wasn't nearly as bad as those two starts suggested. He was an above average pitcher at that point in his career, and while no one would ever confuse him with the best pitcher in the game, for one afternoon he managed to turn in a reasonable impersonation.

Nine years and five days earlier, Yankee starter Bill Bevens came within one out of no-hitting the Dodgers for the first World Series no-no in history. Larsen finished what Bevens couldn't, doing him one better by not issuing a single walk, nor hitting a batter, nor having his defense make an error behind him. Mickey Mantle staked the Yankees to a one run lead with a solo homer in the fourth, then made a running, lunging catch to track down a Gil Hodges liner in the left field gap during the fifth. Bauer added an RBI single in the sixth, but it was more offense than Larsen needed. Home plate umpire Babe Pinelli rang up pinch hitter Dale Mitchell on a called third strike to end the ninth. It was a borderline call at best, but nonetheless, marked Larsen's seventh K on the day and the twenty seventh consecutive batter he retired. Berra leapt into his arms along the first base line, the two having just completed just the fourth perfect game in the modern era, and what remains the only no-hitter in post-season history.


Not only had they just made history, but the Yankees took their third game in a row to push he Dodgers to the brink of elimination. The Series shifted back to Ebbets Field the next day, and while Game Six didn't quite match the drama of Game Five, it came awfully close. Clem Labine, usually the Dodgers relief ace, got the start. For the Yankees, Bob Turley, who had been knocked around in a Game Three start the previous year, took the ball. Since that start, Turley had made four World Series relief appearances, covering five and a third innings, ten strikeouts, and just a single run. He would pitch even better than that in Game Six, but the end result didn't improve at all.

Turley and Labine matched zeros through nine innings. Only five men made it as far as second base, three for the Yankees and two for the Dodgers, and no one advanced as far as third. In the tenth, Labine retired the Yankees in order for the fourth time on the day. In the bottom half, Turley got Labine to pop up for the first out, then issued a walk to Junior Gilliam. Pee Wee Reese bunted Gilliam to second, and with two outs, the Yankees elected to walk Duke Snider and go after Jackie Robinson. The veteran was now 37 years old and in his tenth season. He wasn't the same player he had been in his prime, but had rebounded from a subpar 1955 to have a good '56. Facing the Yankees in the Fall Classic for the sixth time, he stepped in the box for his 156th World Series plate appearance, all of them against the Yankees. He singled Gilliam in to give the Dodgers the win and force a Game Seven. It would be the last of hit of Robinson's career.

For the second straight year, the third time in their last four meetings, and the fifth time overall, the Yankees and Dodgers faced a Game Seven. Stengel surprisingly chose Johnny Kucks over Whitey Ford. Alston, to the surprise of no one, went with Don Newcombe. It was the fifth start of Newk's World Series career. After taking a tough luck loss in Game One of the '49 Series, Newcombe got bounced early in Game Four. He missed the '52 and '53 Series while serving in the military, and was then torched in Game One in '55 and in Game Two in '56. Given a shot at redemption, Newcombe couldn't break the trend of poor peformances against the Yankees.

Yogi Berra hit a two run homer in the first to put the Yankees on the board, and he added a second two run shot in the third to double the lead. Elston Howard led off the fourth with a solo shot, making it 5-0 and chasing Newcombe from the mound. Moose Skowron added a grand slam in the seventh, but Berra's first inning blast was all the offense Kucks needed. The 23 year old Hoboken native was in his second Major League season, just four years removed from signing with the Yankees. The tall, lanky right hander absolutely baffled the Dodger batters, scattering three singles and three walks on the afternoon. He retired the side in order four different times, allowed multiple baserunners in just one inning, and just one runner made it as far as second base. Despite recording just one strikeout, Kucks tossed a brilliant complete game shutout, returning the Yankees to the top of the baseball world. It was their sixth championship in eight years under Stengel, their seventh over the last ten seasons, and their seventeenth overall.

No one knew it at the time, but the end of the 1956 World Series also marked the conclusion of the Golden Age of New York baseball.

1953 World Series

Good morning Fackers. We continue our look at the Yankee-Dodger World Series today. Originally I had planned to cover all eleven in three or four shots, hence the introduction, 1941, and 1947 all being crammed into one post yesterday morning. But the more I got into this, the more I felt that each Series was worthy of its own post. So without further ado:

-1953-

After squandering a three games to two lead in 1952, the Dodgers got a shot at revenge the very next year. The return match up between the two teams was the first World Series rematch since the Yanks and Cardinals met in 1942-'43, and the first non-wartime rematch since the Yanks and Giants met in '36 and '37. With the Yanks having played the Giants in the 1951 Fall Classic, the '53 Series was the third consecutive all-New York World Series, the first time that occurred since the Yankees and Giants faced off from 1921 through 1923.

Tying a mark set by the '36 through '39 Yankees, the Yankees entered the series as the four time defending champions. Two of those four victories had come at the expense of the Dodgers, as had three of their last five championships and four of their last seven. Overall, it was the fifth time in the last thirteen years the two clubs had met in baseball's showcase event.

The Dodgers ran away with the NL flag in '53, bettering Milwaukee by 13 games, and posting a 105-49 record that still stands as the best in franchise history. The Yankees meanwhile went 99-52, good for a comfortable 8.5 game cushion over Cleveland and the team's best record yet in their five years under Casey Stengel. The Yankees boasted the AL's best offense (first in runs, AVG, OBP, SLG) as well as a league leading 3.20 ERA. Per usual, the Dodgers were the leading sluggers in the NL, with their pitching ranking third in the league.

Seeing as the clubs had met just the year before, there wasn't much that had changed. The principal players were all the same for both clubs. For the Dodgers, the emergence of Rookie of the Year Jim Gilliam pushed Jackie Robinson off second base and into a super utility role, where he played virtually everyday, often in left field, sometimes at third, and occasionally at his former stomping grounds on the right side of the infield.

The Yankee regulars were identical to the year before. The biggest change for the Yankees was the return of Whitey Ford from two years of military service. As a rookie in 1950, Ford had gone 9-1 and tossed eight and two thirds shutout innings in the clinching game of the World Series. When Ford got into a jam in the ninth inning of that game, Stengel turned to ace Allie Reynolds to close it out. It was a technique the Yankee skipper utilized with increasing frequency through his tenure in the Bronx, and with the return of Ford to front the rotation with holdovers Vic Raschi and Ed Lopat, Stengel was free to push the aging Reynolds into a more permanent fireman role, as the Super Chief made more relief appearances than starts for the first time in his career and finished 23 games over the course of the season.

Yet when the Series began at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday September 30th, it was Reynolds, not Ford, who was on the mound. While Stengel had the benefit of choosing between his veteran ace or his returning military man, Dodgers manager Chuck Dressen had no such luxury. Don Newcombe, who had started against Reynolds in Game One of the '49 Series and fronted the Brooklyn staff for three seasons, was in his second and final year of military service. Instead Brooklyn turned to Carl Erskine, who fronted the Brooklyn staff for the second straight year, and in 1953 at least, was really their only above average starter.

The Yankees wasted no time in jumping on Erskine. Joe Collins worked a one out walk in the first, then came around to score on a Hank Bauer triple. After Yogi Berra struck out for out number two, Erskine issued walks to Mickey Mantle and Gene Woodling to load the bases. Billy Martin promptly unloaded them with a triple of his own, giving the Yankees an early 4-0 lead and sending Erskine to an early shower.

A solo shot from Junior Gilliam in the fifth made it 4-1, but the Yankees got the run back in the bottom half on a solo homer from Berra. Two more balls left the yard in the sixth, and this time both were off the bats of Dodgers. Gil Hodges led off with a shot to left, and three batters later George Shuba hit a two run blast to make it 5-4. That ended Reynolds' afternoon, as he gave way to the other top arm in the bullpen, Johnny Sain. Sain got out of the sixth, but allowed Brooklyn to tie it in the seventh on consecutive singles to Roy Campanella, Hodges, and Carl Furillo.

The Yankees answered in their half, with a solo home run from Joe Collins putting them back on top. They tacked on three more in the eighth, courtesy of a two run double from Sain and an RBI single from Collins. The game ended as a 9-5 Yankee victory, with Sain working three and two thirds of one run relief to earn the win.

Game Two was a match up of two aging left handers, as 35 year old Eddie Lopat took the mound for the Yankees to face 37 year old Preacher Roe. It was a rematch of their Game Three showdown the previous fall, one in which Lopat came out on the short end. Their fortunes would reverse this time. Gene Woodling led off the Yankee first with a walk, and came around on a sacrifice fly from Berra. Both teams went scoreless through the second and third, then the Dodgers took a 2-1 lead in the fourth when Billy Cox pulled a double down the left field line.

From there the pitchers matched zeros until the bottom of the seventh, when Billy Martin tied the game with a leadoff homer to left. The following inning, with Hank Bauer on first and two outs, Mickey Mantle deposited one into the left field seats, giving the Yankees a 4-2 lead. Lopat put the tying runs on base in the ninth, and with two outs the dangerous Duke Snider came to the plate. The Duke of Flatbush had led the NL in runs, total bases, slugging, OPS, and OPS+, and had torched the Yankees for four homers the previous fall. But Lopat got him to roll over one, grounding weakly to Martin to end the game and give the Yankees a two games to none lead.

The series shifted to Ebbets Field for Game Three. The lack of travel didn't necessitate an off day, and not wanting to go down 0-3, the Dodgers went back to Erskine on just a day's rest. Of course, he had thrown just one inning in Game One, so he was well rested in opposing Vic Raschi. The two matched zeros through four. In the Yankee fifth, Billy Martin and Phil Rizzuto led off with infield singles, and were then sacrificed up by Raschi. A third infield single by Gil McDougald plated Martin with the game's first run. The Dodgers answered in the bottom half, as Cox bunted Jackie Robinson in from third to tie the score.

The Dodgers took the lead the following inning, as a two out single from Robinson pushed Snider across. The Yankees answered in the eighth, as a two out single from Woodling scored Bauer to knot the score. The tie was short lived however, as Roy Campanella hit a one out homer to left in the bottom of the eighth to give Brooklyn a 3-2 lead. The Yankees went quietly in the ninth, sending Raschi home a hard luck loser, despite going the distance. It would prove to be Raschi's final appearance as a Yankee, as the longtime member of the Yankees Big Three and the starter of eight World Series games over the past five seasons was sold to the Cardinals the next spring.

Whitey Ford had led the team in both starts and innings pitched over the course of the season, but it wasn't until Game Four that he took the mound. He could not recapture the magic of his Game Four start in the 1950 Series, as the Dodgers touched him up for three first inning runs, ending his day. It didn't get any better for the Yanks from there. The Dodgers added another run off Tom Gorman in the fourth. A two run homer from McDougald in the fifth cut the lead in half, but the Dodgers came back with two of their own in the sixth and one more in the seventh. Down 7-2, the Yankees had a mini-rally going in the ninth, when Mantle stepped to the plate against Clem Labine with the bases loaded, two outs, and potential tying run Joe Collins in the on deck circle. The Mick laced a single to left to score Woodling, but Martin was thrown out at the plate - an ugly end to an ugly game that saw all four Yankee pitchers surrender at least one run.

With the Series knotted at two games each, the Dodgers gave the ball to 20 year old rookie Johnny Podres. The unproven lefty had a good year in limited duty, having the second best ERA amongst Dodgers starters while serving as a fifth starter and swingman. The Yankees countered with an equally improbable starter. Despite Allie Reynolds being available and well rested, Stengel turned to 26 year old Jim McDonald, who served the Yankees in a swingman role similar to the one Podres filled for Brooklyn. The unconvential match up was a recipe for runs, and that's exactly what they cooked up.

The Yankees opened the scoring in the top of the first, as Gene Woodling hit a leadoff homer to left. The Dodgers countered in the second, as two singles and a Rizzuto error tied it at one. The floodgates opened in the top of the third, but it can't all be blamed on Podres. Rizzuto opened the frame with a walk, was sacrificed to second by McDonald, and moved to third on a groundout by Woodling. Joe Collins followed with a would-be inning-ending ground ball that Gil Hodges booted. Rizzuto scored the go-ahead run and the rally was on from there. Podres plunked Bauer, then walked Berra, and was then lifted in favor of Russ Meyer. Mickey Mantle welcomed him to the game by launching a grand slam to left, the only one of Mantle's 18 World Series homers to come with the bases juiced.

Armed with a six run lead, McDonald settled in. He worked scoreless innings in the third, fourth, sixth, and seventh, with a Duke Snider RBI single sandwiched in the fifth. His offense gave him three more runs in the seventh, courtesy of a two run homer from Martin and an RBI double off McDonald's own bat, and one more in the eighth on a sac fly from Berra.

Snider tapped back to McDonald to open the eighth, but from there the Yankee pitcher got into trouble. Robinson and Campanella followed with singles, and after Hodges fanned for the second out, Furillo singled Robinson home and Cox followed with a three run homer to cut it to 10-6. Last fall's hero Bob Kuzava closed out the frame. Gil McDougald's solo shot in the ninth made it 11-6, but Junior Gilliam led off the bottom of the ninth with a homer of his own. After Kuzava allowed a one out single to Snider, Stengel called on Reynolds, and the Super Chief induced a double play grounder from Robinson to end the game and push the Series to 3-2 Yanks.

Back in the Bronx the next day, Stengel put Ford, just two days removed from a one inning start, on the mound. The same strategy had worked for Brooklyn with Carl Erskine three days earlier, and history was about to repeat itself. Erskine got the Game Six start for Brooklyn, and the Yankees got to him early once again. With Bauer and Woodling on first and second, Yogi Berra's ground rule double made it 1-0. After Mantle was intentionally walked to load the bases, Martin bounced a would-be inning-ending double play ball to Gilliam, but he booted it, scoring Bauer and making it 2-0. The next inning, Rizzuto led off with a base hit, moved to third on a single from Ford, and scored on a sacrifice fly from Woodling.

Armed with a 3-0 lead, Ford pitched excellently. He shut the Dodgers out through five, before Robinson finally scored on a Campanella groundout in the sixth. Ford rebounded with a scoreless seventh to end his afternoon. He left having allowed just seven men to reach base in as many innings of work, while striking out seven. Just as he had in the final game of the 1950 Series, Reynolds came on to close out Ford's start, except this time it wouldn't go exactly as planned.

Reynolds worked around a single in the eighth, and took the mound in the ninth up two runs and three outs away from a fifth consecutive championship. Hodges led off with a flyout to Mantle, then Reynolds walked Snider. Carl Furillo followed, and he tied the game with a homer to right. Reynolds backed it up with consecutive strikeouts to end the inning, but the damage was done.

Hank Bauer led off the Yankee ninth, and he coaxed a base on balls from Clem Lebine. After Berra lined out to right, the young and not yet injury ravaged Mantle legged out an infield single. Billy Martin stepped to the plate. The brash second baseman had posted a four RBI game in the previous year's World Series, but his biggest contribution came on his game saving shoe string grab in Game Six. This time around, he did his damage at the dish, entering the at bat at 11 for 23 with a walk, two homers and eight RBI. Casey's Boy had one more hit in him still, singling to raise his Series average to an even .500, but more importantly scoring Bauer with the Series winning run. The Yankees vanquished the Dodgers yet again, and in doing so became the only team in Major League history to win five straight World Series.

1952 World Series

-1952-

It would be three years before the Yankees and Dodgers resumed their autumnal rivalry. In the two seasons between the Yankees won two more titles, beating the Phillies in 1950 and winning a Subway Series against the Giants in '51. The Big Three of Reynolds, Raschi, and Lopat still fronted the rotation, but '47 and '49 hero Joe Page was gone as the fireman, replaced by veteran Johnny Sain. On the offensive side, the Yankees had just completed their first season without Joe DiMaggio, but hadn't really skipped a beat. Yogi Berra was still the best catcher in the league, Gene Woodling and Hank Bauer had outstanding seasons, and DiMaggio's replacement, Mickey Mantle - not yet 21, had emerged as one of the best players in the game in just his second season.

The Dodgers had the same core as they did in '49, and once again were an offense heavy team. With Don Newcombe serving in the military and Preacher Roe transitioning to crafty veteran, youngsters Carl Erskine and Billy Loes took over at the front of the rotation.

For the first time in their four World Series meetings, the Series began at Ebbets Field. Allie Reynolds got the Game One start, just as he did in '49. There would be no shutout this time though, as the Dodgers pushed three across against him, and one more against reliever Ray Scarborough to take a 4-2 victory. Joe Black went the distance for Brooklyn, surrendering a solo home run to Gil McDougald. Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, and Duke Snider all homered for Brooklyn.

The Yankees pulled even in Game Two, plating five against Erskine in as many innings and tacking on two more against Loes in relief. Billy Martin was the offensive star for the Yankees, going two for four with a homer and four RBIs. It wouldn't be his only big moment of the Series. Raschi went all nine, allowing eight baserunners and one run, with nine strikeouts.

Game Three was a matchup of veteran lefties as Eddie Lopat went against Preacher Roe. Roe got the better of the deal, as the Dodgers won 5-3. Berra and Johnny Mize hit homers for the Yankees in the losing effort.

Game Four saw the Yankees even the Series again. Stengel gave the ball to Reynolds on two days rest, and the Yankee ace responded by tossing a four hit, three walk shutout, with 10 Ks. The Yankee offense came courtesy of another Mize solo homer and a Mickey Mantle triple in combination with an error by Pee Wee Reese on the relay throw.

The Series reduced to a best of three, the Yankees gave the ball to Ewell Blackwell for Game Five. Blackwell had outstanding seasons with the Reds in '47 and '50, but was suffering through a miserable 1952. Despite that, he still fetched a package of four players and $35,000 when the Yankees traded for him at the end of August. The Whip, as he was called, spotted the Dodgers to a 4-0 lead through five innings and was lifted for a pinch hitter in the bottom half. The Yankees took the lead with a five run fifth, capped by a three run homer from Mize, his third of the series.

Sain took over for Blackwell, and allowed the Dodgers to tie the score at five thanks to a Duke Snider RBI single in the seventh. The score remained that way into the eleventh, when Snider doubled in the go-ahead run. Erskine retired the heart of the Yankee lineup in order in the bottom half, earning himself a hard fought, eleven inning complete game victory, and placing the Dodgers just a win away from their first championship.

With their backs against the wall and the Series shifting back to Brooklyn, the Yankees turned to Raschi for Game Six. He and Loes matched zeroes for five and a half frames, then Snider gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead with a solo shot in the bottom of the sixth. Berra tied the score the next inning with a solo homer of his own, then Raschi gave the Yankees the lead by singling Woodling home. Mantle led off the eighth with a solo homer, the first of his record 18 in World Series play, to make it 3-1. Snider homered again in the bottom half to make it a one run game, and when a two out double by George Shuba put the tying run in scoring position, Stengel went to Reynolds again. Super Chief got Campanella to strike out to end the threat, and worked around a ninth inning walk to push the Series to Game Seven.

Thanks to his inning plus of relief the day before, Reynolds did got the Game Seven start. Instead, Stengel handed the ball to Lopat, the losing pitcher in Game Three. Brooklyn countered with Game One winner Joe Black. The game was scoreless through three, then the Yankees struck first with an RBI single from Mize in the fourth. The Dodgers loaded the bases with three consecutive singles, the last two of them bunts, to start the bottom of the fourth. Stengel called on Reynolds to get out of the jam. He retired the next three batters in order, but one of the outs was a sacrifice fly to tie the score at one.

The teams matched runs again in the fifth, courtesty of a Gene Woodling solo homer for the Yankees and an RBI single from Reese for Brooklyn. Over the next two innings, the Yankees continued building their picket fence, as Mickey Mantle's solo homer in the sixth and RBI single in the seventh gave them four consecutive one spots and a 4-2 lead.

With Reynolds having been lifted for a pinch hitter in the top of the seventh, Raschi took the mound on zero days rest to start the bottom half. He issued a leadoff walk to Carl Furillo, got Rocky Nelson to pop to short for the first out, then loaded the bases with a Billy Cox single and another walk to Reese. With the season on the line and the red hot lefty Duke Snider due, Stengel again went to the pen, summoning journeyman southpaw Bob Kuzava.

Kuzava had bounced from Cleveland to Chicago to Washington when the Yankees acquired him in mid 1951. He did outstanding as a swingman down the stretch that year, going 8-4 with a 2.40 ERA. In the same role in 1952 he had taken a bit of step back, his record falling to .500 and his ERA dropping just below league average, but outside of Sain, he was Stengel's most trusted bullpen arm. Even so, he hadn't appeared in any of the '52 Series' first six games.

Snider dug in at 10 for 28 in the Series, with four home runs. A base hit would tie the game, an extra base hit could very well hand the Dodgers the lead. Kuzava induced a popout to third for the second out of the inning, but the equally dangerous Jackie Robinson was the next batter. With Sain available in the pen, Stengel elected to stick with the lefty Kuzava. He induced another pop up, this one to shallow second base. In the late day sun, none of the Yankee infielders made an initial move for the ball. With two outs, the runners were off on contact, racing around the bases as the ball fell closer and closer to the infield grass. With the ball less the a few feet from the ground, Billy Martin came racing in from the infield dirt, making a shoe string catch to end the rally and preserve the lead.

After his Houdini act in the seventh, Stengel left Kuzava in the rest of the way. He worked around a one out error in the eighth and retired the side in order in the ninth to hand the Yankees their fourth consecutive championship, tying the record set by the '36 through '39 Yankees.

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.

10 Days Until Spring Training: Phil Rizzuto

The 1956 celebration of Old Timer's Day took place on August 25th. At that point, Phil Rizzuto was already a bit of an old timer himself, nearly 40 years old having spent 13 seasons with the Yankees and served 3 years in the Navy during World War II. Scooter had lost his position as everyday shortstop for the Yanks to Jerry Coleman and Willie Miranda starting back in 1954 and had struggled in the plate appearances he was given in '56, hitting only .231/.310/.231. It was clear that his career was nearing its end, but the way that it came to a close blindsided Rizzuto.

Before the game against the White Sox that day, Casey Stengel called Phil into his office. The Yankees had just acquired Enos Slaughter from the Kansas City Athletics off of waivers and Stengel began discussing ways in which he could fit him on the 25 man roster. He had Rizzuto read down the roster and suggest players that could be moved to make way for Slaughter. Scooter would read off a name and Stengel would reject the idea. He kept looking over the roster until it was clear that Stengel was trying to get him to chose his own name. Naturally, Rizzuto was less than pleased with the way the Yankees had gone about this.

Stengel and general manager George Weiss assured Rizzuto that he would be added to the World Series roster as a back up for Gil McDougald should the Yankees make it that far. But adding to the fire, Weiss and Stengel reneged on their offer, eventually choosing Billy Hunter instead. Scooter felt betrayed and that broken promise very nearly ended Rizzuto's relationship with the Yankees. Fortunately for generations of fans of the Bombers, Rizzuto was the bigger man, forgave the team and went on to become one of the most recognizable ambassadors of the franchise for the next 50 years.

Rizzuto's Yankee career began almost twenty years before the infamous Old Timer's Day event and it might not have begun at all if it weren't for Casey Stengel. A Brooklyn native, Rizzuto explained that he grew up rooting for the Dodgers because it was easier to sneak into Ebbets Field than Yankee Stadium. Fresh out of high school, Rizzuto showed up at Ebbets Field to fulfill his childhood dream and try out for the team. The Old Perfessor was managing the Dodgers at the time, took a quick glance and Scooter's 5'6" frame and famously told him to "go get his shinebox" because that was the only way he was going to make a living.

Although dejected by the dismissal, Rizzuto didn't give up. Shortly thereafter, the Yankees invited him to a one week tryout camp. Even at that early age, Scooter was already and adept fielder, bunter and base stealer. Those skills, along with a home run that he hit during one of the scrimmages netted him a deal with the team.

Rizzuto spent the next four years in the minor leagues, jumping from D to B to AA-ball and maintaining an average over .300 wherever he went. During his 1940 season in Kansas City, he hit .347 and was named Sporting News minor league player of the year. He made his major league debut on April 14th, 1941.

As a 24 year old rookie, Scooter started 128 games a shortstop, hit .307 and finished 20th in the MVP voting. The Yankees went on to win the World Series against the Dodgers that year, although Rizzuto only manged 2 hits in 21 plate appearances. He was named to the All-Star team the following year and the Yankees made it back to the World Series but lost to the Cardinals.

In 1943, he was drafted into the Navy. Scooter never saw active duty and instead played on the Navy baseball team alongside Dodger's shortstop Pee Wee Reese, Dom DiMaggio, Don Padgett and Benny McCoy. He served for three years, missing the '43, '44 and '45 MLB seasons.

When he returned to the Yankees, it took Rizzuto a few years to regain his form as a hitter. He struggled through three below average seasons before Casey Stengel took over the reigns as manager. In 1949, Stengel moved Rizzuto from the bottom of the line up to the top, which coincided with a bump in his performance and a second place in the MVP vote behind Ted Williams. More importantly though, the Yankees won their first of 5 consecutive World Series, this one again over Rizzuto's childhood team, the Dodgers.

In 1950, Scooter finally put it all together, hitting .324/.418/.439 and winning the AL MVP. It was especially sweet with Stengel as manager - the most emphatic way possible that Rizzuto could have proved his offhanded dismissal of him at Ebbets Field years before was wrong.

After his MVP campaign, Rizzuto played two more years as the Yankees' full time shortstop before eventually becoming a part time player. While he was never a force offensively, he was better than most shortstops of his time. His career OPS+ was 93, but the a big reason that the Yankees were able to have the success that they did during Rizzuto's time in Pinstripes was that he offered roughly league average production from a premium defensive position. And Scooter's defense was well renowned. His former teammate Vic Raschi once said, "My best pitch is anything the batter grounds, lines or pops in the direction of Rizzuto."

After his unceremonious dismissal from from the Yanks in 1956, Rizzuto considered severing ties with the team. He felt spurned but eventually set his pride aside and joined the organization as a broadcaster the following year.

He was added to a booth with veterans Mel Allen and Red Barber and didn't initially fit in very well. Rizzuto felt that the two resented him for his inexperience. It would be precisely that lack of finish that endeared him to Yankees fans over his 40 year career in the booth.

While Rizzuto was known for his ability to play baseball the right way and lauded for his alertness in the field, his broadcasting style was much of the opposite. He was prone to miss things that happened during the game and interjected the broadcast with moments of personal levity and downright goofiness, such as "Bouncer to third, they'll never get him! No, why don't I just shut up!". He would openly advertise the fact that he was leaving the game early to beat the traffic over the George Washington Bridge and take time to wish friends and family a happy birthday over the air.

Rizzuto's success as a player earned him great respect throughout baseball but his trademark broadcasting style endeared him to generations of Yankees fans in a way his on-the-field play never could have. By narrating tens of thousands of games to people in driving in the cars or sitting in their living rooms, he became a familiar part of their lives. By sharing intimate details about his likes (golf, canolis) and dislikes (spiders, traffic, lightning) he was more than just a disembodied voice coming through the radio and eventually the television set.

The Yankees retired his number and dedicated a plaque in Monument Park to him on August 4th, 1985. He was passed on for the Hall of Fame repeatedly by both the writers (15 times) and the Veteran's committee (11 times) but eventually gained entrance in 1994 partially because of a persuasive speech given by Ted Williams. During it, Williams said that if the Red Sox had Rizzuto, they might have been the ones who won those pennants in the 40's and 50's.

By all accounts, Rizzuto was one of the kindest and friendliest personalities in all of baseball. When he passed away in 2007 at 89 years old after a few years of declining health, the Yankee community lost one of its pillars. He was the oldest living Hall of Famer at the time of his death.

Yogi Berra used to visit Scooter in the nursing home where he lived on a regular basis during the final years of his life. As a tribute to his best friend, he appeared briefly in the broadcast booth that night. It was difficult for Yogi as he was choked up for most of the appearance, but he went through with it as a way to honor all the years that Scooter spent in the booth. Earlier that day, Yogi talked about his lifelong pal during a lengthy media session in the Yankees dugout with Joe Torre at his side: