The World Series

by Stephanie Peters

  But the most popular explanation says that the Babe pointed his finger at the center-field stands, as if to say that's where he was going to hit the ball. And when he socked Root's next pitch into those very stands, his finger point became known forever more as the “called shot.”

  No one will ever truly know what Babe Ruth meant, however, because he never said. He simply rounded the bases with a broad smile on his face.

  Ruth's blast is perhaps the most famous home run of all time. But it wasn't the last one of that game. Gehrig followed with his second homer immediately after, lofting the Yankees score to 7–5 for their third straight win of the Series.

  Game four was also held in Chicago. Before the game, baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis issued an order to both clubs — behave like civilized human beings or else. The two teams obeyed.

  Of course, the fans hadn't been given any such order. They were as rowdy as ever when their home team took the field. Their enthusiasm fizzled, however, when the Yankees chalked up a run in the first inning. But it rose again to a fever pitch before the inning was over, because Chicago put across four runs!

  The score remained 4–1 through the second inning. Then New York added two more runs, including a homer, in the third. The Cubs couldn't answer their turn at bat — in fact, by the top of the ninth, Chicago's bats seemed to have lost their voices almost completely.

  The Yankees' wood, meanwhile, was screaming. By the game's end, the score stood at 13–6! New York had completely silenced the raucous Chicago team by sweeping them from the Series in four straight games. The Yankees returned home as heroes while the Cubs licked their wounds.

  The Cubs made it back to the Series again in 1935, only to lose to the Detroit Tigers two games to four. New York beat them again in 1938. But by then, winning the championship had become something of a habit for the Yankees. From 1936 to 1946, they reached the World Series seven times and won the title six times!

  They won an eighth ticket to the Series again in 1947. This was an amazing achievement, yet something else even more amazing happened that year —something that changed baseball forever.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  1940s

  1947: Seventh-Game Showdown

  By the start of the 1947 season, professional baseball was several decades old. During those years, leagues had formed and disbanded. Players and teams had survived two World Wars. Rules and equipment had changed the way the game was played. And the World Series had gone from a little-watched event to the most popular championship in the nation.

  But one thing had remained consistent throughout these years: every player in the National League and the American League was white. An unspoken agreement amongst the team owners had seen to that.

  That finally changed in 1947, when the Brooklyn Dodgers signed an African-American player named Jackie Robinson. Robinson was an outstanding athlete who also possessed the inner strength to withstand the prejudice he encountered. Rather than get angry, he let his fleet feet, powerful hitting, quick glove, and rocket arm speak for him. Thanks to his fortitude, baseball's color barrier was finally being broken.

  It was also thanks to Robinson — at least in part —that the Dodgers won the NL pennant in 1947. They had last been to the World Series in 1941, when they had lost to the Yankees four games to one. Now the Dodgers had a chance to even the score, for the Yankees were going to the Series again. The question was, did the Brooklyn team have the muscle to overthrow their awesome opponents?

  On paper, the Yankees were the stronger club. They had a season record of 97 wins and 57 losses, with 115 home runs and 1,439 hits. Offensively, they had racked up 794 runs while allowing their opponents only 568. Brooklyn, on the other hand, had a season record of 94–60. They had 11 fewer hits than the Yankees, and of their 774 runs, only 83 were homers.

  The 1947 Subway Series opened on September 30 in Yankee Stadium before a capacity crowd that included such baseball dignitaries as Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Cy Young. Rookie pitcher Francis Joseph Shea, better known as “Spec” because of his freckles, jogged out to the mound for the Yankees. He got the Dodgers' first batter, Eddie Stanky, to fly out.

  Now Jackie Robinson stepped into the batter's box. Six pitches later, he had a free ticket to first base. He tossed the bat aside and trotted down the line amidst thunderous applause. Moments later, he stole second. But he didn't stay there for long. When Dodger Dixie Walker singled into left, Robinson dashed past third on his way to home — and into the history books as the first African-American to score a run in the World Series.

  That was Brooklyn's only run that inning, but their pitcher, Ralph Branca, held their lead by retiring the first three Yankees in order. Amazingly, he did the same thing again in the second inning — and the third, and the fourth!

  Branca's perfect game came to an end in the fifth. First Joe DiMaggio clubbed a grounder between short and third that landed him safely at first. That single was followed by two walks. With the bases loaded and no outs, the next batter, Johnny Lindell, socked a double behind third base. Two runs had been scored and there were still no outs. Then Phil Rizzuto walked, and the bases were loaded again!

  After four no-hit innings, Branca was suddenly falling apart. The Dodgers' manager pulled him from the game. Now it was up to reliever Hank Behrman to shut down the Yankees.

  But Behrman handed New York another run when he walked the batter he faced. Before the inning was over, the score had jumped from 1–0 to 5–1. Although Brooklyn managed to add two runs, it wasn't enough. New York took the game, 5–3.

  The next day, the Yankees lit up four Brooklyn pitchers for fifteen hits, including three triples and a home run. Defensively, the Dodgers looked like rank amateurs. They dropped balls, overran easy grounders, and threw wildly. When the dust finally settled, the Yankees had ten runs. Brooklyn had only three — and by all accounts, they were lucky to have gotten them.

  Game three, however, the Dodgers drew first blood, scoring six runs in the second inning! New York managed to cough up a pair during their turn at bat but then saw the Dodgers pull further ahead with yet another run in the bottom of the third. Going into the fourth inning, it was Brooklyn 7, New York 2.

  The Yankees roared back to draw within two, and then within one. With the score teetering at 9–8 at the top of the ninth, their momentum slowed and finally stopped. The Dodgers retired the side one-two-three to win game three.

  Anyone who left game four after eight innings the next night undoubtedly believed New York had added another win to their side. But they were wrong — and they missed one of the most exciting endings of any World Series game yet.

  Going into the bottom of the ninth, the score was Yankees 2, Dodgers 1. Brooklyn hadn't taken the lead once that game; it seemed doubtful they would take it in their last raps. But, as Yankee Yogi Berra would one day observe, “It ain't over it's over” —and New York still needed to get three outs before it was over for Brooklyn.

  They got one when Brooklyn's first batter hit a long fly ball to left field that Johnny Lindell caught near the wall. Pitcher Bill Bevens walked the next batter, Carl Furillo. Furillo was not known for his speed, so the Dodgers had fleet-footed Al Gionfriddo run for him.

  Gionfriddo waited at second while the next batter fouled out. With two outs and only one man on, the Dodgers needed a hit — badly.

  Manager Burt Shotton had a choice. He could have pitcher Hugh Casey hit. Or he could have Pete Reiser pinch-hit. Usually he wouldn't have hesitated to put in Reiser. But Reiser had injured his ankle the previous game. Unless he really belted the ball in just the right spot, there was little chance he would be able to outrun a throw to first.

  Shotton decided to risk it. He also risked giving Gionfriddo the steal sign. Both risks paid off. Gionfriddo slid under Phil Rizzuto's throw, landing safely at second, and Bevens intentionally walked Reiser. There were runners at first and second, and two outs.

  So far, the Yankees hadn't given up a single hit in the game; the Dodge
rs' one run had come on walks and an error. If they got the next batter out, New York would be the first team to win a no-hitter in the World Series.

  Of course, that was the last thing Brooklyn wanted. Shotton sent pinch hitter Cookie Lavagetto to the plate with one order: Get a hit.

  Lavagetto obeyed. On the second pitch, he blasted the ball far into the right field toward the concrete wall. He took off for first. Eddie Miksis, running for Reiser, dashed for second. Gionfriddo ran for third.

  Meanwhile, outfielder Tommy Henrich was fading back. He had a choice: jump up against the wall to try to make the game-ending catch or pick up the ball after it hit the dirt and hope he could throw out a runner before the winning run was scored.

  With a history-making no-hit game on the line, he went for the catch — only realizing seconds later that the catch was impossible to make. The ball ricocheted off the concrete at a crazy angle. By the time Henrich got his hands on it, not one but two runners had touched home plate. The Dodgers won the game, 3–2!

  The Series now stood at two games each. It was still tied after the next two meetings. That sixth game, a Brooklyn win, was memorable for one truly remarkable play.

  It was 8-5 at the bottom of the sixth. The first Yankee batter got out on a line drive, the second got a free ticket to first, the third popped out into foul territory, and the fourth got a single. That brought up New York's finest, Joe DiMaggio. With two men on, two men out, he needed a hit.

  He connected on southpaw reliever Joe Hatten's first pitch. The ball soared into the left field near the bull pen. The runners took off and crossed home plate. DiMaggio rounded first at full speed and then, certain his hit was a home run, slowed to a jog.

  Outfielder Al Gionfriddo wasn't jogging, however. He was sprinting. When that fly ball came down, he was there to make the catch. And what a catch it was — a beautiful, over-the-shoulder, top-of-the-wall, one-handed nab that robbed DiMaggio of his homer, erased the two runs, and ended the inning with the Dodgers still ahead by three! And when the game ended with Brooklyn still up by two, the 1947 World Series was forced into the seventh and final game.

  The Dodgers were still riding high when they entered Yankee Stadium for the last game. In the second inning, they knocked in two runs.

  Unfortunately for Brooklyn fans, those two runs were all the Dodgers would get. New York answered with a run in the second, and then added two more in the fourth, one in the sixth, and one in the seventh. The game, and the Series, ended in the top of the ninth with a classic, shortstop-to-second-to-first double play.

  The Dodgers had lasted longer against the Yankees than anyone had expected. But in the end, the Yankees were simply too powerful, that year and in the years to come. The two teams battled for the championship title several more times in the next decade, but only once did the Dodgers come out on top.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  1950s

  1955: The Dynasty Is Toppled — Once

  Baseball in the 1950s was dominated by one team: the New York Yankees. From 1950 to 1959, they earned trips to the World Series an amazing eight times, winning seven. Three of those wins came after they beat the Brooklyn Dodgers. But in 1955, it was the Dodgers who at last bested their archrivals.

  The 1954 Series was one of the two series not to feature the Yankees. That year, the other New York team, the Giants, pounded the Cleveland Indians four games to none. But the 1954 World Series isn't remembered for that sweep; it's remembered for what is now simply called “the Catch.”

  The New York Giants had several strong players on their team, but their star player was twenty-three-year-old center fielder Willie “Say Hey Kid” Mays. Powered by his batting and fielding skills, the team won 97 games that year.

  In game one of the Series, he proved just how good he was. It was the top of the eighth inning. The score was tied 3–3. The Indians had runners at first and second, no outs, when their slugger, Vic Wertz, came to the plate. Wertz was three-for-three so far, including a first-inning triple that scored the team's first two runs. No doubt he believed he'd added a fourth hit when he socked relief pitcher Don Liddle's first pitch into deep center field. In fact, he and everyone else in the stadium believed he'd just hit a home run.

  Everyone, that is, except Willie Mays. The moment Wertz connected, the fleet-footed outfielder turned his back on home plate and ran. The outfield fence at the Polo Grounds in New York is 460 feet from home plate. Wertz's blast looked certain to clear it before Mays could get there.

  But unbelievably, Mays did get there! His back still to the plate, he reached up and snagged the ball out of the air. Instead of a home run, Wertz was out!

  Mays didn't stop to congratulate himself, however. He knew those two runners could tag up and head home. So he whirled around and whipped the ball in, holding the runners on base. His speed, powerful throwing arm, and lightning-quick reflexes kept the Indians from earning three runs.

  “I had it the whole time,” Mays joked later. Spurred on by his remarkable catch, the Giants took the game and, three days later, the Series.

  The following postseason saw the Dodgers and the Yankees meeting for their sixth Subway Series. Brooklyn was the sentimental favorite; some baseball fans, including New York followers, were simply tired of seeing the Yankees win.

  Game one was played at Yankee Stadium before a crowd of nearly 64,000 people. After a hitless first inning, both teams posted a pair of runs in the second and added one more each in the third to make the score 3–3 going into the fourth.

  By the sixth inning, however, the Yankees had pushed across three more, two of which were home runs by first baseman Joe Collins. But the Dodgers weren't finished yet.

  At the top of the eighth inning, Dodger Carl Furillo singled, stood on first while Gil Hodges got out, and then advanced to third when the third baseman flubbed Jackie Robinson's hit. Robinson reached second on that error. The next batter hit a sacrifice fly for the second out, but Furillo made it home and Robinson was at third.

  In his heyday, Robinson had been notorious for stealing bases. But now, few believed the thirty-six-year-old veteran was the threat he had once been. Certainly pitcher Whitey Ford didn't think he was worth worrying about. He prepared to face the next batter with scarcely a glance at Robinson.

  That was a mistake. The moment Ford went into his windup, Robinson took off. He was attempting to steal home!

  The crowd went wild. Catcher Yogi Berra shouted to Ford. Ford threw. Berra stood to make the play. Robinson hit the dirt and slid feet-first toward home plate. Amidst a cloud of dust, Berra caught the ball, fell to his knees, and tagged Robinson.

  Both men froze and looked at the umpire. Time seemed to stand still. Then the umpire made his call.

  “Safe!”

  Jackie Robinson had stolen home! The Dodgers were within one run of tying the Yankees!

  Unfortunately for Brooklyn, they were still one run behind when the game ended. They dropped the next game, too, giving New York a two-game lead in the Series. But in game three, the Dodgers proved they weren't pushovers — and Robinson proved that he still had a few tricks up his sleeve.

  At the bottom of the seventh, Brooklyn was ahead 6–3. But Robinson knew that that three-run lead could vanish in an instant. He decided to sweeten it if he could. After Gil Hodges flied out to left field, Robinson came up to bat. He hit a solid blast down the left-field line. He stretched the hit into a double, touching the base as he ran past it and then turning to jog back to the bag.

  Outfielder Elston Howard nabbed the ball from the ground and then glanced at Robinson. He thought Robinson was too far off the bag. One quick throw, and he could get Robinson out.

  However, Robinson was one step ahead of him —literally. When Howard hurled the ball to second, Robinson whirled back around and charged to third, beating the relay throw! Robinson was safe, and when Sandy Amoros hit a single to right, he made it home to put the Dodgers up 7–3. It was a trick he'd used many times early in his career, but one that no one ha
d expected to see him pull the World Series!

  Brooklyn added another run that inning and went on to win, 8–3. Totally juiced by their victory, they took the next two games to go ahead in the Series.

  Then New York tied it all up in game six, forcing the championship to a final meeting. The Dodgers and the Yankees had been in this same situation in 1947 and in 1952. Both times the Yankees had won the seventh game.

  Game seven was bittersweet for Robinson. Having aggravated an old injury to his heel, he was forced to watch the action unfold from the sidelines. Still, he had a front-row seat to the deciding match — and what a match it was.

  On the mound for the Dodgers was rookie pitcher Johnny Podres. Inning after inning, Podres defused every Yankee threat, denying them a place on the scoreboard. Brooklyn, on the other hand, chalked up two runs. When Elston Howard grounded out in the ninth inning, Podres' shutout was complete —and the Dodgers had finally beaten the Yankees to become World Champions!

  Unfortunately for Brooklyn fans, it was the last time the Dodgers would come out on top in the Subway Series. New York beat them in seven games the following year, and in 1958 the Brooklyn franchise was moved to Los Angeles, ending the cross-city rivalry forever.

  It wasn't the end of the Yankees' reign, however. Far from it.

  CHAPTER SIX

  1960s

  1960: The Pirates Steal the Series

  The Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Yankees had last met for the World Series in 1927. Then, the Pirates collapsed beneath the might of the Yankees, losing in four straight games. Their defeat had been handed to them in part by a pair of New York sluggers, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.

  Now, thirty-three years later, history seemed about to repeat itself. New York had powered its way to its eleventh American League pennant thanks to its two home-run kings, Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. Together, Maris and “the Mick” accounted for 79 of the Yankees' 193 home runs in 1960. Going into the Series, New York looked unstoppable — none of the teams they had faced in their last fifteen regular-season games had been able to stop them, anyway.