The Yankees are the champions of the baseball world once again.And all will be well, all will be well, all manner of things will be well.Led by immortal Hall ofFamer Derek Jeter, The Great Mariano (also a Hall of Famer), big game pitcher Andy Pettitte and all-star catcher Jorge Posada, these core four led the rest of the new Bronx Bombers to the promised land.
A modern day 4 horsemen for Yankee fans.
If you’re keep count, that would be FIVE rings for Jeter, Pettitte, Rivera and Posada. That’s one more than Joe “Hollywood” Torre has and five more than anyone on the Royals has. But it wasn’t just the “Core Four.” No, this was a team effort. From CC Sabathia’s sterling post-season performance, to Damaso Marte striking out 5 of the 8 batters he faced in the World Series (he retired all 8).It was Johnny Damon hitting .364 with 6 runs scored, 4 RBI and 2 doubles. It was Hideki “Godzilla” Matsui, clubbing 8-13 – a .615 clip – with 3 runs scored, 1 2B, 3 homers and 8 RBIs to take home the World Series MVP trophy.
Most honorable Hideki Godzilla!
And of course there was Mo. The greatest closer of all time. All he did was hurl 5 1/3 scoreless innings, with 2 saves. He finished all four Yankee wins. And it was Alex Rodriguez – how bout A-Rod? While his World Series was pedestrian, as he hit just .250 – though he still hit a homer, drove in 6 runs and scored 5. He also had 3 doubles. No, for A-Rod, it was an entire Post-season of exorcising years of demons.
For the 2009 Post-season, A-Rod walloped the ball, hitting .365 over 15 games, with 5 2B, 6 HR, 18 RBI and 15 runs scored. Ruthian numbers from Alex.
In the '09 Playoffs, A-Rod was "The Man!"
But let’s not forget the Phillies. Chase Utley, who many wanted to compare to Babe Ruth, did go 6-21 with 5 HR, 8 RBI, 1 2B and 7 runs scored – but if you take away his at bats vs. CC Sabathia, Utley was just 2-13. Of course both hits were homers, and he did drive in 4 runs and score 4 more. Still, his numbers were very much contained when CC wasn’t on the mound.Then there was Ryan Howard, who managed to hit a staggering .174, going 4-23, with 2 2B, a HR, 4 RBI and a World Series record 13 strikeouts.Tough, tough Series for the Phils big man.
Ryan Howard's performance brought a tear to many eyes...including his own.
It was just a tremendous run by the Bronx Bombers and one of the best World Series from the Pinstriped Heroes in quite awhile. So, while we Yankee fans bask in the glory of another parade down the Canyon of Heroes, I thought it fitting to take a look at some other great World Series of Yankee legends past. There aren’t the ’10 Best’ Yankee World Series…far from it.In fact, some of the greatest Series the Yankees ever played in, they lost (1960, 1955, 1957 and 2001 spring to mind.) No, these are just some very memorable series that I felt like sharing with you faithful readers. Noticeably absent from this list are some big series, like 1939, 1941, 1961, 1978 and 2000. I didn’t forget them. I just wanted to talk about these other 10 for now. And those series, and many others, will get their own story at some point.When you’re dealing with 27 titles and 40 World Series, it’s tough to shrink them down to 10.If this were an article on the Milwaukee Brewers, I’d discuss 1982 and then hang myself.But it’s not, so let’s bask in the Glory of Yankee Triumphs!(Yankee haters can leave now.)
1. 1923 NEW YORK YANKEES98-54
Defeated New York Giants 4-2
A young Babe crushed the ball in '23...and beyond.
Ah, the 1923 Yankees. The team that started it all. This team would win the first of 27 titles. This was actually the Yankees 3rd try at the Title, having lost in both 1921 and 1922 – both times to the New York Giants – and they’d face them again in 1923. The Yankees were a big crowd favorite by this time, thanks primarily to the Sultan of Swat, George Herman “Babe” Ruth. Ruth clubbed 59 homers in 1921 and he would continue to club homers at a..uh…Ruthian…pace into the mid-1930’s. But in the early 20’s, Ruth’s feats were something new and exciting. The Yankees played 1921 and 1922 as a tenant of the Giants in the Polo Grounds. The fact that the Yankees continued to out-draw John McGraw’s Giants was a source of profound irritation for McGraw and the Giants ownership. Facing eviction, the Yanks were only to happy to open their own mulit-million dollar “modern” ball park up in the Bronx.
Yes, 1923 was the inaugural season for Yankee Stadium, the House that Ruth built. And the Yankees christened in style, winning the AL pennant and going to the World Series, hoping 3 times would be the charm vs. the hated rival Giants.
The Giants led the series 2 games to 1 thanks to a future Yankee legend. Light hitting OF Casey Stengel – yes that Casey Stengel – had a torrid series for the Giants in 1923, and his inside-the-park home run in the 9th inning of Game 1 gave the Giants the win. In Game 3, Stengel hit a conventional homer, the only run of the game as Art Nehf tossed a complete game shutout for the Giants.
Game 2 was a different story as Ruth hit a game winning homer and Hall of Famer Herb Pennock cruised to a complete game victory, as the Yankees won, 4-2.
Still, the Giants were in control of the Series as it shifted to Game 4. But in Game 4, it was the Yankee bats that set the tone, as they won 8-4. The Yankees scored 7 runs in the first 3 innings and held on for the win. Herb Pennock, game 2’s winner, gets the save.
In Game 5, the Yankee bats still wouldn’t quiet down, as this time they scored 7 runs in the first TWO innings, en route to an 8-1 win. Bullet Joe Bush tossed the complete game win and Joe Dugan homered. OF Bob Meusel went 4-5 with 3 runs, 3 RBI and a 3B.
Holding a 3-2 lead, the Yanks entered Game 6 with a shot to win their first title. They did not disappoint. Ruth homered early for the Yanks first run, but ultimately, they trailed 4-1 heading into the 8th inning. 3 BB, 3 singles and 1 error later, the Yanks had put a 5 spot on the board and taken a 6-4 lead. They would not relinquish it. Herb Pennock got the win – giving him 2 wins and a save for the Series and Sad Sam Jones got the save.Damn. Sad Sam Jones. Bullet Joe Bush. Why don’t players have cool nick names today?Today’s sportswriters suck. But I digress.
For the series, 3B Joe Dugan hit .280 with a homer and 5 RBI; Catcher Wally Schang hit .318 while 2B Aaron Ward hit .417 with 10 hits, a homer and 2 RBI. Joe Bush went 1-1 with a 1.08 ERA and Pennock, as I said, had 2 wins and a save.
But, really, the story was, as always, Babe Ruth. The Babe hit .368, going 7-19 with 8 runs scored, 8 BB, 3 Homers, 3 RBI, a 2B and a 3B. Though no MVP award was given back in ’23, my vote for series MVP would have to be Ruth.
By the way, Casey Stengel had a ridiculous series for the Giants, winning two games with homers, and going 5-12 with 3 runs scored, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 4 BB and a .417 average. But he wouldn’t be a legend until he became a Yankee (as manager of course). Speaking of Legends, let’s look at the 2nd series on this list, which features perhaps the most legendary team of all time:
2. 1927 NEW YORK YANKEES110-44
Swept the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-0
Quick, which one of these guys is Babe Ruth?!?
The 1927 Yankees are considered by many to be the single greatest team of all time. (They’re probably not. Actually the 1939 Yankees probably hold that distinction, but that’s another article entirely.) Certainly, they had the look of a Legendary Team. They won 110 games – far and away the most of any team that year – and the most since the 1906 Cubs won 116 games. They featured Murderer’s Row of: Combs, Meusel, Ruth, Gehrig, Lazzeri and Dugan (who usually went down on his ass after the first five ripped the cover off the ball.) This was Ruth and Gehrig at their finest, combining for 107 home runs and an absurd 339 RBIs.
Coming into the World Series, the Yanks really hadn’t yet established themselves as a dominant post-season force. Sure, they’d won the ’23 series, but they’d also lost the ’21, ’22 and the ’26 Series’ as well. And in ’26 they’d gotten beat by ex-drunk, starting pitcher Grover Cleveland “Ol’ Pete” Alexander, who holds the distinction of being the only player bearing a President’s namesake who was himself portrayed in a movie by a future President (Ronald Reagan in “The Winning Team” – a mediocre, cliché riddled piece at best). And the universe somehow did not implode when that happened. At any rate, this Yankee team waltzed into the Series vs. the Pirates with none of the fears of post-season failure. This was a dynastic team with a swagger never before seen. The Pirates were a good team and, having won the Series themselves in ’25, they were possibly even a great team, featuring two OF terrors in brothers Paul and Lloyd Waner, known around the league as “Big Poison and Little Poison.”But in the ’27 series, even Pirate Poison couldn’t stave off the inevitable onslaught of Yankee power.This 1927 team was the start of a Yankee dynasty that would last DECADES. Sure the names and faces would change, but it was really one long continuous stream of domination. From 1927 to 1964, the Yankees would appear in TWENTY-FIVE (25) World Series and win NINETEEN (19) of them, including 4 in a row (1936-1939) and 5 in a row (1949-1953). They would never go longer than 3 years from appearing in a series, and in the 50’s, it reached absurd proportions, as they went to the series in EIGHT of the 10 years, winning 6 times. Only 1954 and 1959 saw World Series in the 50’s take place without the Yankees in it. But let’s look at how it all started in ’27:
Game 1 was a close affair, as the Yankees edged the Pirates 5-4, behind Waite Hoyt, who got the win, and 30 year old rookie Wilcy Moore, who picked up the save. Ruth and Gehrig combined to go 4-6 with 3 runs scored and 2 RBI.
Game 2 the Yankees took easily behind starter George Pipgras, who tossed a complete game victory. Pipgras was pitching for the ailing Urban Shocker who’d gone 18-6 that year but was too ill to pitch in the World Series. He would die of his illness in 1928. So, the Yanks could have even been better. Still, Pipgras was very good. Ruth was held hitless, but Mark Koenig went 3-5 to lead the Bombers.
In Game 3, Babe Ruth woke up – as did the rest of Murderer’s Row – as the Yanks rolled to an 8-1 win. Herb Pennock (remember him?) tossed a complete game, but the real story was the Yankee offense, as the top 4 – Combs, Koenig, Ruth and Gehrig combined to go 7-15 with 5 runs scored, 7 RBI, 2 2B, a 3B and a HR (Ruth, who also drove in 3).
In Game 4 the Yankees finished off the sweep in a way that’s never happened before or since. With the game tied at 3 in the 9th inning, Pirate pitcher Johnny Miljus walks Combs. Koenig gets on, on abunt single and the Pirates intentionally walk Ruth. So, the bases are loaded and NO BODY is out, for Gehrig, Meusel and Lazzeri. So, obviously, this game is over. But not in the way you might think. Miljus reaches deep down and finds the moxie to strike out both Gehrig and Meusel! With 2 out and in reach of escaping an inescapable situation, Miljus uncorks a wild pitch with Lazzeri batting. Combs scampers home, and the series is over. Only time a World Series has ever ended on a wild pitch. Wilcy Moore netted the complete game win, while Ruth hit a 2-run homer.
For the series, the Yankees top four carried the day. Earle Combs hit .313 (5-16) with 6 runs. Lou Gehrig hit .308 with 2 2B, 2 3B, 2 runs and 4 RBI. Mark Koenig hit .500 (9-18) with 5 runs scored, 2 2B and 2 RBI.
Waite Hoyt, Herb Pennock and George Pipgras all won a game, and Wilcy Moore netted a win and save. Yankee hurlers tossed 3 complete games. But the MVP was once again the Babe.
Ruth went 6-15, hitting .400, with 2 HR, 7 RBI and 4 runs scored.
For the Pirates, 2B George Grantham hit .364 while Big Poision Lloyd Waner hit .400 and Little Poison Paul Waner hit .333. But it just wasn’t even close to enough.
The Yankee Dynasty had started rollin’ and after winning again in ’28, it took a 3 year break before returning in 1932:
3. 1932 NEW YORK YANKEES107-47
Defeated Chicago Cubs, 4-0
What sort of chance did the Cubs have against these two? None whatsoever.
This might be the most famous sweep in World Series history. Of course, the ’32 series is best know for Babe Ruth’s “Called Shot” game. In fact, Ruth was seriously pissed off that the Cubs had denied former Yankee (and close friend of the Babe) Mark Koenig a share of the ’32 World Series monies.Note to the Cubs: Pissing off Babe Ruth is NOT the way to start a World Series. Of course the Cubs have a long history of World Series debacles, and 1932 was no exception.
In Game 1, you’d have to say it was the Yankees “winning ugly” as they bombed Guy Bush, which enabled Red Ruffing to complete an unsightly win, 12-6. Gehrig went 2-4 with a homer, 3 runs scored and 2 RBI, while the Babe had a somewhat quiet day, going 1-3 with 3 runs scored, 2 BB and an RBI. But his storm was a-comin’.The Yanks took an 8-2 lead early, scoring 3 in the 4th and 5 in the 6th. Every position player save for SS Frankie Crosetti had at least 1 RBI. The top of the order went 6-15, scoring NINE runs, driving in 6 RBI and working 5 walks.
Game 2 saw much crisper pitching, at least for the Yankees, as Lefty Gomez twirled a complete game en route to a 5-2 win. Lou Gehrig went 3-4 with 2 runs scored and an RBI, while catcher Bill Dickey drove in 2 more runs.
So leading 2 games to none, the stage was set for the big Game 3 in Wrigley Field. Of course, the Yanks won 7-5, but the story, as always, was Ruth. Ruth hit a 3 run bomb early to give the Yanks a 3-0. A Lou Gehrig solo shot a few innings later extended it to 4-1. But the Cubs rallied to tie the game and the Wrigley crowd was in a frenzy. They were calling Ruth every name in the book. So, Ruth comes to bat in the 5th inning of a 4-4 game. Root ‘blows’ two fastballs by him and the Babe never lifts the bat off his shoulder. The crowd is going nuts and Ruth gestures. His exact gesture is the stuff of myth and legend. Ruth allowed the world to believe that he was pointing to CF, telling the Cubs and their faithful exactly where he was going to send the next pitch. Conventional wisdom says Ruth was holding up two fingers, as if to say, “I’ve only got two strikes. You need three to get me out.”Either way, Root should have drilled him in his fat ass with the next pitch. However, he didn’t, and the Ruth legend continued to grow as Ruth deposited the 0-2 fastball DEEP into the Wrigley bleachers, giving the Yanks a 5-4 lead. And in what must be the most over-looked and ignored HR of all time, Lou Gehrig followed with a solo shot of his own, to give the Yanks a 6-4 lead. George Pipgras would make it hold up for the win, thanks to a save by – that man again – Herb Pennock, and the Yanks took a 3-0 series lead. Ruth was 2-4 with 4 RBI, 2 homers and 2 runs scored. Gehrig was 2-5 with 2 HR, 2 RBI and 2 runs scored. Did he call his shot? Who knows. What we do know is that after this gesture, he hit the ball about 6,000 feet.
Game 4 was simply a formality, as Ruth essentially killed more Cub fans that H.H. Holmes, with his called shot. The Cubs were spent. Of course, it didn’t exactly start out that way, as Yankee starter Johnny Allen couldn’t get anyone out in the 1st inning, trailing 4-1 before being mercifully removed, still in the first inning. However, two cagey Yankee veterans, Wilcy Moore (who came in relief of Allen in the first) and Herb Pennock, held the Cubs to just 2 runs the rest of the way. Moore would get the win and Pennock would get a 3-inning save, as the Yankees would erupt for runs in the 3rd, 6th, 7th and 9th, to complete the sweep with a 13-6 blowout win. Earle Combs homered and Tony Lazzeri hit 2. The Yanks pounded out 19 hits, and only Ruth (1-5) and Crosetti (1-6) were held to just 1. Combs went 3-4, with 4 runs and 2 RBI. Joe Sewell went 3-6 with a run, 2 RBI and a 2B. Gehrig was 2-4 with 2 runs, 3 RBI and a 2B. Lazzeri went 3-5 with 2 runs, 4 RBI and the 2 homers. Billy Dickey was 3-6 and Ben Chapman went 2-5. It was a hitting clinic.
The entire series was basically a display of Yankee power:
Earl Combs hit .375, (6-16) with 8 runs scored, a HR and 4 RBI
Bill Dickey hit .438, 7-16 with 2 runs and 4 RBI
Tony Lazzeri hit .294 but had 4 runs, 2 HR and 5 RBI
OF Joe Sewell hit .333, 5-15 with 3 RBI and a 2B
The Babe, in his last World Series, hit .333, 5-15, with 6 runs, 2 HR and 6 RBI
But the MVP, to me, was the Iron Horse, Lou Gehrig, who hit a Matsui-an .529, 9-17, with 9 runs scored, 3 HR and 8 RBI.
Riggs Stephenson hit .444, 8-18, with 4 RBI for the Cubs in a losing effort.
With the close of the 1932 Series came the close of Ruth’s storied career with the Yankees. Sure he hung around for two more seasons before being unceremoniously released by the Yankees before the start of the 1935 season, but 1932 marked his final trip to the Big Dance.
The Yankees, however, were far from finished with their World Series adventures, and returned there the year AFTER they released Ruth, this time led by Lou Gehrig and a rookie wunderkind Outfielder…a guy by the name of: Joe DiMaggio. Which brings us to the:
4. 1936 NEW YORK YANKEES102-51
Defeated New York Giants, 4-2
Gehrig was the Captain, but these would become DiMaggio's Yankees.
This was a pretty good Series and it kicked off a run of 4 straight World titles for the Yanks, from ’36 to ’39, and marked the start of incredible run wherein the New York Yankees would play in TWENTY-TWO of the next twenty-nine World Series.Yes, that’s right.22 of 29.From ’36 to ’64, the Yankes would go to 22 of those 29 Series, and win 16 of them. That’s just mind-boggling, especially when you consider that the Pittsburgh Pirates haven’t been to a World Series since 1979 and haven’t had a winning season since 1993.
In 1936, the Giants set the tone in Game 1, when Hall of Fame hurler Curl Hubbell mowed down the vaunted Yankee offense, tossing a complete game, striking out eight, to lead the Giants to an 8-1 win. George Selkirk’s solo HR accounted for the only Yankee run. There’s not much to say about Game 1 beyond this. Hubbell flat out dominated them. Of course, Hubbell was 26-6 that year with a 2.31 ERA and won the MVP, so he pretty much dominated everybody.
Game 2 was a completely different story as the Giants didn’t have Carl Hubbell on the mound and that was PAINFULLY obvious from the start. It was the worst blow-out in Series history as the Yankees pounded pretty much every Giant pitcher on the roster not named Hubbell, en route to an 18-4 shellacking of the Giants. Lefty Gomez tossed a complete game for the Yanks. But the real story was the offense.Frankie Crosett went 3-5 with 4 runs scored, rookie Joe DiMaggio went 3-5 with 2 runs scored and 2 RBI, and Tony Lazzeri had just 1 hit, but it was a big one – a homerun – and he drove in 5 runs. The big hero, however, was catcher Bill Dickey who went 2-5 with 3 runs scored, 5 RBI and a homer. It was a display of pure power and the Yankees blew the Giants right out of the ballpark.
Game 3 was quite different. Again the Giants threw a starter out there that was able to silence the Yankee bats. It wasn’t Hubbell, but it was veteran righty, Fat Freddie Fitzsimmons, who had a quiet year, going 10-7. In fact, his only 20-win season came in 1928, but the portly veteran would go on to amass 217 career wins. He was on in Game 3 however, holding the Yankees to just two runs, while tossing a complete game. However, Fitzsimmons wasn’t the only hurler on the mound that day, as Yankee righty Irving Darius “Bump” Hadley, who’d gone 14-4 during the season, shut down the Giants through 8 strong innings. When Hadley tired, Yankee bullpen ace Pat Malone came in to get the save as the Yankees eked out a 2-1 win. Lou Gehrig had homered early for the Yanks first run, and SS Frankie Crosetti’s RBI in the 8th won it.
Holding a 2-1 series lead, the Yankees faced a monumental task in Game 4 as they were matched up once again with Carl Hubbell. But it was a different story in Game 4 as another Hall of Famer got the best of Hubbell. Lou Gehrig solved the dazzling righty, touching him up for a homer, double and 2 RBI, leading the Yanks to a 5-2 win and a commanding 3-1 lead in the series. Monte Pearson tossed a complete game for the win.
Game 5 saw the Giants get up off the mat, down 3-1, to try and extend the series to a 6th game. The Giants sent 25 year old Hal Schumacher to the mound and the youngster, who was only 11-13 during the season, tossed a 10 inning complete game. It wasn’t easy though. Schumacher and the Giants blew leads of 3-0 and 4-2, but managed to win it in 10 innings 5-4. Schumacher K’ed 10 in the win. Red Ruffing started for the Yanks and Pat Malone finished and lost it. George Selkirk homered for the Yankees, but it was Giant 1B Bill Terry who won it in the 10th with a sacrifice fly. An interesting side note here. In the bottom of the 10th, the Yankees got a man on and sent in speedy Bob Seeds to pinch run. Seeds was caught stealing to end the game.
Game 6 saw the Yankee bats once again erupt, blowing the Giants away, to take the series, with a 13-5 win. Lefty Gomez got the win and Johnny Murphy nailed down the save. This game was actually tight for 8 innings. The Giants opened the game with 2 in the first, but the Yankees answered with 5 and led 5-2 after 4. The Giants refused to die quietly, and chipped away to cut the lead to 6-5 after 8. In the 9th, however, the Yankees worked 4 BB and 5 1B to plate 7 runs and put the game and the Series, away. Jake Powell went 3-5 with 3 runs, 4 RBI and a HR for the Yankees. Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio went 3-6 with a run scored and an RBI.
For the Series, the Yankee bats were smoking:
Joe DiMaggio went 9-26 to hit .346 with 3 runs, 3 2B and 3 RBI
Lou Gehrig went 7-24, .292, with 5 runs, a 2B, 2 HR and 7 RBI
Tony Lazzeri hit just .250 (5-20) but scored 4 runs, hit a HR and drove in 7 RBI.
3B Red Rolfe hit .400, with 10 hits, 5 runs and 4 RBI
OF George Selkirk hit .333 with 6 runs, 2 HR, a 3B and 3 RBI
But the MVP was another OF, Jake Powell, who hit .455 with 10 hits in 22 at bats, scoring 8 runs, hitting a HR, a 2B and driving in 5 RBI.
Standing out for the Giants were pitchers Dick Coffman (32.40 ERA), Harry Gumbert (36.00 ERA) and Al Smith (81.00 ERA). Coffman, Gumbert and Smith sounds like an accounting firm – not a series of pitchers you want to face the 1936 Yankees.
However, Dick Bartell did hit .381 and the legendary Mel Ott hit .304 in the losing effort.
We’re gonna skip ahead a bit now. With their dominance continuing through the end of the ‘30’s, the 40’s brought with it World War II and a lot of uncertainty in Major League Baseball. Top stars like Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio went off to war, while even lesser known players, like catcher Moe Berg, became spies – but I’ll let Stemkovsky tell you that story!Meanwhile, Major League Baseball was left with such unlikely events as the 1944 St. Louis Browns going to the World Series (their only WS appearance before the franchise folded. They lost to the Cardinals).
This is not to say the Yankees didn’t still dominate. They did. Appearing in the World Series in ’41, ’42, ’43, ’47 and in five in a row from 1949 thru 1953. They would win all five of those, plus 3 of the other 4, for a stretch of 9 world titles out of 10 tries, from 1941 to 1953.
In 1955 they went back to the Series, only to lose in 7 games to the Brooklyn Dodgers. This was the first time the Dodgers had ever beaten the Yankees, losing to them on five previous occasions. In 1956, the two teams would meet again. The Dodgers looking to defend their title; The Yankees, looking for revenge.
5. 1956 NEW YORK YANKEES97-57
Defeated Brooklyn Dodgers 4-3
The '56 Series: The stuff of legends.
This was a World Series for the ages. It had everything. Even a perfect game.It didn’t start off so well for the Bronx Bombers however…
Game 1 saw Dodger hurler, Sal “The Barber” Maglie toss a complete game and shut down the powerful Yankee attack, pacing the Dodgers to a 6-3 win. Whitey Ford didn’t have it and was knocked out by the 4th inning. Mickey Mantle and Billy Martin eachhomered for the Yanks, but it wasn’t enough. Gil Hodges and Jackie Robinson homered for the Trolley-Dodgers, helping Maglie to the win.
Game 2 was far from a pitchers duel, but it was the same result – a Dodger win. The Dodger lumber was on display. After hitting 2 HR and scoring 6 runs, while abusing Whitey Ford in the first game, the Dodgers abused pretty much everyone the Yankees had in game 2, in winning 13-8. In a bit of ironic foreshadowing, Don Larsen was blasted out of the game in the 2nd inning. Though, thanks to an error, none of the runs he gave up were earned. It didn’t matter. The Yanks actually jumped out to a 6-0 lead in this game, but the Dodgers put up 6 of their own in the 2nd, piled on 5 more through the 5th and took an 11-7 lead, cruising to the 13-8 win. The Yankees used SEVEN (7! ) pitchers, including Larsen, Sturdivant, Tom Morgan, Johnny Kucks, Tommy Byrne, Bob Turley and Denny McDermott. The Dodgers, meanwhile, leaned on reliever Don Bessent after ace Don Newcombe and Ed Roebuck proved ineffective. Yogi Berra homered for the Yanks in a losing cause, while the Duke, Duke Snider, homered for the Dodgers.
Now, here is where the 1956 World Series gets really interesting. The Dodgers tried a strategy, that to my knowledge, has never been tried before or since. They decided to collectively stop hitting as a team. Yep. Just completely stop trying to put the bat on the baseball. After scoring 19 runs in the first 2 games, to take a 2-0 series lead, the Dodger would score just 6 runs over the remaining FIVE games. They would amass just 21 hits over the next FIVE games – and what’s more 14 of those 21 hits would come in games 3 and 4. From games 5-7 they would get just 7 hits. The Yankees would throw 5 complete games, including 2 shutouts – one of those, the perfect game. Turley, Ford, Tom Sturdivant, Kucks and of course, Larsen, would all shut the Dodgers down.
History started slowly in Game 3, as the Yankees won a neat 5-3 game behind a complete game from Whitey Ford. Billy Martin and Enos Slaughter (yes, that Enos Slaughter – even in the ‘50’s, the Yanks bought talent!), hit homers for the Yanks, as Ford made a 3-run 6th inning hold up. Roger Craig and Clem Labine combined for the Dodger Loss.
With a 2-1 lead, the Dodgers had no reason to feel like their hitting shoes had been stolen, locked up and buried. But, after Game 4, they might have been a little concerned. They were shut down by Yankee righty Tom “Smoke and snake” Sturdivant. The young hurler was 16-8 for the Yanks in ’56, and he took it to the Dodgers in Game 4, holding the potent Brooklyn lineup to just 2 runs on 6 hits. Carl Erskine too the loss as the Yankees rode Mickey Mantle andHank Bauer homers to a 6-2 win.
Don Larsen hurls one of his perfect pitches in Game 5 in '56.
With the series tied at 2, Game 5 set the stage for perhaps the most memorable moment in post-season history. Don Larsen, 11-5 during the regular season, took the mound, trying to give the Yanks a 3-2 edge in the series. He was opposed by Game 1 winner, the Barber Maglie. Maglie tossed a crisp 5-hit compete game. His only blemish, a Mickey Mantle homerun. But Larsen did more than make the 2 runs hold up. He pitched a god-damn perfect game. The only perfect game in playoff or World Series history. 27 Dodgers got up, and 27 Dodgers sat down. The perfect game put an exclamation point on the Dodgers complete confusion at the plate. They hadn’t really hit since Game 3, and were now in a complete funk. It wouldn’t get any better.
Game 6 was a game where the Dodgers continued to not hit. Bob Turly tossed a 1-run, 10 inning complete game. Sadly, he lost, as the Dodgers evened the series at 3 game apiece thanks solely to Clem Labine mystifying the Yankees over 10 innings – a shut out, where he scattered 7 hits and was never really in trouble. It was a magnificent game for Labine, and the Dodgers last gasp. They still wouldn’t hit, so the only way they were going to win this series was if Don Newcombe could hurl another shutout in Game 7.
Well, there WAS a shutout in Game 7. Unfortunately for the Dodgers, it was thrown by 22-year old Johnny Kucks. Kucks was in his 2nd season in the bigs, and had gone 18-9 for the Yanks in ’56, often benefitting from lots of run support (though his ERA was 3.85, good in 2009, not so crisp in 1956). Kucks was as on his game as Larsen was in Game 5, tossing a 3-hit shutout, but it wouldn’t have mattered if the Yanks had sent a trained hippo out to pitch. The Dodgers weren’t hitting anybody. What’s worse, the Dodgers decided to stop pitching in Game 7 as well, as the Yankees bombed the entire Dodger rotation (Newcombe, Bessent, Craig, Roebuck and Erskine) in the 9-0 rout. Yogi Berra hit two homers, and Elston Howard and Moose Skowron also homered.
For the series, Yogi Berra hit .360 with 2 2B, 5 runs scored, 3 HR and 10 RBI. Enos Slaughter hit .350 ,scoring 6 times, adding 1HR and 4 RBI. The Mick hit 3 homers, though he hit just .250, and Billy Martin hit .296 with 5 runs scored, 2 homers and 3 RBI.
But the MVP was Larsen. I would have given it to Berra, but it’s hard to argue with a guy that threw a perfect game. What’s more, the perfect-o really seemed to destroy the Dodger hitting psyche that was already in trouble after games 3 and 4.
No one on the Dodgers hit all that well, though Gil Hodges and Duke Snider combined to hit .304 with 2 HR and 12 RBI. Roy Campanella hit just .182 while Jim Gilliam hit .083.
Yankee legends
Well, this has been a look at five great New York Yankee World Series.Come back tomorrow, as we look at 5 more, to round out the entire 10.
