The Dodgers shocked the Yankees, and the Yankee Stadium crowd, with an overwhelming display in all phases of the game that resulted in a resounding 15-0 win in the Series opener. Brooklyn scored four times in the 1st with significant help from Joe Gordon's error, and led 8-0 after only four innings. They continued to pile on the runs against the New York relievers, as five different Dodgers had at least three of their nineteen hits and National League MVP Dolph Camilli clubbed two home runs and knocked in six runs. Meanwhile, Curt Davis was outsmarting the Yankee hitters at every turn, pitching out of two-out jams on a number of occasions to keep the home team off the board on his way a complete-game shutout. New York's three errors in the field led to five unearned Brooklyn runs. Brooklyn 15-19-0, New York 0-9-3. [scoresheet]
In a stark contrast to Game One, batting exploits were hard to come by on a beautiful Thursday afternoon at the Stadium. Brooklyn got runners to the corners with two out in the 3rd before Camilli bounced our, but that was the only time a man reached scoring position until New York threatened seriously in the 7th. Bill Dickey and Gordon drew walks to start the inning, and Phil Rizzuto's grounder to second placed men at first and third. Chandler then sacrificed Rizzuto to second to bring Johnny Sturm to the dish with two runners dancing off their bags, but Wyatt got the NY leadoff hitter to bounce one back to the box for the final out. Chandler allowed only one Brooklyn hit after the 5th, and the game was still scoreless as the Yankees came to bat in the bottom of the 9th. Dickey led off with a base hit, and barely returned to the bag safely when Gordon followed with a scorching liner right at Camilli at first for an out. That brought up Rizzuto, who roped one into the left-centerfield gap that allowed Dickey to come all the way around from first and beat the throw home for the game's only run and the Yankees, who had been outscored by fourteen runs, were nevertheless level in the Series. New York 1-6-1, Brooklyn 0-5-0. [scoresheet]
After an unexpected day off due to rain, the clubs reconvened at Ebbets Field for Game Three. The Yankees struck first when Sturm started the game with a single and scored two outs later on Joe DiMaggio's RBI base hit. But Brooklyn punched back in the 4th - doubles by Pee Wee Resse and Camilli, and run-scoring singles by Joe Medwick and Dixie Walker, produced three Dodger runs (their first tallies in fourteen innings) and a lead for the home club. Camilli homered again in the 6th with the bases empty to make it 4-1 for Brooklyn, and Fitzsimmons was turning the Yanks away empty-handed - he struck out Sturm with runners on second and third and two outs in the 6th, and retire PH George Selkirk on a weak grounder to first for the final out with two on in the 7th. A DiMaggio single and Dickey walk brought the tying run to the plate in the 9th with only one away, but Gordon rapped one sharply to Reese who started the 6-4-3 double play for the game's final outs. New York's six singles off of Fitzsimmons were not enough to overcome Camilli's seven total bases, two runs scored and two RBI. Brooklyn 4-9-0, New York 1-6-1. [scoresheet]
On a day when temperatures reached 94 degrees, the highest mark ever recorded in New York City in October, the two clubs engaged in a marathon affair that left both the players and the Ebbets Field crowd sweaty and exhausted; it may not have been an aesthetic masterpiece, but it was perhaps one of the most exciting World Series games ever played. And it got off to a rollicking start - Sturm singled to start the afternoon and Red Rolfe quickly followed him with a drive into the seats for a 2-0 Yankee lead before the echoes of the National Anthem had faded completely away. But New York wasn't done yet - four more hits followed before 22-game-winner Higbe could record an out, and by the time the tenth and final Yankee had batted in the the opening frame (with Higbe already departed) the visitors had a five-run lead. The home crowd had their spirits lifted briefly when their Bums got a pair back in the home half of the inning, after Pete Reiser singled with two outs and Camilli (again!) homered to right field. But New York tacked on another in the 2nd on Dickey's double and looked as if they might just run away as Brooklyn had in the Series opener. But the Dodgers were far from done - Lew Riggs belted a three-run homer in the 4th and Reiser did likewise in the 5th, and the home team had vaulted ahead to a 9-6 lead after five innings. DiMaggio homered in the 6th to cut the Yankee deficit to a single run, but Riggs knocked home another in the 7th to restore a two-run lead and Larry French came out of the pen to face the left-handed heart of the NY order in the 8th. After Tommy Henrich whiffed, Joe D doubled and Charlie Keller hit the 6th home run of the afternoon into the warm air to tie the score at ten tallies each. Dickey reached when Reese couldn't find the handles on his grounder, moved to second on Gordon's single, and scored the go-ahead run when PH Buddy Rosar laced one over Reese's head for a two-out base hit. With the Yankee mounds corps a bit stretched after two straight early departures by their starters, Lefty Gomez (yet to start despite a team-leading fifteen regular-season wins) was called in to pitch and he got into immediate difficulty when pinch-hitter Cookie Lavagetto singled to start the home 8th, he was bunted to second, and Gomez then walked Reese. Lefty appeared to be on the way to an escape when Dixie Walker hit one back to the mound, but the Yankee hurler tried to throw him out before he had full control and the bobble loaded the bases with Brooklyns with only one out. NY played back hoping to get out of the jam with a double-play ball, but could only get one out on Reiser's two-hopper to third as Lavagetto scored the tying run; the Yanks got two aboard in the 9th but failed to score and the game headed to extra innings. Each team got a two-out double in the 11th that went for nought as Gomez and Davis (back on in relief after his virtuosic Game One performance) restored some normalcy to the proceedings. But, perhaps the heat had the final say, as Gomez began to crack as he began his fifth inning of work. Mickey Owen drew a leadoff walk, and was pulled for a pinch-runner in Augie Galan, who beat the throw to second base looking for a force out when Davis bunted to Rolfe at third base. Billy Herman then singled into shallow right field and Galan sped home with a Dodger victory. On a day when the Yankees set a World Series record for hits in a game with 23 (five of those off the bat of DiMaggio), they still found themselves holding the short end of the stick at the end of the day and they are running out of time to find answers. Brooklyn 12-17-3, New York 11-23-2. [scoresheet]
The Yankees handed the ball to Tiny Bonham in an attempt to stem the Dodger tide, and that choice did not appear to be a wise one in the early going. Dixie Walker singled to start the bottom of the 1st and Riggs followed with a homer; Camilli doubled and Reese singled him across the plate and Brooklyn had staked out an early 3-0 lead in a bid to prevent the Series from returning to the Bronx. DiMaggio homered to lead off the 2nd, but the Yankees could do little else with Wyatt and still trailed 3-1 into the 6th inning. A leadoff walk to Reese led to a fourth Dodger run, and Riggs' third homer of the Series in the 7th gave the home club a four-run lead and celebrations began to break out in the stands. These were short-lived, however, as Wyatt ran into trouble in the 8th - a walk ad an error set the table for a pinch-hit double by Selkirk and a two-run single from Sturm that brought the Yankees almost all of the way back. Now only trailing by a run, Sturm was caught trying to swipe his way into scoring position, a failure which proved costly when Rolfe walked and DiMaggio (8 hits in his last 11 at-bats) singled but Keller was caught looking at strike three for the final out of the inning. In the top of the 9th, New York got a leadoff base hit from Dickey, but Walker made a beautiful running grab in right to deny Gordon and perhaps prevent a tying run, and Rizzuto then hit into a Series-ending 5-4-3 double play. Brooklyn 5-11-1, New York 4-7-0. [scoresheet]
The Yankees just had no answer for Brooklyn - the Dodgers won blowouts, they won slugfests and they won tight games. In the only victory New York managed, they had to shut Brooklyn out and still only managed to win by a single run in the bottom of the 9th. The Dodger offense battered Yankee pitching for twenty extra-base hits and a .500 slugging percentage in the five games, while only DiMaggio (11-for-23) posed a real threat to Dodger hurlers. [Series stats]
It was a difficult choice, as Dodger left-hander Curt Davis threw thirteen shutout innings in two wins, but 1B Dolph Camilli (9-for-22, four HR, ten RBI) was the centerpiece of a Brooklyn offense that buried the Yankees beneath 36 runs in five games. His two homers fueled the Game One rout, his two RBI powered the Game Three win, and he reached base four times, homered and scored three runs in the Game Four epic.
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