World Series Game 6: Dodgers 8, Yankees 4

GAME 6 (Ebbets Field) Dodgers 8, Yankees 4:
During the travel day off the Yankee skipper pondered who would toe the rubber in hopes of holding down the Dodger bats and forcing the all important game 7. The decision was simple: The Boomer, David Wells, who was outstanding in his last outing a complete game 1 run performance in game 2. Wells is a big man with a big thirst for the spotlight. He relishes these moments and seems to amp up his game when he puts on the Pinstripes or in this case, the road gray. The Dodgers decision was much harder. Preacher Roe was ready to go, but he was knocked around by the Bombers (5 runs) in his last outing or Big Don Newcombe who was fresh off a stellar performance...but could he go on 2 days rest ? The logical choice was to go with Roe and hold New back for a possible game 7, but Roe would be on a very tight leash just the same. Since the 1951 Dodgers are old school, game time for this one was 1:05 pm EST. Wind was gusting from Right to Left and even with the sun out the temperature would not clime over 60ø. Translation: Perfect Fall Classic weather and setting. The opening ceremonies lasted a bit longer than scheduled as Mayor Wagner found a way to "ham it up" for the photogs. Roe threw his first pitch to Chuck Knoblauch at 1:12pm and by 1:13pm Knobby had struck out. Roe retired the side without a hitch and the Dodger faithful felt more at ease. Yankee fans, on the other hand, did not experience that same luxury as Jackie Robinson led off the bottom of the 1st with a sharp single to center off of Wells. Robinson was dancing off of 1st and the 35,000 fans that paid their way in to see the game today expected him to steal second. Instead Pee Wee Reese bunted him over in a more conventional play. Snider, who has been hitting the cover off the ball this series, was pitched to very carefully. Wells was not about to let him take advantage of the screen in right field. Snider the consummate professional sliced one to shallow left to make it 1st and 3rd with only 1 out. Wells then got Campy to line out to shallow center and the runners looked to be stranded, until Furillo singled home Robinson for the first run of the day. Hodges struck out on 4 pitches to end the inning, but the Dodgers drew first blood. Roe set the Yanks down in order in the 2nd and looked good in doing so. Wells again was in trouble in the bottom of the frame, but escaped with just one run against and kept the Dodgers out of that big inning. Scotty "Big Game" Brosius homered in the 3rd to cut the Dodger lead to 2-1. You could hear a collective groan all across Kings County when it happened. If you walked by an walk up, brownstone or tenement you could hear the game on the radio going full blast. If you couldn't get to the game and you weren't able to stay home you just needed to walk the streets of Brooklyn to hear the old redhead, Red Barber on the call, along with his sidekick...some kid name Scully. Virtually all business was closed in Brooklyn because of the importance of this game. The bottom of the 3rd would see the home team strike for 2 and really have Wells on the ropes. Campy led the inning off with a walk, followed by two easy outs made by Furillo and Hodges. Up stepped Andy Pafko, who along with Abrams and Thompson shared the left field duties. Wells delivered a flat slider that Pafko turned on and promptly sent into the left field seats to make it 4-1 Brooklyn. By this point it was apparent to all that Boomer Wells did not have anything left in his left arm. By the bottom of the 4th Wells and the Yankees fates were sealed as the Boys of Summer graduated to becoming Men of the Fall by posting 3 runs and knocking Wells out of the box. Robinson tripled with 1 out, then scored on Reese's grounder to second. Up stepped Snider who turned on a fastball and deposited it onto Bedford Avenue. Action in the Yankee pen was fast and furious. Ramiro Mendoza couldn't move fast enough to get warm, but it was too late. Campy followed Snider's blow with one of his own and just like that dem Bums were up 7-1. New York did score 3 runs to make the final score a respectable 8-4, but the outcome was never in jeopardy. Roe pitched well and went the distance and the celebration was on in America's 4th largest city. Traffic was stopped for hours. Horns were blasting. The noise and bedlam could be heard and seen all the way to Canarsie. Dem Bums finally did it. They defeated the Evil Empire and brought Brooklyn it's elusive world Championship. All of the local tabloids featured headlines, articles and pictures glorifying Brooklyn's historical victory. Well hidden and hardly noticed was a three line snippet on page 32 of the Post informing us that one Walter O'Malley of Montague Street in Brooklyn purchased the rights to Los Angeles' Wrigley Field. On this day of euphoria in Brooklyn that article would mean nothing as time seemed to stand still.

World Series Game 5: Dodgers 1, Yankees 0

GAME 5 (Yankee Stadium) Dodgers 1, Yankees 0:


Yankee Stadium, like so many times before, was prepared to host the pivotal game 5 of the series. With the series knotted at 2 games apiece the winner of game 5 would have a decided advantage since they would only need to win 1 more game in 2 tries to take it all. The fifth installment of the series featured the same two starters that the first installment had. Big Don Newcombe would be taking the hill for Brooklyn and El Duque, Orlando Hernandez would be on the hill for the Bombers. With two fantastic aces on the mound the crowd expected a pitcher's duel. What they got was an epic duel. Both aces started out very shaky. El Duque yielded a lead off double to Jackie Robinson to start the game, but the Dodgers were not able to score as Jackie was left standing on 3rd as the inning ended. New York tried to take advantage of Newbombe's early wildness, but could not. Like most classic power pitchers Newk needed an inning to settle into a grove. He almost didn't have that luxury as he walked the bases loaded and was staring down the barrel of 6'7" Darryl Strawberry's bat. At that point Newk "found it" and fanned Staw on 4 pitches. That would be the first of 11 strikeouts that he would have on the day has he began blowing away each and every hitter wearing pinstripes. Meanwhile Newk's opposing number, El Duque was doing whatever it took to get the job done. Not having his best stuff, Duque pulled out all the stops as he flirted with danger in just about every inning. Brooklyn just couldn't get the key 2 out hit to push a run across and as we approached the 7th inning everyone seemed to focus more on Brooklyn's miscues than the fact that their ace was tossing a no-hitter. Up stepped Yankee centerfielder Bernie Williams, who fought off a 2-2 Newcombe fastball and dropped a parachute into left field just in front of Cal Abrams. There went the no hitter, but Newcombe remained unphased as he proceeded to strike out Tino and with runners on 1st and 3rd after Raines singled he fanned Brosius to end the inning. As you can imagine the tension truly began to mount up in the Bronx as 7 innings were complete and neither team could post a run on the scoreboard. To lead off the 8th the Dodgers had their MVP backstop Roy Campanella ready to dig in. El Duque made what looked like a good pitch on the outside part of the plate, but it caught a bit too much of the plate and Campy flicked it just inside the foul poll in right for a 311 foot homer. The visitors dugout began to explode. Brooklyn finally got the break they were looking for. Duque retired the next 3 hitters and Ramiro Mendoza pitched a scoreless ninth to setup the drama in the bottom of the 9th. Newcombe came out to start the inning looking to nail down a 2 hit shutout. In stepped Paul O'Neill, one of the most clutch Yankee performers of all time. If Tommy Heinrich was known as "Ole Reliable" to his generation, Paul O'Neill could be called the same for his. With the count 2-1, Newcombe grooved a fastball and O'Neill got all of it. As the ball sailed toward the right centerfield bleachers all 56,000 attendees left their seats trying to will it over the blue padded wall, then out of nowhere #6 in a gray jersey jumped and reached back and came down with the ball in his glove. Carl Furillo, known mostly for his rifle right arm saved the day (for the moment) for his team. A collective sigh could be heard in the borough of churches at that one moment. Having seen enough, the Dodgers manager went right to mound and summoned relief specialist Clem Labine from the pen to finish it out. Newk was great for 8 innings, but his history in the 9th inning has not always been good in games on the grand stage. Two batters later Labine got Tino to weakly line to Reese at short and the Boys of Summer were now 1 game away from winning it all.

World Series Game 4: New York 13, Dodgers 5

GAME 4 (Yankee Stadium) Yankees 13, Dodgers 5:
Every Yankee starter had at least 1 hit as the Bombers pounded out 13 runs on 22 hits. Dodger starter Carl Erskine was the epitome of a bum as he surrendered 6 runs in a little over 4 innings of work. Relievers Palica and Haugstad were nothing more than kerosene on the fire that the Yankee bats were providing. Darryl Strawberry went 4 for 4 with 4 Ribbies and a mammoth homer that seemed to salt the clouds. Yankee starter Andy Pettitte was cruising and only yielded 2 runs until he was forced out in the 8th, where the Dodgers got 3 inconsequential runs on a Duke Snider blast. Holmes came on to finish it out and the series was now knotted at 2 apiece.

World Series Game 3: Brooklyn 5, New York 2

GAME 3 (Yankee Stadium) Dodgers 5, Yankees 2:
Once upon a time Baseball played World Series games during the afternoon. They also canceled games when the weather was forecasted to be wet. One hates to see a World Series game decided by the weather, but this one had 3 rather large rain delays, not to mention an extremely sloppy track. Special thanks has to go to the Yankee Stadium grounds crew for keeping the field marginally playable. Besides dusting the field to the tune of YMCA these guys do one heck of a job. The first rain delay of almost 30 minutes occurred after the Dodgers batted in the 4th and the game not official yet. Brooklyn was up 3-0 at this point. Duke Snider homered with 2 outs in the first off of Yankee starter David Cone. Brooklyn scored it's next two runs in the 4th when Billy Cox hit a 2 run shot, also with 2 out. Here is where the weather really influenced the outcome. Prior to Cox's homer Brooklyn DH Rube Walker singled on a pop up that Bernie Williams normally gets to. Unfortunately for Bernie the outfield was a swamp and he narrowly missed the routine pop up. Conditions were so bad that the ups had to delay the game. Dodger starter Ralph Branca was cruising along until Chuck Knoblauch led off the 6th with a double. Jeter had a productive AB and when he grounded to Robinson at second he advanced Knobby to 3rd. Paul O'Neil followed with a sharp grounder that normally would have made it into right, but today it found it's way into a puddle and the Jackie's glove. Knobby scored to make it 3-1, but the Yanks missed out on a golden opportunity to have a big inning. After seeing the weather affect the game the officials decided to call for the tarp again. Almost an hour passed before both teams took the field again. By that time Dodger starter Ralph Branca was done and Clem Labine came on board to replace him. David Cone gutted out the elements and the Dodgers Hall of Fame lineup to finish 7 strong innings, but he left the game on the short side. Mike Stanton started the 8th, but 3 hits and 2 runs later he let the game slip away. Reese led the inning off with a single. Snider doubled him home. 3 batters later Snider scored on Hodges sac fly to O'Neill in right. The weather played havoc again and caused another long delay. MLB officials were not going to call the game, so everyone was back in sit and wait mode. 90 minutes later Clyde King took the hill for Brooklyn with a 4 run lead and proceeded to get O'Neill and Tino to pop up. King was not going to pick corners with the rain starting in again and his 2-1 offering met Bernie's bat and didn't come to a rest until it hit the upper deck seats that hours before had fans sitting in them. King couldn't find his footing and walked Strawberry on 5 pitches. Posada stepped up and hit a shot to right center that dropped into Snider's glove for the 3rd out. By the time the game ended maybe 10,000 fans were left. Shame on major league baseball for making them endure this weather and possibly influencing the outcome.

World Series Game 2: New York 5, Brooklyn 1

GAME 2 (Ebbets Field) Yankees 5, Dodgers 1:

In a battle of tough southpaws the Boomer, David Wells dominated the Boys of Summer and thoroughly outpitched his counterpart Preacher Roe as the '98 Bombers evened the series at 1. Brooklyn struck first blood in the bottom of the 3rd as Jackie Robinson hit a 2 out solo shot to left center. That would be the final hit that Wells would allow on the day. Roe was in and out of trouble for the first 4 innings before the Yanks caught up with him and posted 2 runs on the scoreboard just above the Abe Stark sign. Bernie led off the inning with a solo shot and after Tino and Posada both struck out Scott "Mr. Clutch" Brosius slammed on into the left field pavilion to put the Bombers up for good. The Bombers tagged Roe for 2 more homers in the 7th as Bernie notched his second of the game and Posada tapped his 1st. New tacked on an insurance run in the 8th, but they were not needed as the Dodgers never really threatened. Wells was masterful in his complete game effort.

World Series Game 1: Brooklyn 4, New York 3

GAME 1 (Ebbets Field) Dodgers 4, Yankees 3:
How fitting for the tournament to be decided in a Subway Series managed by two local guys (Brooklyn/Staten Island) ? With both teams well rested it was a forgone conclusion that both managers would start their aces (El Duque & Newk), which the most certainly did. The '98 Bronx Bombers struck first in the top of the 2nd when Bernie led off with a single and Tino followed up with one of his own to make it 1st and 2nd with nobody out. Leadfoot Jorge Posada grounded into a 4-6-3 DP and New looked to be out of the jam until "The Rock" Tim Raines tripled Bernie home to break the ice. For the next 3 innings both hurlers were locked and loaded as no runs were able to score until the top of the 6th when the Bombers struck for 2 and almost blew the game open. Knobby led off with a walk, which was followed by Jeets singling. Up stepped Paul O'Neill with first and second and nobody out looking to do some damage. Pauly was a bit overanxious and fouled off the first two offerings. Deep in the hole he foulded off the next two, but ultimately he was fanned by a 96 mph Newcombe fastball. While Pauly was busy kicking the water cooler Bernie and Tino proceeded to supply RBI singles of their own to score Kobby and Jeets and increase El Duque's lead to 3-0. With his game on the ropes, Newk dug down deep and struck out Posada on 3 bullets and got Raines to pop out to Snider in center. The Bombers had a chance to blow it open here, but being up 3-0 with El Duque locked in a grove seemed automatic as well. Duque started the 8th, but immediately began to struggle as Reese walked on 4 straight pitches. That was it for the the Cuban native and big Jeff Nelson strolled in from the pen. With all his attention paid to the batter, Carl Furillo, Nelson lost track of Reese who promptly stole 2nd. Furillo then singled home Reese and reached second himself on a Wild pitch. The big guns, Snider and Campy, grounded out and it looked like Nelson was about to get out of it, but the strong man from Indiana...one Gil Hodges singled to left to score Skoonj. With the score 3-2 Yankee Manager Ed Mikhli had had enough and he made a move that Joe Torre would have been proud of. He summoned the pen and brought in Mariano Rivera for a 4 out save. The Dodgers sent up pinch hitter Gene Hermanski, who fought off a Rivera cutter to ground to Jeter and end the inning. The Bombers went quietly in the 9th and it all rested on Mo's shoulders as it had so many times before. Lefty Cal Abrams led off with a seeing eye single to center. Livingston was brought off the bench specifically to bunt him over to second, which is successfully did. Up stepped the 1947 Rookie of the Year, Jackie Robinson, who doubled of the screen in right field to score Abrams and tie the game. Mo rared back to strike out Reese, but lost control and beaned Furillo. With 2 out the Yanks decided to better their chances by matching Mo up against the right handed Campanella, so Snider was given an unintentional pass. Campy, a proud man who some think is not an intense athlete took the IBB as a snub and lined a hump back single to left to score Jackie and steal game 1 of the series.

'Dem Bums (1951) top 1978 Cincy 4 games to 1 to head to Fall Classic

GAME 1 (Riverfront): Dodgers 3, Reds 0
Classic pitcher's duel between Tom Terrific (Seaver) and The Newk (Don Newcombe). Tom must have thought he was still a Met since he got no run support. New got 3 runs and made them stand for the victory. Brooklyn posted 2 in the 5th and 1 in the 6. Campy led the 5th off with a homer. Hodges walked and went to second on a passed ball charged to Bench. Billy Cox bunted him over to 3rd and Don Thompson hit one to deep right for a sac fly. The solo run in the 6th came when Jackie doubled and Pee Wee bunted him over to third. Skooonj singled him home to make it 3-0 and that's how it stood. New got stronger as the game went on and struck the final 2 batters out for the complete game shutout.

GAME 2 (Riverfront): Reds 5, Dodgers 1
Preacher Roe had a no-hitter going until the 6th when the doors came off the barn. Cincy tagged Preach for 4 run and never looked back. If it wasn't for a solo shot by Jackie in the 9th Cincy hurler Paul Moskau would have had a shutout. Roe walked Concepcion to start the 6th. Moskau bunted him over to second and Charlie Hustle broke up the no hitter with a sharp single thru the originator. Griffey Sr. flew out to Furillo in right and the Dodgers looked like they were going to escape. Not so fast. Lefty Dan Driessen, who looked totally over matched by the southpaw Roe in his previous 2 AB's dropped one into left just in front of Cal Abrams to score Concepcion. Roe must have been rattled, or Dodger manager, Marc Weiss, must have gone brain dead, because they decided to pitch to George Foster. Money bags himself slammed Roe's 2-1 offering across the Ohio and into Covington, Kentucky to break it open.

GAME 3 (Ebbets): Dodgers 12, Reds 3
Hida Chester and the Dodger Symphony were as raucous as ever as dem bums returned home to face the Big Red Machine in the LCS. Cincy starter Tom Hume got clobbered, while the prodigal son, Ralph Branca was outstanding in 8 innings of work. Brooklyn scored had a 3 run lead then blew it open with 5 in the 5th. Campy, Gil and Jackie all went deep. The Duke went 4 for 4 as did seldom used 5th outfielder Don Thompson. After Branca lost his shutout in the 8th Haugstad came on to finish it out.

GAME 4 (Ebbets): Dodgers 8, Reds 4
3 runs in the first and 5 more to follow were enough for Oisk to win this one. Bill Bonham gave up 6 in 6 innings of work for Cincy as the Dodgers got 1 step closer to the World Series. Interestingly the Dodgers didn't hit one homer but, Cincy had 2. Campy continued his hot hitting in this tourney by going 3 for 4 with 3 RBI's. This game was close going into the 7th with Brooklyn clinging to a 4-3 lead and Oisk dodging trouble each inning. Jackie worked out a walk to lead off the 7th. Pee Wee Reese was sent up to bunt, but once he ran the count to 2-0 he got the green light and singled to right to make it 1st and 3rd with no one out. The Reading Rifle, Carl Furillo singled home Jackie as Reese went to third. Snider's sac fly to right plated the second run. The Dodgers really needed both of those runs since Cincy scored a run in the 8th, when Bench singled home Griffey Sr. Oisk walked Geronimo and that was it for him. Labine came on to get Concepcion to fly out to left and end Cincy's threat and the game.

GAME 5 (Ebbets): Dodgers 2, Reds 0
Cincy had their backs against the wall down 3 games to 1. A win here would put some pressure on Brooklyn, but more importantly bring the series back to the Queen City. To ensure victory manager Rick Tharp tapped ace Tom "Terrific" Seaver to start. For Seaver this was like a homecoming. NY fans can not forget the 12 Hall of Fame years he had in a Mets uniform. Luckily Dodger fans could care less about what he did in Flushing and they were all over him from the start. Brooklyn curiously started the obscure Bud Podielan. The strategy here was to hold back Newk or Preach for a possible game 6 or 7, but those games were not to come as the Dodgers closed out the Reds in a classic pitcher's duel. David (Podbielan) bested Goliath (Seaver) in this one. On paper these types of matchups look lopsided, but games are played on dirt and grass not in newsprint. Podbielan went 7 2/3 innings and scattered 4 hits. Seaver went the distance, but yielded 2 runs as he was again a victim of his paltry offense. Brooklyn scored its' first run in the 3rd when Duke Snider singled home Jackie, who led the inning off with a single. Seaver then struck out Hodges on a wicked slider to end the inning. Baseball of all sports is about individuals and stories, and the Seaver/Hodges story is a unique one. Seaver credits his 1968-71 skipper (Hodges) with teaching him how to be a professional. Hodges made sure to pay his pupil back for the favor of striking him out in the 3rd with a solo shot deep onto Bedford Avenue in the 6th to make it 2-0 Bums. The Reds had Podbielan on the ropes in the 8th when Griffey Sr doubled, but Labine shut them down to save the game and close out the series. The Dodgers will now have a day with the Yankees in the World Series. Brooklyn surely has an ax to grind against the franchise that beat them in 6 out of 7 series during the 41-56 era.