GAME 1 (Riverfront): Dodgers 3, Reds 0Classic 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 3Hida 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 0Cincy 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.
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