The Last Segregated World Series: the Games in New York

With the Yankees up two games to nothing, the World Series shifted to New York for games three, four, and, if necessary, game five. The Yanks needed two wins to wrap up the Series. Philadelphia needed to win at least two of the three games to send the Series back to Philly and a potential game six.

Jerry Coleman

Game 3

The third game was played 6 October in the Bronx. The visiting Phillies sent 34-year-old Ken Heintzelman to the mound. He’d gone 3-9 with an ERA north of four during the regular season. But with the loss of Curt Simmons to the military and Bubba Church to injury, the Phils pressed him into service. He faced 18 game winner Eddie Lopat. Heintzelman was unsteady (he gave up  six walks) but over the first seven innings he gave up only one run. In the third with two outs he walked Phil Rizzuto who promptly stole second. A Jerry Coleman single plated Rizzuto with the game’s first run.

Philadelphia got it back in the sixth when, again with two outs, Del Ennis doubled. Dick Sisler then singled to tie the score. In the seventh, Granny Hamner singled to lead off the inning, was bunted to second, and scored on a Mike Goliat single. For the first time in the entire Series, the Phils were ahead.

They stayed that way for five outs. With two down in the eighth, Heintzelman walked Coleman, Joe DiMaggio, and Yogi Berra consecutively to load the bases. That sent Heintzelman out of the game and brought in Philly’s relief ace, Jim Konstanty. He got Bobby Brown to roll one to Hamner at short. Hamner booted the ball which scored Coleman with an unearned run. A foul pop to third ended the inning without more damage.

During the eighth, Lopat left the game as the result of a double switch. That brought Tom Ferrick to the mound. He let Hamner on with a double. A bunt sent the Philadelphia shortstop to third with one out. An intentional walk put men on first and third, bringing up the pitcher’s slot. Pinch hitter Dick Whitman banged one to first and Hamner, going on contact, was gunned down at the plate for out two. A fly ball then ended the inning.

In the bottom of the ninth Russ Meyer replaced Konstanty. He got the first two men, then Gene Woodling singled up the middle and Rizzuto put another single in almost the same spot. That brought up Coleman, who’d been involved in both Yankee runs. He singled to left scoring Woodling, resulting in a final score of 3-2, and putting the Yanks up three games to none. Ferrick, in his only postseason appearance ever, got the win with Meyer taking the loss.

The Chairman of the Board

Game 4

Down three games to none on the 7th of October, the Phillies sent rookie Bob Miller (he’d pitched 2.2 innings in 1949), an 11 game winner to the mound. The Yankees responded by sending their own rookie to the mound. His name was Whitey Ford. He was 21 and had pitched in 20 games that season, starting 12. His record was 9-1 with a 2.81 ERA (153 ERA+) and 59 strikeouts (but also 55 walks). He finished second (to Walt Dropo of Boston) in the American League Rookie of the Year voting.

Ford was shaky in the first inning, walking the leadoff man and allowing a ground rule double to put men at second and third. But a fielder’s choice nipped the runner on third trying to score and a strikeout got New York out of the inning. Miller wasn’t nearly so lucky. Leadoff man Gene Woodling reached first on an error by the second baseman, went to second on a grounder, then scored an unearned run on a Yogi Berra single. A wild pitch moved Berra up and a Joe DiMaggio double scored Berra to make the score 2-0. It also sent Miller to the showers. He was replaced by Jim Konstanty who got the last out to end the inning.

Over the next four innings, the Yanks nursed the lead. Through the top of the sixth, Ford allowed only three singles (and an error let another man on). Konstanty was even better allowing only two singles. Used all season as a reliever (except game one of the Series), he tired in the bottom of the sixth. Berra led off the inning with a home run to make it 3-0, then Konstanty plunked DiMaggio. A ground out sent DiMaggio to second, and a Bobby Brown triple sent him home. Hank Bauer followed Brown with a fly that scored the fifth New York run.

Ford breezed through the seventh and eighth innings retiring the Phils in order. With three outs needed to claim a second consecutive championship, Ford started the ninth by allowing a single to Willie Jones. Then he plunked Del Ennis. That brought up Dick Sisler who grounded to second. A flip to the shortstop recorded the first out. Now with runners on first and third Ford struck out Granny Hamner for out two. Andy Seminick lofted a fly to left that Woodling misplayed allowing Jones and Sisler to score two unearned runs, making the score 5-2. That was all for Whitey Ford. In came Allie Reynolds to get the last out. He struck out Stan Lopata to end the threat, the inning, and the World Series.

Although it’s tough to call a sweep a terrific World Series, the 1950 World Series was a very good Series. Three of the four games were one run games. One of the games (2) went to extra innings, another (3) was won in the bottom of the ninth, a third (1) ended up 1-0. Only game four had a final victory margin of more than one run (5-2).

The Phillies pitching did well under the constraints of the loss of both Church and Simmons. Konstanty was terrific, starting his first game after a full season in the bullpen, and relieving in two others. His 15 innings pitched was tops for either team. As a staff they put up a respectable 2.27 ERA and gave up only 11 earned runs in 36 innings. But the hitting wasn’t as good. Philadelphia hit .203 as a team with only seven extra base hits (six doubles, one triple) in 26 hits. Hamner led the team with six hits two of the doubles, and the triple (but made a critical error). No player scored more than one run or drove in more than one run.

For the Yankees, the hitting was better, but not a lot. They hit .222 as a team, but with three doubles, a triple, and two home runs. Coleman led the team with three RBIs, five different players scored two runs, and Woodling led the team with six hits (all singles). The real New York heroes were the pitchers. Vic Raschi threw a complete game two-hit shutout, Ford went 8.2 giving up only unearned runs. Reynolds picked up both a win and a save and Eddie Lopat gave up only two runs in his one start. The team ERA was 0.73, with 24 strikeouts (seven walks), and a 0.892 WHIP. Ford and Reynolds both recorded seven strikeouts (Lopat and Raschi each had five).

For New York it was the second in a string of World Series victories that would reach five eventually. For Philadelphia it was a high water mark. They slid back in 1951 and didn’t resurface in the postseason until 1976.

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The Last Segregated World Series: Casey’s Crew

8 Hank Bauer

In the 1950 World Series, the Philadelphia Phillies were tasked with defeating the current World Champion New York Yankees. The Yanks were winners of two of the previous three World Series and were a formidable foe.

They were led by retired player and former dental student (Thanks, Bloggess) Charles Dillon “Casey” Stengel. He’d taken the reigns in New York in 1949 and led his team to a championship. In 1950 they were one game better than in 1949.

He had Joe Collins and Hall of Famer Johnny Mize at first. Both played about the same amount of games and both hit left-handed. Collins was a slightly better fielder and Mize the better hitter. For the season Mize hit .277 and was third on the team with both 25 home runs and 72 RBIs. His .946 OPS and 142 OPS+ were both second on the team. Jerry Coleman played second, hit .287 with no power, and was finding himself pushed by 22-year-old rookie Billy Martin. No one was pushing Hall of Fame shortstop Phil Rizzuto. He hit .324, led the team in both hits (200) and runs (125), played a good shortstop, and won the American League MVP for 1950 (his only MVP award). Billy Johnson and Bobby Brown (later AL President) were in a rough platoon system at third. Johnson hit .260, Brown .267.

Four men did most of the outfield work. Hall of Fame center fielder Joe DiMaggio was 35 and a year from retirement, but he hit .301, led the team with 35 home runs and a .979 OPS. His 122 RBIs were second on the team and his 5.3 WAR was third. In typical DiMaggio fashion he posted 80 walks to go along with only 33 strike outs. Hank Bauer was settling in as the new right fielder. He had 13 homers and hit .320. Gene Woodling did more work in left field than anyone else, hit .283 with only six home runs and made two errors all season. Cliff Mapes was the fourth outfielder, but got into 108 games. He had 12 home runs, but hit only .247.

The only other everyday players who appeared in 20 or more games were Jackie Jensen and Tommy Henrich. Jensen was a rookie outfielder who hit all of .171. Henrich was in his final season. He started 30 games at first, but spent most of his time as the main left-handed pinch hitter. He hit .272 with six home runs, a .918 OPS, and only six strikeouts to go with 27 walks. He had 41 total hits for the season, twenty were for extra bases: six doubles, eight triples, and the already mentioned six home runs. A lot of people forget that Henrich, never noted for his base stealing speed led the AL in triples twice (1947 and 1948).

Yogi Berra did almost all the catching. He had a great year hitting .322 (second to Rizzuto), with 28 home runs (second to DiMaggio), and a team leading 124 RBIs. His OPS was .915 and his WAR 5.6 (again second to Rizzuto’s 6.7). He struck out all of 12 times in 656 plate appearances and walked 55. His backups were future Yanks manager Ralph Houk and Charlie Silvera. Between them they got into 28 games (Houk started one game, Silvera seven).

The New York pitching corps was aging, unlike Philadelphia’s. Of the six men who started 10 or more games, only one was under 30. If you kick that up to all the men who pitched in 10 or more games, there were only two (and Bob Porterfield only pitched 20 innings over 10 games). Vic Raschi, Eddie Lopat, Tommy Byrne, and Allie Reynolds all started at least 29 games with Byrne, at age 30, being the youngest (Reynolds at 33 was the oldest). Raschi had 21 wins but an ERA of 4.00. Lopat was 18-8 but had given up more hits than he had innings pitched (WHIP of 1.307). Reynolds led the team with 160 strikeouts and Byrne had 160 walks (with 118 strikeouts). Fred Sanford only started 12 games but walked more than he struck out. The other guy (and the other pitcher under 30) was a rookie named Whitey Ford. He went 9-1 over 20 games (12 starts), had a 2.81 ERA, and was on the way to a Hall of Fame career.

The bullpen was still anchored by Joe Page. He’d posted 13 saves, but his ERA was north of five and he had given up 66 hits in 55 innings. Tom Ferrick was 35 and had posted nine saves, for second on the team. And by way of trivia, Lew Burdette, age 23 pitched 1.1 innings over two games in his rookie campaign. In 1957, now playing at Milwaukee, he would handcuff his former team to lead the Braves to a World’s Championship.

They were a formidable team, World Champs, and ready to defend. They were favored over Philadelphia, which was considered an upstart.

Thoughts on the Upcoming Veteran’s Committee Vote, III

1954 Allie Reynolds baseball card

Previously I’ve given my thoughts on the everyday players who are listed on this year’s Veteran’s Committee ballot for the Hall of Fame. Now it’s time to look at the pitchers. There are three on the Ballot: Jim Kaat, Allie Reynolds, and Luis Tiant. As with the everyday players, each pitcher has significant issues that have kept him from the Hall.

With 283 wins, Kaat has the most of this year’s trio. In fact of players not in the Hall of Fame and eligible Kaat has the fourth most wins. He’s behind Tommy John and two 19th Century pitchers Bobby Matthews and Tony Mullane (and Matthews pitched for far back he never stood on a mound). Kaat also has three 20 wins seasons (only one of which led the American League). But that’s the only time he led his league in any major category. He was only occasionally his team’s ace and by this point is probably most famous as the losing pitcher in the seventh game of the 1965 World Series, losing to Sandy Koufax who threw a shutout on two day’s rest (that happens). Further, Kaat pitched much of the end of his career in relief, becoming, in 1982, the oldest man to ever play in a World Series game (I’m not sure if that’s still true). And it’s this longevity that is much of Kaat’s problem. His numbers look pretty good, but they are longevity numbers and many Hall of Fame voters like gaudy peak numbers that Kaat just doesn’t have.

Luis Tiant was always a personal favorite of mine. As mentioned in the paragraph on Minnie Minoso, Tiant’s dad pitched in the 1947 Negro League World Series, so his son had quite a pedigree. For his career the younger Tiant had 229 wins, putting up 20 or more four times. He never led the AL in wins, but did lead in losses in 1969. He picked up ERA and shutout titles in 1968 (the year before leading the AL in losses). He got to a World Series with Boston in 1975 and won two games for a losing team. In many ways his problem is that he has too much of an up-and-down career. He wins 20, follows it with losing 20. He  has the big drop off at the end of his career that a lot of people have, but in the middle there are three seasons with less than 10 wins.

Allie Reynolds played back in the 1940s and 1950s, first for Cleveland, then for Casey Stengel’s Yankees. He was, according to a Stengel biography, Casey’s favorite pitcher because he could both start and relieve. Reynolds put up 182 wins with a .620 winning percentage. He won 20 games once, led the AL in ERA and walks once, led in strikeouts and shutouts twice, and went 7-2 with four saves in the World Series. Reynolds has three problems among Hall of Fame voters. One is the paucity of wins for a team that went to the World Series year after year while he pitched. Secondly, in many ways his replacement was better; a guy named Whitey Ford. You can of course argue that Ford replaced any one of the three early 1950s stalwarts of the Yankees staff (Reynolds, Eddie Lopat, and Vic Raschi), but Ford was better than any of them and I think that hurts Reynolds Hall of Fame chances. Finally, the 1950s Yankees teams are the teams of Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, and Yogi Berra, not the pitchers (with the exception of Ford). It’s not a team remembered because of Reynolds, and that, too, hurts his chances.

There’s the list, three solid pitchers with good numbers and flaws. Would I vote for any or all of them? Not this time I wouldn’t. We’re left now with the two executives (neither of which has an old ball card to feature at the top of the article). I’ll take a look at them with a few comments next time.