Sandy Koufax was not the first pitcher to fan five straight batters. Mort Cooper did it first in the 1943 World Series. 20 years before Sandy was dandy against the Yankees, Cooper was super against the Yankees.
Cooper took the hill in game five of the 1943 Fall Classic. He was trying to keep his St. Louis Cardinals in the hunt. But at this point, they were down three games to one. The Cards were at home. Would they get a return to New York? Cooper got them off on the right foot.
He started the top of the first with a strikeout of Frank Crosetti. Then get got Bud Metheny to go down swinging. When Billy Johnson ended the inning with a swing and miss, Cooper had three straight K's to start this off. Dandy!
Charlie Keller took a called third strike to start the top of the second for New York. When Bill Dickey fanned, Cooper had five straight K's to start the game. But, alas, unlike Koufax, Cooper could not keep it up.
He fanned Spud Chandler in the top of the third. That was the second out. But the next two batters got singles and Cooper had to get out of the jam. He did, but his mound opponent (Who, ironically enough, has the second highest winning percentage at .717. When Koufax tied Cooper for most consecutive K's in 1963, he did it against Whitey Ford, who is third all-time in W% @ .690!) was not about to let the Cardinals win.
Spud went all nine, gave up ten hits, but stranded them a-plenty. And amazingly enough, he ended the game with as many strikeouts as Cooper and his relief corps.
Cooper did not K another batter after fanning Chandler. He actually pitched one great game, giving up just five hits and two runs over seven innings. Alas, when it was all said and done, it was Chandler with a 2-0 win. New York had the 1943 World Series, four games to one.
The Yankees just seem to be like that. Winning means overcoming obstacles. Cooper pitched well against New York. Not only in the 1943 Fall Classic, but in the 1942 affair, as well. His mound opponent, Chandler, was sort of like the Whitey Ford of his time. Great winning percentage, good in the Fall Classic (1.62 ERA over 33 1/3 innings pitched), and even better in the clutch. Cooper didn't dominate like Koufax, but had a great winning percentage of his own, .631. Both he and Chandler had short careers, and it's easy to forget. But the way Cooper pitched in the Fall Classic, he made short work of the opposition, or at least made it look like he was about to!
References
Nemec, David et all. 20th Century Baseball Chronicle: A Year-by-year History of Major League Baseball. Collector's Edition. Lincolnwood, Ill: Publications International, 1993. Print.
Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen, and Michael L. Neft. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, 1992. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print.
“The Official Site Of Major League Baseball.” MLB.com, Major League Baseball. Web. 7 Jan. 2015 www.mlb.com/.
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 7 Jan. 2015.
Cooper took the hill in game five of the 1943 Fall Classic. He was trying to keep his St. Louis Cardinals in the hunt. But at this point, they were down three games to one. The Cards were at home. Would they get a return to New York? Cooper got them off on the right foot.
He started the top of the first with a strikeout of Frank Crosetti. Then get got Bud Metheny to go down swinging. When Billy Johnson ended the inning with a swing and miss, Cooper had three straight K's to start this off. Dandy!
Charlie Keller took a called third strike to start the top of the second for New York. When Bill Dickey fanned, Cooper had five straight K's to start the game. But, alas, unlike Koufax, Cooper could not keep it up.
He fanned Spud Chandler in the top of the third. That was the second out. But the next two batters got singles and Cooper had to get out of the jam. He did, but his mound opponent (Who, ironically enough, has the second highest winning percentage at .717. When Koufax tied Cooper for most consecutive K's in 1963, he did it against Whitey Ford, who is third all-time in W% @ .690!) was not about to let the Cardinals win.
Spud went all nine, gave up ten hits, but stranded them a-plenty. And amazingly enough, he ended the game with as many strikeouts as Cooper and his relief corps.
Cooper did not K another batter after fanning Chandler. He actually pitched one great game, giving up just five hits and two runs over seven innings. Alas, when it was all said and done, it was Chandler with a 2-0 win. New York had the 1943 World Series, four games to one.
The Yankees just seem to be like that. Winning means overcoming obstacles. Cooper pitched well against New York. Not only in the 1943 Fall Classic, but in the 1942 affair, as well. His mound opponent, Chandler, was sort of like the Whitey Ford of his time. Great winning percentage, good in the Fall Classic (1.62 ERA over 33 1/3 innings pitched), and even better in the clutch. Cooper didn't dominate like Koufax, but had a great winning percentage of his own, .631. Both he and Chandler had short careers, and it's easy to forget. But the way Cooper pitched in the Fall Classic, he made short work of the opposition, or at least made it look like he was about to!
References
Nemec, David et all. 20th Century Baseball Chronicle: A Year-by-year History of Major League Baseball. Collector's Edition. Lincolnwood, Ill: Publications International, 1993. Print.
Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen, and Michael L. Neft. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, 1992. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print.
“The Official Site Of Major League Baseball.” MLB.com, Major League Baseball. Web. 7 Jan. 2015 www.mlb.com/.
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 7 Jan. 2015.
No comments:
Post a Comment