The 1956 Fall Classic had it all. A classic Yankees / Dodgers matchup. Mantle vs. Snider in centre. Yogi vs. Roy behind the dish. The veteran Enos Slaughter in left. Pee Wee Reese at short for Brooklyn. The only perfect game (or no-hitter for that matter). It was the last subway series featuring teams from New York until the year 2000.
However, another World Series "first" gets overlooked. 1956 was the first time their were seven games won by seven different pitchers.
Well, game one appeared to be Whitey Ford's game to win, as he did tend to win 'em in the Fall Classic. Ten to be exact. But it was not to be in the opening tilt in Brooklyn. Ebbets Field. Ford's pal Mickey Mantle got him off on the right foot with a two-run home run off Sal Maglie in the top of the first. Mickey had hit 52 round-trippers in the regular season. Later, another pal of Ford's, Billy Martin, took Maglie downtown. However, that was all the offence New York got. Maglie fanned ten, and Brooklyn strafed Ford and Johhny Kucks for six runs in the first four innings. To be fair, the rest of the game was well-pitched, but the Dodgers had it all under control, winning 6-3.
The Dodgers took game two at home as well, 13-6, even though the Yankees were ahead 6-0 after just 1 1/2 innings. Don Larsen took the loss. Don Newcombe didn't exactly pitch well, but his bullpen did the the trick. It was Don Bessent who pitched the last seven innings of the ballgame to pick up the win.
At Yankee Stadium for the next three games, New York began to assert themselves. Roger Craig was working on a 2-1 lead over Ford after 5 1/2. But Old Country, Enos Slaughter, saved the day with a three-run home run that scored Hank Bauer and Yogi Berra. Each team tallied one more run, making Ford a 5-3 winner.
Tom Sturdivant then won game four for the Yankees, 6-2. It was all square. Mantle hit another home run and Bauer blasted a two-run shot off of some kid named Don Drysdale. But game five, is the game no one will forget when they think about the 1956 Fall Classic.
Don Larsen took the hill, and retired all 27 batters to face him. Mantle hit a home run off Sal Maglie to make it 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth. The Yankees seemed hancuffed by Maglie, too. They scored just one other run. But Larsen did not need it.
Mantle robbed Gil Hodges of a hit in the top of the fifth. Earlier, in the top of the second, Jackie Robinson, playing in his last season, was thrown out at first on a nice play by Gil McDougald. Larsen used up just 97 pitches for the win, getting pinch hitter Dale Mitchell to fan to end it.
Bob Turley then led the Yankees back to Brooklyn and looked to put it away. He was in fine form for the Yankees, nearly as good as Larsen the previous game. However, it was Clem Labine, who out-pitched him, winning 1-0 in 10 innings. Still, Turley had held the mighty Dodgers to just four hits.
And in game seven, Johnny Kucks held Brooklyn to just three hits. And no runs. New York, going for the kill, hammered Newcombe and Craig out of there with an aggressive attack that produced nine runs and ten hits. It was a fitting end to a rivalry (The New York portion of it, at least) that New York had come out on top all the time, with the exception of 1955.
It was also fitting that seven different pitchers won games. Sure, you had Ford, sure you had Maglie. But both teams had tremendous pitching depth. Brooklyn may have moved to Los Angeles in 1958, but within a year, they were back in the World Series, winning it in six over Chicago. The pitching depth was still strong on the Yankees in '58, as Turley and Larsen both won games again. Of the pitchers who threw in the Fall Classic in '56, only two made the Hall Of Fame (Ford and Drysdale). But it would be wrong to overlook guys like Newcombe (Who sadly never won a World Series game), Labine, Turley, Larsen, Maglie and the other pretty good pitchers that New York and Brooklyn had. They helped make all those World Series memorable.
Enders, Eric. 100 years of the World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005. Print.
Fonseca, Lew, director. World Series Of 1956. Performance by Lew Fonseca, Major League Baseball Productions, 1956. DVD.
Ford, Whitey, and Phil Pepe. Slick. New York: W. Morrow, 1987. Print.
Golenbock, Peter. Dynasty: The New York Yankees, 1949-1964. Lincolnwood, IL: Contemporary, 2000. Print.
Mantle, Mickey, and Mickey Herskowitz. All My Octobers: My Memories of Twelve World Series When the Yankees Ruled Baseball. New York: HarperCollins, 1994. 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.
Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series: Complete Play-by-play of Every Game, 1903-1989. 4th ed. New York: St. Martin's, 1990. Print.
However, another World Series "first" gets overlooked. 1956 was the first time their were seven games won by seven different pitchers.
Well, game one appeared to be Whitey Ford's game to win, as he did tend to win 'em in the Fall Classic. Ten to be exact. But it was not to be in the opening tilt in Brooklyn. Ebbets Field. Ford's pal Mickey Mantle got him off on the right foot with a two-run home run off Sal Maglie in the top of the first. Mickey had hit 52 round-trippers in the regular season. Later, another pal of Ford's, Billy Martin, took Maglie downtown. However, that was all the offence New York got. Maglie fanned ten, and Brooklyn strafed Ford and Johhny Kucks for six runs in the first four innings. To be fair, the rest of the game was well-pitched, but the Dodgers had it all under control, winning 6-3.
The Dodgers took game two at home as well, 13-6, even though the Yankees were ahead 6-0 after just 1 1/2 innings. Don Larsen took the loss. Don Newcombe didn't exactly pitch well, but his bullpen did the the trick. It was Don Bessent who pitched the last seven innings of the ballgame to pick up the win.
At Yankee Stadium for the next three games, New York began to assert themselves. Roger Craig was working on a 2-1 lead over Ford after 5 1/2. But Old Country, Enos Slaughter, saved the day with a three-run home run that scored Hank Bauer and Yogi Berra. Each team tallied one more run, making Ford a 5-3 winner.
Tom Sturdivant then won game four for the Yankees, 6-2. It was all square. Mantle hit another home run and Bauer blasted a two-run shot off of some kid named Don Drysdale. But game five, is the game no one will forget when they think about the 1956 Fall Classic.
Don Larsen took the hill, and retired all 27 batters to face him. Mantle hit a home run off Sal Maglie to make it 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth. The Yankees seemed hancuffed by Maglie, too. They scored just one other run. But Larsen did not need it.
Mantle robbed Gil Hodges of a hit in the top of the fifth. Earlier, in the top of the second, Jackie Robinson, playing in his last season, was thrown out at first on a nice play by Gil McDougald. Larsen used up just 97 pitches for the win, getting pinch hitter Dale Mitchell to fan to end it.
Bob Turley then led the Yankees back to Brooklyn and looked to put it away. He was in fine form for the Yankees, nearly as good as Larsen the previous game. However, it was Clem Labine, who out-pitched him, winning 1-0 in 10 innings. Still, Turley had held the mighty Dodgers to just four hits.
And in game seven, Johnny Kucks held Brooklyn to just three hits. And no runs. New York, going for the kill, hammered Newcombe and Craig out of there with an aggressive attack that produced nine runs and ten hits. It was a fitting end to a rivalry (The New York portion of it, at least) that New York had come out on top all the time, with the exception of 1955.
It was also fitting that seven different pitchers won games. Sure, you had Ford, sure you had Maglie. But both teams had tremendous pitching depth. Brooklyn may have moved to Los Angeles in 1958, but within a year, they were back in the World Series, winning it in six over Chicago. The pitching depth was still strong on the Yankees in '58, as Turley and Larsen both won games again. Of the pitchers who threw in the Fall Classic in '56, only two made the Hall Of Fame (Ford and Drysdale). But it would be wrong to overlook guys like Newcombe (Who sadly never won a World Series game), Labine, Turley, Larsen, Maglie and the other pretty good pitchers that New York and Brooklyn had. They helped make all those World Series memorable.
References
Enders, Eric. 100 years of the World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005. Print.
Fonseca, Lew, director. World Series Of 1956. Performance by Lew Fonseca, Major League Baseball Productions, 1956. DVD.
Ford, Whitey, and Phil Pepe. Slick. New York: W. Morrow, 1987. Print.
Golenbock, Peter. Dynasty: The New York Yankees, 1949-1964. Lincolnwood, IL: Contemporary, 2000. Print.
Mantle, Mickey, and Mickey Herskowitz. All My Octobers: My Memories of Twelve World Series When the Yankees Ruled Baseball. New York: HarperCollins, 1994. 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.
Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series: Complete Play-by-play of Every Game, 1903-1989. 4th ed. New York: St. Martin's, 1990. Print.
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.
Retrosheet. Web. 25 Feb. 2016. <www.retrosheet.org>
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 25 Feb. 2016.
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