"Pitched to Babe Ruth in his last game. Pitcher to Jackie Robinson in his first game!"
That would be Johhny Sain. Ruth's game, though, was merely an exhibition matchup five years before The Bambino passed away.
Fast-forward to 1947. It was a year before Johhny Sain and Warren Spahn would help the Boston Braves reach the World Series. The Brooklyn Dodger had added Jackie Robinson to their roster. A black man had finally reached the bigs in the 20th century.
So the Dodgers got the season underway. Robinson was at first base. He would go on to play other positions, like second base, third base and some outfield in his career, but for now, first base. Jackie got to make some fielding plays in the top of the first for the home crowd at Ebbets Field.
For this game, you found Eddie Stanky at second. Pee Wee Reese was at short. Roy Campanella was not there behind the plate. Duke Snider was not in centre. So Jackie and Pee Wee were the only true mainstays of the 1947-1956 Brooklyn Dodger dynasty.
So Dick Culler grounded out to third base. Making the play at third for the assist was Spider Jorgensen, playing his first MLB game. Making the putout at first was Jackie Robinson. Neither had even picked up and lumber yet. But they each had a "First," on the first play of the contest!
Eventually, the visiting Boston Braves got two men on via a single and walk. But no one scored. Following Eddie Stanky's ground out to lead off the bottom of the first, Robinson came up.
It wasn't much. All Jackie could do is ground out to former Pittsburgh Pirate Bob Elliot at third. Elliot, on his way to his fourth season of 100+ RBIs, was playing his first game in a Boston uniform.
All that, of course, was taking a back seat to Jackie Robinson. He didn't actually get a hit this game off Sain, but Robinson found a way to get on.
The two men who had been retired by Sain in the bottom of the first managed to get on base to start the last of the seventh. Stanky walked. Robinson bunted to Elliot, but this time he made it to first via an error. Pete Reiser the centre fielder, doubled 'em both home. A 3-2 Braves lead was now a 4-3 Dodger lead! So Robinson had the go-ahead run in this game. Ah, who needs a hit to make a difference here?
The Reiser hit finished Sain, but Brooklyn wasn't done touching home. Reiser himself would eventually score on a sac fly to make it a 4-2 game after seven.
Howie Schultz replaced Robinson in the top of the ninth. Hugh Casey held Boston at bay, getting the final two outs in the inning after Hal Gregg (Who'd replaced Brooklyn starter Joe Hatten in the top of the seventh) allowed a hit and a walk with one away. The Dodgers won the game, 5-3.
Don't feel too bad for Jackie Robinson not getting a hit. He'd find Johhny Sain much to his liking in the future. In 66 career regular season at bats against Sain, Robinson batted .318 with 21 hits and 6 RBIs. In his very next game, on April 17th, 1947, Jackie had a hit and 2 walks. And a new left fielder entered the game. That by the name of Duke Snider. The Dodgers, with these new faces, went on to the World Series that year. And although they came up short to the New York Yankees, there'd be plenty of rematches, later. Most sweet was Brooklyn's seven-game triumph in 1955.
Johnny Sain would end up on the New York Yankees in the early 1950s. After pitching in the 1948 World Series in 1948, he won two Fall Classics in 1952 and 1953.
References
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. The Baseball Chronicle: Year-By-Year History Of Major League Baseball. Publications International, Ltd., 2008. Print.
Shalin, Mike, and Neil Shalin. Out By A Step: The 100 Best Players Not In The Baseball Hall of Fame. Lanham: Diamond Communications, 2002. Print.
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 20 Apr. 2019.
That would be Johhny Sain. Ruth's game, though, was merely an exhibition matchup five years before The Bambino passed away.
Fast-forward to 1947. It was a year before Johhny Sain and Warren Spahn would help the Boston Braves reach the World Series. The Brooklyn Dodger had added Jackie Robinson to their roster. A black man had finally reached the bigs in the 20th century.
So the Dodgers got the season underway. Robinson was at first base. He would go on to play other positions, like second base, third base and some outfield in his career, but for now, first base. Jackie got to make some fielding plays in the top of the first for the home crowd at Ebbets Field.
For this game, you found Eddie Stanky at second. Pee Wee Reese was at short. Roy Campanella was not there behind the plate. Duke Snider was not in centre. So Jackie and Pee Wee were the only true mainstays of the 1947-1956 Brooklyn Dodger dynasty.
So Dick Culler grounded out to third base. Making the play at third for the assist was Spider Jorgensen, playing his first MLB game. Making the putout at first was Jackie Robinson. Neither had even picked up and lumber yet. But they each had a "First," on the first play of the contest!
Eventually, the visiting Boston Braves got two men on via a single and walk. But no one scored. Following Eddie Stanky's ground out to lead off the bottom of the first, Robinson came up.
It wasn't much. All Jackie could do is ground out to former Pittsburgh Pirate Bob Elliot at third. Elliot, on his way to his fourth season of 100+ RBIs, was playing his first game in a Boston uniform.
All that, of course, was taking a back seat to Jackie Robinson. He didn't actually get a hit this game off Sain, but Robinson found a way to get on.
The two men who had been retired by Sain in the bottom of the first managed to get on base to start the last of the seventh. Stanky walked. Robinson bunted to Elliot, but this time he made it to first via an error. Pete Reiser the centre fielder, doubled 'em both home. A 3-2 Braves lead was now a 4-3 Dodger lead! So Robinson had the go-ahead run in this game. Ah, who needs a hit to make a difference here?
The Reiser hit finished Sain, but Brooklyn wasn't done touching home. Reiser himself would eventually score on a sac fly to make it a 4-2 game after seven.
Howie Schultz replaced Robinson in the top of the ninth. Hugh Casey held Boston at bay, getting the final two outs in the inning after Hal Gregg (Who'd replaced Brooklyn starter Joe Hatten in the top of the seventh) allowed a hit and a walk with one away. The Dodgers won the game, 5-3.
Don't feel too bad for Jackie Robinson not getting a hit. He'd find Johhny Sain much to his liking in the future. In 66 career regular season at bats against Sain, Robinson batted .318 with 21 hits and 6 RBIs. In his very next game, on April 17th, 1947, Jackie had a hit and 2 walks. And a new left fielder entered the game. That by the name of Duke Snider. The Dodgers, with these new faces, went on to the World Series that year. And although they came up short to the New York Yankees, there'd be plenty of rematches, later. Most sweet was Brooklyn's seven-game triumph in 1955.
Johnny Sain would end up on the New York Yankees in the early 1950s. After pitching in the 1948 World Series in 1948, he won two Fall Classics in 1952 and 1953.
References
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.
Shalin, Mike, and Neil Shalin. Out By A Step: The 100 Best Players Not In The Baseball Hall of Fame. Lanham: Diamond Communications, 2002. Print.
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 20 Apr. 2019.
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