Billy Martin was the man of the moment in 1953. Not only did he have twelve hits in only six games, but he also had two home runs and eight RBIs. Oh, and he batted .500.
Martin actually had as many home runs as Mickey Mantle, and one more run driven home.
It was another classic World Series between the Yankees and the Dodgers. Well, the Bronx Bombers had a lot of great players, but was Billy Martin one of them? The Brooklyn Dodgers still hadn't won a World Championship, and would they finally pull it off? It seems like Jackie Robinson, the Dodger great, would be a man a fire, and he was. It was a bit of an interesting situation, as Martin and Robinson were both second basemen.
Not in 1953, was Jackie. Brooklyn moved him to the outfield. Red-hot rookie Jim Gilliam was at second. Did it hurt the Dodgers?
Players who scored 100 runs by Brooklyn in 1953:
Duke Snider, 132
Jim Gilliam, 125
Jackie Robinson, 109
Pee Wee Reese, 108
Roy Campanella, 103
Gil Hodges, 101
Oh, boy. The Bronx Bombers have their work cut out for them. Gilliam added a league-leading seventeen triples.
But, the Yankees had a big edge. They had Billy Martin in 1953. It was not just his physical exploits that made him dangerous. Martin had a lot going for him in terms of smarts. Was it not his catch in game seven of the Fall Classic the previous year that helped save the day for the New York Yankees? Billy had good reason to come up big when the two titans met up in this Fall Classic, played fifty years after the very first one. He's been on the postseason roster in 1950, but not played. The next World Series, he got into one game. That's it. In '52, Martin played in all seven games, but hit just .217. Billy still didn't have that one, great standout performance in the clutch yet. For that matter, Billy Martin hadn't had that one great regular season yet!
But, baseball fans, how about a tad of a secret? Billy Martin was a great player in 1953. Yep. Home runs? 15. RBIs? 75. Runs scored? 72. It was just that bad batting average, .257.
"Because of his reputation as a troublemaker and his mediocre final few years," wrote Peter Golenbock in Dynasty, "Billy Martin will always be remembered as an average ballplayer. Nothing could be further from the truth. He looked awkward and in the field, but in critical situations, Billy Martin could carry a team on his shoulders. In his prime, Martin was every bit the star that his buddies Mantle and Ford were."
Would the 1953 World Series prove that? The Dodgers had the advantage of a small ballpark, while the Yankees had to make do with the Stadium. Yankee Stadium. Would the ballpark, described as, "shaped like a horse shoe," help Brooklyn or New York.
Well, Hank Bauer hit a triple in the bottom of the first inning, in the first contest, to put the Yankees on top. But later on in the inning, Billy Martin's pal Mickey Mantle drew a walk. So did Gene Woodling. Bauer was still on third while all this was going on.
Bases loaded, two away. The score was still 1-0, Yankees. Billy Martin up. Clutch situation, early.
Boom! A big shot to the gap in left, which nearly ended up to the left of the 457 sign in left. Bauer, scores. Mantle right behind him. Woodling made it home, too. Martin had himself a triple. Bauer had one RBI this inning. Martin, three. A fitting beginning.
The Yankees' second basemen added a single in the fourth. And another in the eighth. After stealing second, it was time for more offence. The Yankees despite building up an early 4-0 lead, were now clinging to a 6-5 edge. That is, of course, until our boy got the old ball rolling. The Bronx Bombers were at it again.
Phil Rizzuto walked. Johnny Sain, the pitcher, got Martin home with a double. A Joe Collins single capped a three-run rally. The game had started out as a rout, become a nail-biter, then reverted to a laugher. 9-5 was the final score, and Martin had been the man to make it happen.
Maybe not everything had gone his way. Billy was caught trying to steal a base, so he was 1-2 in that department. But 3-4 in the batting one! It seemed like, "Anything Mantle can do, I can do [Better sometimes]". The Mick had swiped a base, too.
Game two went the home team's way, as the Yankees doubled up the Dodgers, 4-2. Martin was retired first time up, then went into beast mode after. Next time up, single. And then there was Billy The Kid at the dish in the bottom of the seventh. He didn't say, "Draw" to Brooklyn pitcher Preacher Row. He probably said, "Tie game, buddy". The Yankees trailed the Dodgers 2-1. Martin swung at a 2-2 offering, with the intentions of making the score that. If Martin had said, "Draw", both Preacher and Jackie Robinson (In left field) lost. Robinson made a valiant try, reaching over the railing, only to see the ball go into the stands. 2-2. The Bronx Bombers were inspired. Mickey Mantle, not to be overshadowed, blasted one over Robinson's head himself the next inning, winning the ballgame. Don't fell too bad for Martin. His time would come.
But when the Yankees came to Ebbets Field, there was a change. Smaller ballpark, and it seemed for a while, advantage Dodgers.
The very first batter of the game for Brooklyn was second basemen Jim Gilliam. He sent one towards second basemen Billy Martin. The ball hit him in the chest. Was Martin living rent-free in the Dodgers' head?
After walking in the top of the second, Billy and the gang were back at it three innings later. Sparkplug Martin got it all going with a single to lead off. The next three batters went single, bunt, single. 1-0, New York.
The Dodgers weren't about to be swept. The picked up a run in their half of the inning, and then Jackie Robinson put them ahead in the sixth with a single. Gene Woodling tied it in the eighth, and Billy Martin was up with runners on the corners and two down. He could only ground out.
The home team went in front for good in the bottom of the frame via a Roy Campanella solo shot. Brooklyn was alive and kicking. And it carried over to game four.
Whitey Ford started for New York. Jim Gilliam opened the last of the first with a double into the seats. Brooklyn scored three times off Ford in the bottom of the first.
Martin did little until the fifth. He jumped on a pitch from Billy Loes that head to the right of the 376 foot sign. Carl Furillo went for it, Duke Snider came over. Furillo tried to get it, but no. The ball banged around in that little v-shaped area that protruded in right-centre. This was crucial. Martin had a triple. Gil McDougald followed by hitting a ball that no one had a chance on. The two-run dinger made it a ballgame, 4-2. The Dodgers were not discouraged.
They scored twice more in the bottom of the sixth, and another in the seventh, effectively putting the game out of reach.
Still, the defiant Yankees refused to roll over. Gene Woodling led off the ninth with a single. And Billy Martin, 1-3, made it 2-4 with a single of his own! Did New York have a rally going?
A walk by Gil McDougald, and suddenly the tying run was on deck, Johnny Mize, The Big Cat. But first, Phil Rizzuto fanned. The Big Cat flew out to The Duke in centre.
But, the song goes, "Willie, Mickey and The Duke". What about the Yankees' centre fielder? Why, Mickey Mantle was next, and he came through! Single. Woodling scores. Around third, Martin. Alas, the throw was in time, with catcher Roy Campanella and the Yankees' second basemen having a bit of a violent collision at home. Series tied, 2-2.
Alright, so the 1953 World Series had been no trip to the 7-11. But what if I told you the Bronx Bombers won game five by the score of 11-7? That's better. So was Martin.
Johnny Podres started for the Dodgers. Wasn't it a few postings ago I was ranting and raving about how good he was? He was 9-4 in 1953. 11-7 the next season. And Johhny pitched well for a good portion of 1955, too. He was so consistent and so clutch. But here, the visiting New York Yankees said, "Go Johnny, Go To The Showers!"
And that's what New York did in the third. Gene Woodling had greeted him rudely in the first. Leadoff home run. It was just the beginning.
The home team managed to tie it in the bottom of the second. Phil Rizzuto got a grounder with two on and nobody out. It should have been an easy double play. But The Scooter's toss was off the mark of The Kid. The fielding improved that inning, as the Yankees did eventually get an outfielder to catcher double play. Brooklyn was held to just that one run.
In the third, New York somehow got rid of Podres without a hit. They got a walk. The next two batters were retired and the left-handed pitcher seemed safe. Podres himself had made a fine play on Gene Woodling hot shot towards him. That, was the last batter the Dodger lefty retired. On what should have been the third out, Joe Collins shot to first saw Gil Hodges only get a piece of it. The error resulted in Phil Rizzuto scoring. The Yankees didn't stop there.
Hank Bauer was hit by a pitch. Yogi Berra walked. Time for Podres to test the showers. But that move didn't help Brooklyn. Russ Meyer faced Mickey Mantle with the bases loaded and two outs. And boy, did Mickey ever go the other way. The grand slam turned a 2-1 lead into 6-1.
Billy Martin followed with a single, to try and keep the rally going. But, in a moment of stupidity, Billy tried to steal second and Roy Campanella nailed him.
Now, was this crucial? Would Martin get a chance at redemption? He'd have to wait. The Yankee second basemen left a man on in the fifth, but then came up in the seventh, looking to do something to make up for the earlier blunder.
He found a four-base solution.
Yogi Berra had singled, but then Mickey Mantle had grounded out. With Berra making it to second, there was always the option to put Billy Martin on and pitch to Gil McDougald, who was having his troubles at the dish. The decision was made to pitch to Billy. But a two-run home run proved that it was a bad choice. Again, the Yankees were inspired. Pitcher Jim McDonald drove home another run that inning, making it 9-2 for New York.
They kept coming at 'em.
Berra drove in Joe Collins with a sacrifice fly the next inning, and the Bronx Bombers were in double digits. They sort of let up a bit in the Brooklyn half of the eighth, as the Dodgers were fighting to the end. They put up a "4" on the scoreboard, turning this game into a slugfest.
After Martin fanned in the ninth, Gil McDougald, drawing inspiration from the hot bat in front of him, got into the home run trot, blasting a solo shot. Brooklyn wasn't dead yet, and Jim Gilliam hit one of his own. Duke Snider singled with one out. But the game ending, fittingly, with Jackie Robinson hitting it to the New York second basemen, who started a 4-6-3 game-ending double play. It should be noted at this point, Brooklyn was waiting for it's first twin-killing in the 1953 Fall Classic. Five games in the books and Billy Martin was doing everything the Dodgers could only dream of. Just a note, beating Johnny Podres was no small accomplishment. This was his only World Series loss. Podres would be 4-0 from here.
And it got worse in game six, back at Yankee Stadium.
Yogi Berra doubled home a man to break the ice in the last of the first. After Mickey Mantle was walked intentionally, Billy Martin foiled that strategy, in an odd way.
All Martin did was ground to Jim Gilliam, but the ball hit his shoe. Berra scored, and an RBI was still awarded. Mantle was on third and the home team could have iced it early. The Dodgers picked a fine time to turn a double play, getting out of the inning down only two runs.
Gene Woodling, though, made it 3-0 New York with a sacrifice fly in the next inning. However, the inning could have been truly dreadful for the visitors. The Yankees eventually loaded the bases, with Yogi Berra up. Berra flied to Duke Snider in centre. It seemed like a cinch sacrifice fly. 4-0!
Nope. Whitey Ford took off before the catch. Quickly realizing this, he went back to third, touched it, and headed home. Snider's toss to Jim Gilliam was fired right to Roy Campanella, who greeted Ford at the plate with the ball. A clutch double play. So it was only 3-0, New York.
Brooklyn again fought back. Martin was retired the next time to the dish, but added a double in the fifth. It seemed like the World Series might end on the Martin-Mantle and Ford show.
Brooklyn broke the shutout in the top of the sixth, and pressed on against Whitey Ford. They also seemed to figure out Martin and how to get the job done with men on. Billy hit into a double play in the seventh, and the Dodgers were starting to get all the breaks.
Come the top of the ninth, Allie Reynolds was on to nail it down. Ford had pitched well, and now Reynolds would no doubt get the save. But with one out, Duke Snider made it via a bases on balls. Then Carl Furillo gave Billy Martin and the Yankees a dose of their own medicine. His clutch two-run home run to left tied it!
So it all came down to the last of the ninth. Would Martin bat? Due up: Hank Bauer, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle! Seems like he would. What were the odds of none of them making it.
Bauer got it all off on the right foot, unlike Gilliam earlier. Bases on balls. The way Clem Labine should not have started the inning. Yogi Berra lined out. It was big, but the odds of Brooklyn getting Mantle to hit into a double play were slim.
The Mick proved that. He hit a chopper to third, but the ball wasn't hit that hard. Billy Cox came in, but there was no play on either runner. Mantle had laid the foundation for his friend to be hero. His friend was all-too-willing.
Martin whipped a single up the middle. Hit number twelve of the 1953 Fall Classic for him. His hits had been worth more than a dime a dozen. Bauer scored, Yankees win. For the fifth straight time. Not that their second basemen would dare take all the credit.
"We had a helluva ballclub in 1953," Billy Martin would tell Peter Golenbock in the early 70s. "Just a great ballclub. Everyone was contributing. And the Dodgers had the greatest ball team they ever had." It seemed though, that Martin had been the reason Brooklyn had been turned away. He'd outperformed so many of them.
Gilliam had hit .296, Billy Cox, .304, Duke Snider and Jackie Robinson, .320. Carl Furillo had batted .333. Topping Brooklyn had been Gil Hodges' .364. But the most hits by any Dodger had been eight, four fewer than Martin. And only one Brooklyn player, Roy Campanella, who hit .273, scored more runs (six) than Martin (five). Martin couldn't help but boast his ego when remembering the great Fall Classic of '53. It seemed like The Kid believed that he could be as good as any Dodger had he been playing in Ebbets Field.
"Our ballpark would just kill the Dodgers. In '53 I hit fifteen home runs and drove in seventy-five runs with the Yankees. If I had been playing in Brooklyn, I think I could have hit thirty-five or forty because that ballpark was such a band box [Short distance to the outfield walls]."
Was there a reason for Billy Martin performing so well against Brooklyn? Martin explained this, and talked about what a connection he felt to a Brooklyn star.
"I always enjoyed those series because of Jackie Robinson. See, there was a black lawyer by the name of Walter Gordon out in California that helped my mother when I was a kid, and he also helped Jackie, so when we played against Jackie in the series, I always wanted to show him I was a better second basemen. That was my real challenge. And I always outhit him, and always outplayed him. Every series we played in."
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