Well, 1956 was the same old story. Yankees. Dodgers. World Series. Game seven. It was becoming all-too common. Brooklyn had their ring from the year before, and now it was time for New York to get even. By winning it all in '55, the Brooklyn Dodgers could not longer be "Bums". And the team they came back with the next year was just as talented if not more. After, all, another Hall-of-Famer was added, but he'd have just a short cameo in the fourth contest of the Fall Classic.
The Yankees didn't lose too many World Series back then. With Casey Stengel at the helm, they'd won five in a row from 1949-1953. Their loss to the Dodgers in 1955 had been a bad taste for many. A first taste, too. But New York had the characters to bounce back. It was time to get the show on the road. Speaking of which, that's where the Bronx Bombers found themselves at the start of the 1956 Grand Finale.
And the Fall Classic started in a ballpark Billy Martin liked, Ebbets Field. And Sal Maglie started for Brooklyn. Maglie had been a key pickup by the Dodgers that season, going 13-5.
Martin's buddy Mickey Mantle tried to help. Enos Slaughter hit a ball, with one away, to first. Gil Hodges, the Dodgers' first basemen, got a piece of it, but not enough. It was scored a hit. Big trouble now for the Dodgers. Mickey Mantle was up. 52 home runs to his name in 1956. He deposited a Maglie offering to deep right, over the tall wall. 2-0, Yankees. Could Martin contribute, too?
But that was essentially it for New York, with the exception of Martin. Sal Maglie got him out the first time up, and Brooklyn surged ahead of New York, routing Whitey Ford from the mound. 5-2 for the Dodgers in the fourth. Up came Billy Martin. He'd seen his old pal Jackie Robinson go yard earlier in the contest, so why couldn't he do that? The Kid wasted no time, belting the first thing he saw from the Brooklyn pitcher to the seats in left. The Yankees were still in the contest.
Martin wasn't able to do much after that, alas. All he could do is draw a bases on balls off Maglie in the top of the eighth. Sal Maglie just went about his business that frame. He fanned two New York batters, cruising on from there. He got Mantle to end the game by hitting into a double play.
Game two was a wild one. It seemed New York had it. They scored a run in the top of the first, and five more in the second. Martin had started the second with a single, and of course eventually scored. Brooklyn somehow put a "6" on the board in their half of the inning, so it was back to the drawing board for New York. Neither starting pitcher, Don Newcombe nor Don Larsen, had been good.
Martin hit into a double play in the third, and couldn't get untracked in this game, and neither could his team. Reliever Don Bessent fanned Martin twice, ending up the winner in a 13-8 Dodger win.
Well, maybe Ebbets Field wasn't such a nice ballpark after all, eh Billy?
But Yankee Stadium was nice to play in. Sure, Brooklyn got ahead 1-0 early. But then our boy came up in the last of the second, blasting a Roger Craig offering to deep left. Into the stands! 1-1.
Although Martin wasn't quite able to contribute more this contest, that home run by him got New York back on track. Sure, the game stayed close, but now you sort of figured the momentum was the Yankees.
Enos Slaughter blasted a three-run home run in the last of the sixth, erasing a 2-1 Brooklyn lead. Now, it was the home team ahead for good. The Yankees' second basemen had to be content with a 1-4 day. But that "1" was one big hit!
Game four was a big one. The Yankees offence had been excellent so far this 1956 Fall Classic. They'd scored at least three runs each game, but so had the Dodgers. The Yankees struck first. Martin, who'd been retired first time up, looked to help. The score was now tied by the time he grabbed a bat again. But the Yankees would be ahead by the time Martin was done his plate appearance.
Mickey Mantle had opened the fourth with a walk. Then turned on the jets. Yogi Berra fanned as Mantle swiped second. Enos Slaughter was walked intentionally, the partisan Stadium fans unhappy. Martin picked their spirits up with a base hit to left. 2-1, New York. Before the inning would end, Gil McDougald added a sacrifice fly.
Hank Bauer hit a two-run home run off a rookie named Don Drysdale in the seventh, to effectively seal the deal. Martin, who was 1-3, would face the big right-handed hurler in the eighth. The youngster of Brooklyn showed plenty of poise. Yogi Berra, Enos Slaughter and Billy Martin were retired on grounders, part of a 1-2-3 inning for Drysdale.
The game was a decisive win for New York, 6-2. A great number of people believed that Martin had the big blow in the contest, back in the fourth.
The winning pitcher was Tommy Sturdivant, who believe Billy Martin was one of the big reason the Yankees always seemed to have the edge in Fall Classics.
"I felt that Billy Martin was an average major league ballplayer." Tom though, was quick to point out that when the chips were down, Martin willed himself to be great. "But I believe that in ballgames you had to win, like in the series, that Billy could build hisself (sic) up to where Billy was a super-star during games that you had to have." In his mind, the pitcher was unequivocal about the play of the second basemen behind him.
"For a given number of games, Billy could even carry a ballclub."
So game five would determine who was heading back to Ebbets Field with the lead. As it turns out, all eyes were on Yankee pitcher Don Larsen in this contest. You will see why.
The Yankees, though, didn't seem to be any problem for Sal Maglie. 1-2-3 they went in the first. 1-2-3 they went in the second, with Maglie fanning Billy Martin. 1-2-3 in the third. Mickey Mantle stopped the bleeding with a solo home run in the fourth. But this was gonna be a struggle all the way. Don Larsen was a career 81-91 pitcher. He seemed unlikely to be able to protect a 1-0 lead.
Enos Slaughter opened the fifth with a walk. Billy Martin and the Yankees were playing for one run, so he bunted. Alas, the fielding of Brooklyn had been excellent this day, and this play was no exception. They got the force at second. Gil McDougald made a bid for a hit with a shot to short. Pee Wee Reese made the nice catch, and Martin had started to second. Too far off the bag. Brooklyn had a double play to escape.
The Yankees added a run in the bottom of the sixth, but that was it. So this was their worst game in terms of offence. They tried in the seventh for more. With two away, our boy was back up. 0-2, but Billy was every bit the competitor that Sal Maglie was. He got just the fifth hit off Sal on his 1-1 offering, to keep the inning alive. The ball just found the hole between Jackie Robinson at third and Pee Wee Reese at short.
It seemed to inspire the home team again. Gil McDougald was up, and Maglie seemed to loose all control. Ball one. Ball two. Ball three. Ball four. Roy Campanella, the Dodger catcher, went out to the mound to talk things over with his suddenly wild pitcher.
The talk worked. Although Don Bessent started to get loose in the Dodgers' bullpen, Maglie got ahead 1-2 on Andy Carey. On the fourth pitch of the at bat, Carey then hit into a force. Billy Martin would not bat again this game, as his team was retired in order in the eighth (All strikeouts).
But, no Dodger could do anything with Don Larsen. So the game moved to the top of the ninth, as tension mounted. Larsen's second basemen behind him had three putouts and three assists through eight. When Campanella grounded out to Martin, there were two away. One more out, and it would result in a World Series first: A perfect game!
Larsen fanned pinch hitter Dale Mitchell to nail down the historic achievement. 27 men up. 27 men down. It was back to Ebbets Field and New York would have two chances to close out a stubborn Brooklyn team.
New York didn't get it done in game six, but on this day, Martin did some talking to his manager after the affair that was key. The Yankees sent out Bob Turley. The Dodgers, Clem Labine. It was a classic pitching contest that Billy Martin took a huge backsead to.
Martin went 1-4, but the problem was left fielder Enos Slaughter. In the bottom of the third, Jim Gillam had singled to left, when the Yankees' left fielder lost track of the projectile in the sun. Plus, he'd stranded two men in the top of the eighth. The game went intro extras, where Jackie Robinson won it with a walk-off single to left, in which Slaughter misjudged. "It's a tough one for Turley to lose, and a grand one for Labine to win." A tough loss for the Yankees, too.
Martin was no exception. He was one unhappy camper. He was probably pretty ticked about leaving two on in the top of the sixth. But he hadn't liked what he saw from Slaughter. After the game, Billy sought out his manager on the team bus. The second basemen was fuming. "Most of the Yankees were deeply annoyed by Slaughter's fielding in left," wrote Peter Golenbock years later, "but no one had the audacity to complain to Stengel. Except Martin." The Yankee second basemen knew lineup changes were needed. A sudden youth movement, for game seven of a World Series. Only Billy Martin and Casey Stengel could talk of such subjects during trying times!
"Billy told Casey to get the forty-three year old Slaughter out of the lineup," added Bill Pennington in Billy Martin: Baseball's Flawed Genuis, "Billy wanted him to play twenty-seven year old Elston Howard in left. And he wanted twenty-five Bill "Moose" Skowron to replace thirty-three year old Joe Collins at first base." Their little talk didn't escape one scribe, who pressed the Bronx Bombers star for his version of the lineup for the deciding game. Martin didn't waiver. Skowron at first, Howard in left.
So, game seven got underway, with Martin's version of the Yankees in place! The decision might have raised some eyebrows. Howard hadn't played at all in the World Series, suffering from a strep throat. Joe Collins had been hitting .238, but that was better than Moose Skowron.Skowron had played games one and two, going a combined 0-5. Enos Slaughter had looked like a hero, hitting .350, one home run, four RBI and six runs scored. This was a Martin / Stengel decision that could blow up in their face. Also, Stengel chose not to start Whitey Ford, instead going with unheralded Johnny Kucks.
Kucks didn't have much reason to feel good about his chances. However, the Yankees made things a little easier for him, right of the bat, literally.
Hank Bauer got it all going with a leadoff single off Don Newcombe. Stengel had penned Martin in to bat second. The move looked bad. On a 1-1 pitch, Bauer stole second. But on a 2-2 delivery, Newk fanned Martin. Down went Mickey Mantle on strikes. But then Yogi Berra belted a two-run home run.
When Kucks came out to pitch the first, he saw the Yankees' bullpen busy. Would his day be short?
Brooklyn got two men on, and then Jackie Robinson was up. One out. Brooklyn had a chance to get right back in it. But Robinson's comebacker was fielded by Kucks. He turned and saw Martin. Martin took it, erasing Duke Snider at second. Over to first...Double play! Martin must have liked that. He'd relaxed his worried pitcher, too.
But the Yankees went quickly in the second inning, with Elston Howard failing to deliver. Skowron had fanned in the first. The momentum stayed with the Yankees, though. Gil Hodges batted Kucks to 3-2, then grounded out to Andy Carey. The next two men had Martin saying, "I've got your back, Johnny!" Indeed. First pitch to Sandy Amoros, Billy Martin got the grounder, threw to Skowron at first. Two away. Next pitch, Carl Furillo also hit a grounder. Martin to Skowron, inning over.
Hank Bauer grounded out trying to bunt, and Billy Martin got his second crack at Don Newcombe. He fouled off the first pitch. The second was a ball. The third was to his liking, and Billy slapped it to centre. And it was just beyond the grasp of shortstop Pee Wee Reese. Mickey Mantle fanned. Good thing Berra was back up. Bad for Newcombe. Same result as the first frame: Two-run home run!
So a little bit more breathing room for young Johnny Kucks. His second basemen behind him took Roy Campanella's grounder, whipping it to first. One out. Part of a 1-2-3 inning.
The big moment for Elston Howard was next. He hit Newcombe's second pitch in the fourth inning outta here. Shower time for the Brooklyn hurler. The game was becoming a rout!
But Martin could only ground out in the fifth. But he was certainly involved on the field. When the dust settled on this winner-take all affair, Billy had two putouts and six assists, as Johnny Kucks kept the Dodgers at bay with his sinker ball. The visiting team looked for more run support for the pitcher, putting two on after Martin was retired in that fifth. Alas, Howard stranded both of them.
The seventh inning put things to bed on the 1956 baseball season. Martin got a single off the third Dodger pitcher, Roger Craig. Mickey Mantle drew a bases on balls. A wild pitch moved two buddies into scoring position for Yogi Berra. But Craig walked him. Moose Skowron was up.
First pitch swinging, Skowron took Craig out of the park! The grand slam made this one a 9-0 laugher for the Yankees. Howard again sent a pitcher to the shower, following up this big blast with a double.
The Yankees' second basemen finished the game 2-5. Skowron was only 1-5, but came up with the game's biggest blow. Howard matched Martin, 2-5. And Kucks, his toothy grin would be seen after completing a three-hit shutout. But their manager went to talk to Martin after the game. He really knew how to pick 'em, eh?
Despite the let-down in game seven, it had been another great Fall Classic between these two titans. Somewhere in the middle of the fight, had been the fiery second basemen of the Yankees. Billy Martin finished the 1956 Fall Classic with a .296 batting average and two home runs.
It had been a nice comeback for the Bronx Bombers. The year before, they'd been up 2-0, then lost four of the next five games, including the finale at home. This year, it was the Yankees down 2-0, and then won four of the next five, including the seventh contest on the road. The team would sort of trump that two years later, as they rallied from 3-1 down to beat Milwaukee.
Sadly for Martin, this was his last World Series as a player. The Yankees had given a young kid named Bobby Richardson a look-see that year, and clearly was the successor to Billy Martin. It was too bad he was traded to Kansas City in 1957. Mantle, Ford, and many others missed him. Billy wasn't the most talented Yankee, but when they needed a key hit in a big game, he was the man! And Martin didn't shy away from being him.
"Whenever the series started, they always wanted to take pictures of the Mantles, the Berras, whoever the top hitters on the Yankees are. I told the guys, 'Take a picture of me now, [or] you're gonna make a mistake if you don't."
References
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