Since we’re wandering in the direction of kicking off the 2024 World Series, I ran across this copy of another World Series – another place and another time – October 5, 1949 – The Brooklyn Dodgers meet The New York Yankees. This is Game One and it’s charged with excitement.
Ken Carrano, who wrote an excellent assessment of that memorable game has a few words about it. I am going include an excerpt but I would urge you to go over to The Society For American Baseball Research and read the rest:
The first two games of the World Series had been exciting only among those who enjoyed pitchers’ duels. The Yankees, hosts of the first two games, won Game One 1-0 with a Tommy Henrich walk-off home run off Don Newcombe. The next day, the Dodgers reversed that score and tied the series behind Preacher Roe. Dodgers fans started lining up for the 2,700 bleacher seats available for Game Three at Ebbets Field hours before Game Two started. A 17-year-old, Matty Segall of Brooklyn, started the line at the Bedford Avenue bleacher gate at 9:00 A.M. on Thursday for the Friday afternoon affair. Abe Stark, he of the famous “Hit Sign, Win Suit” sign at Ebbets, passed out doughnuts to those in line.2
Yankees manager Casey Stengel named Tommy Byrne to start the pivotal Game Three. Byrne had been fighting a sore shoulder toward the end of the season but told Stengel he was ready.3 Byrne had led the American League in fewest hits per nine innings (5.7) and most strikeouts per nine innings (5.9), but also became the fifth AL pitcher since 1901 to walk more than 175 batters in a season.4 Dodgers manager Burt Shotton chose Ralph Branca over Rex Barney to start Game Three, but was especially confident in his hitters. “I figured we would take care of things in our own orchard. We’ll start hitting now and we’ll be rougher,” Shotton said.5
It is impossible to have fewer runs scored in the first two games than this World Series had, surprising for both teams. (Brooklyn led the NL in runs scored, the Yankees were second in the AL.)6 But both teams were second in their league in fewest runs allowed, and another low-scoring game was a possibility.
Both pitchers had one-two-three first and second innings. The Yankees’ Cliff Mapes led off the top of the third inning with a walk. After Jerry Coleman struck out, Byrne got the game’s first hit, a single, moving Mapes to third. After Phil Rizzuto‘s attempt at a squeeze bunt drifted foul, he lifted a fly ball to right field and Mapes scored. Byrne was perfect in the third, but Pee Wee Reese homered to lead off the Dodgers’ fourth inning, and the game and Series were tied again.
What happens next, you’re just going to have to go to SABR to find out.
In the meantime, here is the complete first game of the 1949 World Series as broadcast by WOR in New York and featuring the legendary Red Barber and Mel Allen at the microphones.
