1953 World Series

1953 World Series

Team (Wins) Manager Season New York Yankees (4) Casey Stengel 99–52, .656, GA:  8 ^1⁄2 Brooklyn Dodgers (2) Chuck Dressen 105–49, .682, GA: 13
Dates:	October 1–5
Television:	NBC
TV announcers:	Mel Allen and Vin Scully
Radio:	Mutual
Radio announcers:	Al Helfer and Gene Kelly
Umpires:	Bill Grieve (AL), Bill Stewart (NL), Eddie Hurley (AL), Artie Gore (NL), Hank Soar (AL: outfield only), Frank Dascoli (NL: outfield only)
Hall of Famers:	Yankees: Casey Stengel (mgr.), Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Mickey Mantle, Johnny Mize, Phil Rizutto. Dodgers: Roy Campanella, Pee Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Dick Williams‡. ‡ elected as a manager.

The 1953 World Series matched the 4-time defending champions New York Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers in a rematch of the 1952 Series, and the 4th such matchup between the two teams in the past seven seasons. The Yankees won in 6 games for their 5th consecutive title—a mark which has not been equalled—and their 16th overall. Billy Martin recorded his 12th hit of the Series scoring Hank Bauer in Game 6.

Summary

AL New York Yankees (4) vs. NL Brooklyn Dodgers (2)

Game	Date	Score	Location	Time	Attendance
1	September 30	Brooklyn Dodgers – 5, New York Yankees – 9	Yankee Stadium	3:10	69,734[1]
2	October 1	Brooklyn Dodgers – 2, New York Yankees – 4	Yankee Stadium	2:42	66,786[2]
3	October 2	New York Yankees – 2, Brooklyn Dodgers – 3	Ebbets Field	3:00	35,270[3]
4	October 3	New York Yankees – 3, Brooklyn Dodgers – 7	Ebbets Field	2:46	36,775[4]
5	October 4	New York Yankees – 11, Brooklyn Dodgers – 7	Ebbets Field	3:02	36,775[5]
6	October 5	Brooklyn Dodgers – 3, New York Yankees – 4	Yankee Stadium	2:55	62,370[6]

Matchups

Game 1

Wednesday, September 30, 1953 1:00 pm (ET) at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Brooklyn	0	0	0	0	1	3	1	0	0	5	12	2
New York	4	0	0	0	1	0	1	3	X	9	12	0
WP: Johnny Sain (1–0)   LP: Clem Labine (0–1) Home runs: BRO: Jim Gilliam (1), Gil Hodges (1), George Shuba (1) NYY: Yogi Berra (1), Joe Collins (1)

Before a full house of New Yorkers, a four-run first inning put Yankee fans in a good mood right off the bat. Brooklyn starter Carl Erskine didn't last past the first. A pair of triples by Hank Bauer and Billy Martin were the big blows, and the Dodgers pinch-hit for Erskine in the top of the second. They didn't score off Allie Reynolds until the fifth, though, on a Jim Gilliam solo homer. Yogi Berra matched it in the bottom of the fifth with a homer of his own, and the Yankee lead looked safe until homers by Gil Hodges and pinch-hitter George Shuba chased Reynolds in the sixth. Brooklyn tied it an inning later against Johnny Sain with singles by Roy Campanella, Hodges and Carl Furillo. A homer by unsung first baseman Joe Collins proved the game-winner, with winning pitcher Sain providing two more runs himself in the eighth off Ben Wade with a surprise two-base hit.

Game 2

Thursday, October 1, 1953 1:00 pm (ET) at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Brooklyn	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	9	1
New York	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	X	4	5	0
WP: Eddie Lopat (1–0)   LP: Preacher Roe (0–1) Home runs: BRO: None NYY: Billy Martin (1), Mickey Mantle (1)

He looked shaky in the first, walking three and hitting a batter, but Brooklyn's Preacher Roe settled down after that and engaged Eddie Lopat in a complete-game pitching duel. Billy Cox's two-run double in the fourth put the Dodgers up 2-1. Billy Martin's leadoff homer off Roe in the seventh tied the score. The game-winning blast came from Mickey Mantle, a two-run shot to left field in the bottom of the eighth. Brooklyn got two runners aboard in the ninth, but Lopat was able to retire Duke Snider on a game-ending grounder to second base.

Game 3

Friday, October 2, 1953 1:00 pm (ET) at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	2	6	0
Brooklyn	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	X	3	9	0
WP: Carl Erskine (1–0)   LP: Vic Raschi (0–1) Home runs: NYY: None BRO: Roy Campanella (1)

Although the Yankees won the Series, Brooklyn had at least one shining moment, as pitcher Carl Erskine set a new Series record by striking out 14 Yankees in Game 3. That broke Howard Ehmke's 1929 record by one. Ersk's record would stand until Sandy Koufax got 15 in 1963.

In that same game, Yogi Berra was hit twice by Erskine, making him the first American League player in World Series history to be a hit-batsman twice during the same game. After the game became tied at 2-2 in the eighth on an RBI single by the Yankees' Gene Woodling, the decisive blow came in the bottom of the inning when Vic Raschi surrendered a Roy Campanella home run.

Game 4

Saturday, October 3, 1953 1:00 pm (ET) at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	1	3	9	0
Brooklyn	3	0	0	1	0	2	1	0	X	7	12	0
WP: Billy Loes (1–0)   LP: Whitey Ford (0–1)   Sv: Clem Labine (1) Home runs: NYY: Gil McDougald (1) BRO: Duke Snider (1)

The home team won for the fourth consecutive time. Whitey Ford lasted just one inning as the Yankees' starter, giving up a Duke Snider two-run homer in the first. Brooklyn's lead was cut in half in the fifth when Billy Loes gave up a two-run homer to Gil McDougald. But the Dodgers pulled away with Snider driving home runs in the next two innings. Mickey Mantle's bases-loaded single ended the game, Billy Martin being thrown out trying to score from second base.

Game 5

Sunday, October 4, 1953 2:00 pm (ET) at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	1	0	5	0	0	0	3	1	1	11	11	1
Brooklyn	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	4	1	7	14	1
WP: Jim McDonald (1–0)   LP: Johnny Podres (0–1)   Sv: Allie Reynolds (1) Home runs: NYY: Gene Woodling (1), Mickey Mantle (2), Billy Martin (2), Gil McDougald (2) BRO: Billy Cox (1), Jim Gilliam (2)

Yankees manager Casey Stengel gave the ball to unheralded pitcher Jim McDonald for Game 5 and, while he gave up a dozen hits, he got them a win. Brooklyn starter Johnny Podres was jolted by a Gene Woodling home run to begin the game. Podres was chased in a five-run third, and the first man his replacement Russ Meyer would face, Mickey Mantle, greeted the reliever with a grand slam home run. The Yankees were coasting 10-2 until the eighth, when McDonald tired and gave up a three-run Billy Cox homer. He was relieved by Bob Kuzava, and in the ninth, Allie Reynolds was brought in to retire Jackie Robinson for the final out.

Game 6

Monday, October 5, 1953 1:00 pm (ET) at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Brooklyn	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	3	8	3
New York	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	13	0
WP: Allie Reynolds (1–0)   LP: Clem Labine (0–2) Home runs: BRO: Carl Furillo (1) NYY: None

Down 3–1 in the ninth, Brooklyn rallied back on a Duke Snider walk and a Carl Furillo homer. However, Yankee second baseman Billy Martin—who made a game-saving catch in Game 7 of the 1952 World Series—again ruined the Dodgers' dreams of a championship. In the bottom of the ninth, with a runner on second base, Martin drilled a Clem Labine sinker up the middle for a Series-winning RBI single.

Aftermath

Dropping their seventh Series without a victory, the Dodgers terminated manager Chuck Dressen's contract; Dressen was demanding two more years. Walter Alston took his place and managed the Dodgers for the next 23 seasons (1954–1976), leading them to four World Series championships in 1955, 1959, 1963, and 1965 before being replaced by Tommy Lasorda who would manage the team for twenty years himself (1976–1996). Lasorda would lead the Dodgers to a pair of World Series championships in 1981 and 1988.

Composite box

1953 World Series (4–2): New York Yankees (A.L.) over Brooklyn Dodgers (N.L.)

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York Yankees	8	1	5	0	4	0	5	7	3	33	56	1
Brooklyn Dodgers	3	1	0	3	3	7	2	5	3	27	64	7
Total attendance: 307,710   Average attendance: 51,285 Winning player's share: $8,281   Losing player's share: $6,178[7]

Broadcasting

The Series was broadcast on NBC television, with Yankees announcer Mel Allen and Dodgers announcer Vin Scully describing the action; and on Mutual radio, with Al Helfer and Gene Kelly announcing.

Red Barber, Vin Scully's senior on the Dodgers' broadcast crew, was originally selected to work with Allen on NBC, but was removed from the Series due to a salary dispute with Gillette, which sponsored the broadcasts. Scully, at the age of 25, became the youngest man to broadcast a World Series game (a record that stands to this day).

Notes

1. "1953 World Series Game 1 – Brooklyn Dodgers vs. New York Yankees". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
2. "1953 World Series Game 2 – Brooklyn Dodgers vs. New York Yankees". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
3. "1953 World Series Game 3 – New York Yankees vs. Brooklyn Dodgers". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
4. "1953 World Series Game 4 – New York Yankees vs. Brooklyn Dodgers". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
5. "1953 World Series Game 5 – New York Yankees vs. Brooklyn Dodgers". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
6. "1953 World Series Game 6 – Brooklyn Dodgers vs. New York Yankees". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
7. "World Series Gate Receipts and Player Shares". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved June 14, 2009.

References

• Cohen, Richard M.; Neft, David S. (1990). The World Series: Complete Play-By-Play of Every Game, 1903–1989. New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 245–249. ISBN 0-312-03960-3.
• Reichler, Joseph (1982). The Baseball Encyclopedia (5th ed.). Macmillan Publishing. p. 2161. ISBN 0-02-579010-2.

External links

• 1953 World Series at WorldSeries.com (MLB.com)
• 1953 World Series at Baseball Almanac
• 1953 World Series at Baseball-Reference.com
• The 1953 Post-Season Games (box scores and play-by-play) at Retrosheet
• History of the World Series - 1953 at The SportingNews. Archived from the original on 2008.