(UPDATE: In 2025, the MLB Speedway Classic was held at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. It set a new regular-season attendance record, with 91,032 fans.)
The Yankees have won the last 5 American League Pennants and World Series. But the Indians are ready for them. In the opener, Bob Lemon outpitches Allie Reynolds, who retires after the season due to a back injury. The Indians score 2 runs in the 7th and 1 in the 8th to win it, 4-1.
The Yankees stake Tommy Byrne to a 2-0 lead in the 1st inning of the 2nd game, thanks to a home run by Yogi Berra. But the Indians take the lead in the 5th on 4 straight hits with 2 outs: Singles by pitcher Early Wynn, Tommy Smith and Bobby Ávila, and a double by Wally Westlake. The Indians win, 3-2. Over the 2 games, Mickey Mantle went 1-for-7 with a walk.
Early Wynn
The doubleheader sweep puts the Indians 8 1/2 games ahead of the Yankees in the American League with 10 games to go. The Yankees end up winning 103 games, the only 100-win season of Casey Stengel's managerial career. But the Indians won 111, breaking the 1927 Yankees' AL record of 110, setting a record that lasts for 44 years. The Indians clinched the Pennant on September 18. However, another New York team, the Giants, swept them in the World Series. The Indians didn't win another Pennant for 41 years.
Why did the Indians break through in 1954, the way they didn't in the rest of the decade, when they were still good enough to get close? Yankee pitcher Whitey Ford had a theory. Catcher Lawrence "Yogi" Berra was from St. Louis, and when the Yankees made roadtrips to play the St. Louis Browns, he would bring teammates over for Sunday dinner. The Yankees won the Pennant in 1947, just missed it in 1948, then won again in 1949, '50, '51, '52 and '53.
But with the Browns having moved, there was no trip to St. Louis -- like St. Louis, Baltimore had a large Italian community, and still does, but the Berras didn't live there -- and the Yankees didn't win the Pennant: They won 103 games, the most the franchise would win between 1942 and 1963, but finished 8 games behind the Indians.
Whitey later said, "You know, we didn't win the Pennant in 1954, even though we had one of our best teams. And after the season, when we were fishing around for a reason why we didn't win, some of us would say it was because we didn't get to eat at the Berras' house."
*
September 12, 1954 was a Sunday. This was also the day the TV show Lassie premiered. I have a separate entry for that event.
These other baseball games were played that day:
* The New York Giants lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-3 at the Polo Grounds. Stan Musial went 2-for-4 with a home run, a walk and 3 RBIs. Willie Mays went 0-for-3 with a walk.
* The Brooklyn Dodgers swept the Chicago Cubs, 4-2 and 4-3 at Ebbets Field. Jackie Robinson did not play in either game. Duke Snider went 1-for-10 with a walk. For the Cubs, Ralph Kiner went 1-for-8 with 2 walks, and Ernie Banks went 2-for-10 with 2 RBIs.
* A doubleheader was split at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Phillies won the 1st game, 5-2. Murry Dickson outpitched Warren Spahn. The Milwaukee Braves won the 2nd game, 2-1. Lew Burdette outpitched Robin Roberts. Rookie Hank Aaron was injured on September 5, ending his season, so he didn't play in either game.
* There was a split doubleheader at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. The Baltimore Orioles won the 1st game, 4-3. The Philadelphia Athletics won the 2nd game, 5-4.
* The Cincinnati Reds swept the Pittsburgh Pirates, 11-5 and 13-2 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.
* The Detroit Tigers swept the Washington Senators, 5-0 and 8-3 at Briggs Stadium in Detroit. (The ballpark was renamed Tiger Stadium in 1961.) Steve Gromek pitched a 6-hit shutout in the 1st game. Al Kaline went 1-for-8 with a walk and an RBI.
* And the Chicago White Sox swept the Boston Red Sox, 5-3 and 7-5 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Ted Williams went 1-for-8 with a home run, a walk and 2 RBIs.
No comments:
Post a Comment